We have all dealt with fraud attempts at least once during our life. Just think about all those emails you receive daily that end up in your spam folder. From the ones offering you a quick loan to those claiming you are heir to the great inheritance from your unknown relation, their goal is to trick you out of your funds.
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While it is annoying to deal with those pesky emails, your email provider helps you get rid of most of them. Businesses are not as lucky for this to be their main problem with fraud as they have to deal with it on a much bigger scale. The development of digital technology has made it even easier for fraudsters to exploit innocent victims. Luckily, there are fraud prevention solutions, such as SEON’s fraud detection API, that can help businesses reduce the risk of becoming a victim.
Fraud in the modern world
The truth is that fraud was always a threat for businesses and individuals, but technological developments have allowed fraudsters to update their malicious actions. Not only that, it gave them the means to reach more victims than ever, but their attacks are also getting harder and harder to track. In 2021, businesses experienced 50% more cyberattacks per week than in 2020.
Cybercriminals had a busy year, from conducting high-profile breaches like Solar Winds to ransomware attacks such as Colonial Pipeline. These attacks have outlined how damaging cyberattacks can be for the targeted companies and anyone connected with them. The attack on Colonial Pipeline has shut down a major fuel supply for the East Coast, while the attack on Solar Winds compromised around 100 private corporations, including nine federal agencies’ networks. And small businesses are not in any less danger. According to Accenture’s Cost of Cybercrime Study, 43% of cyber attacks have targeted small businesses. The difference is that compared to the more prominent companies, only 14% of them can defend themselves.
What can API solutions do for you?
Any business that wants to be successful and continue to grow needs to start focusing on fraud prevention. Just reacting to the attacks is not enough; you need to start preventing them from damaging your business and its customers. Using proper fraud prevention solutions such as API will allow you to recognize the patterns of fraudulent behavior and stop them before they can cause any damage. API, or Application Programming Interface, enables two systems to integrate, interact, communicate, and share data to get the best results.
In fraud prevention, this is done by collecting information about users from various sources and using it to determine if the user has malicious intentions. They will assign the risk factor to the users and take necessary actions to stop any risky behavior while minimizing user friction. While some user interactions will indeed be fraudulent, not all of them will be, and API solutions make it easier to determine it and reduce the number of false declines.
For example, API solutions can determine if your users are using a legitimate email address by running it through email analysis. Not only can it determine the age of the email address, but it can also compare it to the spam list or even check if they were involved in data breaches.
Benefits of API fraud solutions
Fast: API fraud solutions can give you results in seconds, avoiding user friction. Imagine how long it would take for you and your team to manually process user data and determine its risk factor? It would be an endless task.
Automated: The process is fully automated, which means it doesn’t require your constant involvement. You can concentrate on growing your business while it protects you.
Easy to use: APIs are developed to be easy to use as they are meant to be used by businesses of various sizes and different levels of expertise.
Adaptable: Not every business will deal with the same threats, which is why fraud prevention solutions need to be able to adapt to new circumstances and evolving cyber dangers. API solutions are customizable and can adapt to the various requirements different businesses will have.
Fraudsters will always try to exploit business, but implementing proper fraud prevention solutions will ensure your company doesn’t become a victim.
