As the world moves further into a digital age, cyber fraud increases in tandem. With more global economic uncertainty and weakened regulatory frameworks, fraudsters take advantage of these weaknesses to victimize businesses and individuals.
According to a recent report from Pindrop – a voice technology and security company – there’s been a 53% year-on-year increase in fraudulent activity in the fourth quarter of 2022. Retailers, including online vendors, appear to take the brunt of this activity as one out of every 347 calls to a customer center are found to be fraudulent.
Ecommerce and credit card fraud is rampant, too. In 2022, 3.6% of all ecommerce revenue was taken from unsuspecting customers, while payment fraud rose 40% from 2021-2022. Behind much of the malicious activity is none other than artificial intelligence (AI). Through the use of deepfakes and other forms of manipulation, AI is an effective tool for deceiving unsuspecting victims.
Social engineering, a practiced method of exploiting people’s trust, is also used to commit fraud. Consequently, financial institutions and other companies are losing billions in the process.
Part of the problem is the lack of adequate biometric policies, which contribute to the rising rates of fraud. In some U.S. states where these restrictions are present, there are reportedly twice as many fraud cases as in other states. As such, there are reportedly 33% of fraud losses reported in the U.S. due to regulation on voice security.
Pindrop CEO and cofounder, Vijay Balasubramaniyan, outlined the national problem in his report on the issue, implying a need for businesses and governments to proactively protect themselves against these kinds of attacks.
Pindrop is an American voice tech company founded in 2011 that develops fraud detection solutions for enterprises. The company’s products help global enterprises to detect fraud and authenticate customers through their voice biometrics, AI-powered fraud detection, line identity and caller authentication services, and security solutions. Pindrop’s solutions are used across a wide range of industries such as banking, insurance, and telecommunications.
Vijay Balasubramaniyan is the CEO and cofounder of Pindrop. He earned a dual degree in computer engineering and economics from the University of Michigan, and worked in the venture arm of Intel Corporation. He also was an engineer at Amazon’s Kindle group. Balasubramaniyan leads Pindrop to develop security solutions that help protect businesses and consumers against rising cyber fraud.
