A new ACI Worldwide research report showed 2017 e-commerce fraud jumped 22%, while transactions increased 19%.

The ACI report provided some interesting highlights on e-commerce fraud from Thanksgiving Day through the end of December:

  • fraud attempt rates were highest on Thanksgiving Day (1.94%, up from 1.26% in 2016), Christmas Eve (1.78%, up from 1.48%) and December 21 – the cutoff date for express shipments – (1.67 percent, up from 1.49%)
  • average value of attempted fraud transactions over the entire holiday period in 2017 was $227, compared with 2016 ($239)
  • overall volume of purchases recorded in January-October 2017 increased by 14%, compared to the same period in 2016.

Erika Dietrich, Director of Risk Management, ACI Worldwide said, “The consistent, alarming uptick in fraudulent activity on key dates is a signal that merchants must be proactive in their efforts to identify weak points across the omni-channel payment process—and define the short- and long-term strategies necessary to improve security and enhance customer experience.”

Online fraud attempts growing steadily

The number of fraud attempts increased steadily from previous years:

  • in 2017, 1 out of every 85 transactions (1.2%) was a fraudulent attempt
  • in 2016, 1 out of every 97 transactions (1.0%)
  • in 2015, 1 out of every 109 transactions (0.9%).

Sales volume grew also

The good news for e-commerce and retailers is that sales volume, also grew according to Adobe research:

  • Thanksgiving Day e-commerce spend totaled $2.87 billion for an 18.3% year-over-year transaction volume growth
  • Black Friday spend totaled $5.03 billion for a 16.9% over the previous year.

While growth in sales value is welcome, the 22% increase in e-commerce fraud points to the need for companies to put stronger online security and fraud prevention programs in place.