Five Fraud Trends from 2025—and What to Expect in 2026
Summary
ThreatFabric reviews investment scams, NFC relay fraud, biometric data theft, criminal AI and intelligence-sharing in 2025, with predictions for 2026 and implications for financial institutions.
Key points
- Investment fraud led reported US losses in the FBI IC3 2024 figures cited, at $6.6 billion; the article also notes investment and romance fraud as major concerns in Europe.
- Criminals are turning phished card data into mobile wallet accounts and using NFC relay tools to enable tap-to-pay fraud.
- The article says some financial institutions lack point-of-sale controls such as checks for geographic anomalies in transactions.
- Fraudsters are collecting biometric data, including selfies and videos; the article cites Herodotus malware as an example of malware mimicking human input behavior.
- Generative AI is being used for phishing, deepfakes and automated account creation; the article predicts more autonomous fraud operations.
- The article advocates closer coordination among fraud, anti-money-laundering and cybersecurity teams, including shared taxonomies such as FraudKillChain[.]com.
Article Details
- Topic
- Fraud trends in 2025 and predictions for 2026
People
Malware
Products
Apple PayAs Brian Krebs reported, cybercriminals are converting phished card data into Apple Pay and Google Wallet accounts, enabling tap-to-pay fraud at scale.Google WalletAs Brian Krebs reported, cybercriminals are converting phished card data into Apple Pay and Google Wallet accounts, enabling tap-to-pay fraud at scale.