According to a new report by SEON, around 24 million U.S. households have fallen victim to a form of account takeover (ATO) fraud in the past year. The report indicates the average successful ATO incurs a loss of around $12,000 per victim. This means that around $288 billion has been lost to this form of fraud in the last year alone.
ATO fraud happens when a criminal gains access to a genuine consumer account. It can affect anyone and any type of account, including social media, email, online banking and even credit cards. As SEON’s report highlights, attacks of this nature are becoming extremely common online, which should cause concern for businesses and consumers alike.