Survey Reveals New Wave of Payments Fraud

The migration from paper to electronic payment forms and Web-based and mobile access channels are opening new avenues to potential fraud, a new study reveals

The 2011 Payments Fraud and Control Survey, conducted by the Bethesda, Md.-based Association for Financial Professionals, found that while checks continue to be the most widely used vehicle for payments fraud, corporations also must be vigilant to protect payments access points linked to Web-based transactions and corporate cards.

Although payments fraud has remained persistent over the last five years, the shift toward electronic B2B payments necessitates the adoption of new preventative techniques.

“We are now seeing companies fall prey to corporate account takeover, where someone gains access to a company's credentials and uses those to empty business accounts” says David Bellinger, AFP’s director of payments.

In corporate account takeover, fraudsters use technology or social interactions, ranging from phone conversations to social networking messages, to access an organization’s account information, allowing the fraudster to move money and cause large losses in a very short time.

The AFP survey, which queried 399 cash managers, analysts and directors from mid-market and large U.S. organizations with revenues of at least $250 million, found that 14% of respondents experienced this type of fraud last year, with 2% actually suffering a loss.