At the intersection of government assistance, vulnerable populations and digital payments … the fraudsters lie in wait.
Amid the trillions of dollars in pandemic-related aid being disbursed by federal, state and local governments, Visa said in its August 2020 Security Alert that pandemic unemployment assistance fraud — done through mobile conduits — as a “prolific” vector of attack.
In an interview with Karen Webster, Mike Lemberger, senior vice president and regional risk officer for North America at Visa, said a “layered” approach helps criminals cover their tracks. And a layered approach, too, helps Visa, through its Payment Fraud Disruption (PFD) unit, help uncover those tracks and identify suspicious patterns that can help identify, and stop fraudsters.
Layers Upon Layers
In terms of mechanics, bad actors leverage mobile applications to contact people who have received or are receiving unemployment or stimulus benefits. They use phishing campaigns, and the promise of speedy payment of government benefits, to prod victims into giving up sensitive personally identifiable information (PII).