Our recent Cybercrime Report illustrates the continued strong growth in digital commerce. Pandemic-driven necessity drove new-to-digital consumers online in an acute shift and at significant volumes with 24.6B digital transactions processed from July-December 2020. The move to digital shows impressive staying power at 29% growth in global digital transaction volume year-over-year (YOY). New-to-digital customers are a unique mix for your business: valuable for propelling growth and vulnerable to opportunistic fraudsters. This blog details specific risks inherent to the new-to-digital cohort and highlights ways to nurture and protect this group across the customer journey.
Safeguard Two Susceptible Ends of the Age Spectrum
Our Cybercrime Report took a closer look into which new-to-digital customers represent the greatest fraud risks. We found the age groups of under 25 and over 75 are the most vulnerable to being impacted by fraud. Findings to keep in mind as you refine a digital-first, customer-first strategy include:
- The under 25 age group represents the largest growth in new-to-digital customers in 2020 and recorded a 10% growth rate across a four-month period
- The under 25 age group experiences the highest rate of fraud attacks followed by the over 75 group
- The over 75 age group suffers the largest fraud losses
- The average fraud loss per customer increases progressively with age
- Fraudsters target the younger age group in proportionally higher volumes because higher success rates offset the lower monetary gains
It’s essential to prioritize vulnerable new-to-digital customers on both ends of the age spectrum to safeguard the customer experience and promote cybersecurity.
Protect Pivotal Fraud Entry Points
Confident customer recognition across the entire customer journey is a critical element in an effective fraud defense and it’s especially important for new-to digital customers. New Account Creation and Payments are two touchpoints in the customer journey that fraudsters often target.
- New Account Creation transactions represented the highest attack rate of all use cases in our Cybercrime Report
- 1 in every 10 new account creation transactions represented an attempted attack
- Payments transactions showed a higher volume of attempted attacks than any other use case
- On 3.7B payments transactions the attack volume was 108M
A fraud strategy that closely focuses on these vulnerable areas of the customer journey for new-to-digital interactions also contributes to excellent customer experiences.
Educate To Eliminate Risks
Millennials, Zillennials and the Silent Generation represent vastly different customer groups. The under 25-year-old Millennials and Zillennials have spent much of their lives immersed in and exposed to digital technologies. The over 75-year-old Silent Generation has significantly less experience using the latest technologies and interacting within digital environments. Educating these customers about fraud risks starts with recognizing different behaviors and knowledge levels within these groups.
- The under 25 age group is fairly relaxed about sharing data online, making them more exposed to potential data breaches or identity theft
- The over 75 age group, generally has less familiarity with the latest digital technologies and may therefore be more susceptible to scams and phishing attempts.
Raising awareness about fraud risks with relevant, timely and tailored online messaging equips new-to-digital customers with targeted knowledge to avoid fraud attacks and improves overall security within your customer ecosystem.
Prioritize Identity Trust Across Every Customer Interaction
Being aware of new-to-digital customer nuances and staying prepared for the unique fraud risks they introduce into your ecosystem strengthens the effectiveness of key fraud defenses. Concentrating on this cohort’s specific challenges and proactively communicating with new-to-digital customers assures personalized, well-protected customer interactions that are centered in identity trust.
Ready to help your new-to-digital customers avoid fraud risks and build affinity with this valuable customer group? Our solutions deliver a unified, risk-based identity view that enables your business to detect and prevent cybercrime while preserving a clear focus on trusted customer interactions.
For more information on our Cybercrime Report, visit risk.lexisnexis.com/CybercrimeInsights