Digital wallet abuse is on the rise as criminal networks continue to exploit individuals and businesses for their own gains, with over 2.5 million cases of remote purchase fraud recorded in 2024.
With digital wallets becoming increasingly popular as a means of making secure payments, it is important that you can spot signs of digital wallet fraud and put measures in place to protect yourself, your business and your customers.
Understanding the risks associated with digital wallets
Criminals are continually finding new ways to gain access to a person’s payment details in order to make unauthorised transactions – and digital wallets are a new target.
Fraudsters will typically rely on methods such as phishing, malware, malicious online adverts, social media content, social engineering and, in some cases, device theft, to gain illicit access to sensitive data, whether at organisational or individual level.
Where digital wallets are concerned, the objective is to obtain card details and One-Time Passcodes (OTPs), or to create fake wallets, to bypass standard banking checks and complete purchases or cash-outs.
Things to look out for include:
- Transactions that you did not make
- Messages saying your card was added to a new device that does not belong to you
- One-Time Passcodes that you did not request
- Emails about changes to your account that you did not authorise
What can be done to prevent digital wallet fraud?
Staying vigilant, and taking as many preventative measures as possible, is key to preventing digital wallet fraud.
Businesses should ensure that they have robust security measures in place to protect payment information and sensitive data, including ensuring that routine system updates are undertaken, and that stringent ID verification and authentication procedures are implemented.
Beyond this, it is important that employees and customers understand the risks associated with digital wallets and how to recognise suspicious activity.
Authentication should also be a consideration for individuals using digital wallets; make use of available security features such as creating a unique pin, or enabling fingerprint/facial recognition.
Be careful to utilise private networks wherever possible, when making payments, and ensure that the apps you are using to hold any payment details are downloaded via trustworthy sources – i.e., Android or Apple App Store.
We would also advise regular and consistent monitoring of your bank accounts and statements, to enable you to quickly identify any unauthorised transactions, and mitigate any financial or reputational harm.
Contact your bank immediately if you think you’ve been scammed and report it to Action Fraud at actionfraud.police.uk or on 0300 123 2040.
Get in touch with our team if you are concerned about the risk of fraud to your business, including digital wallet abuse.
