The subscription model is a gift that keeps on giving. For customers, it offers convenience, flexibility, and continuous access to the services or products they love. For businesses, it creates a steady and predictable revenue stream, fosters long-term customer relationships, and provides valuable insights into user behavior. But here’s a third player in the game that loves subscriptions just as much: fraudsters.

Research from The Financial Ombudsman Service, a U.K. based organization dedicated to helping citizens with free financial advice, has found an increase in Authorized Pushed Payment (APP) scams. These attacks are rising both in number and sophistication. The Financial Ombudsman Service is a U.K. organization dedicated to helping residents with all things financial-as-a-free service. As part of this service, they take in a large number of complaints around financial fraud.

Business email compromise (BEC) attacks have caused more than $55 billion in losses between 2013 and 2023, according to an advisory from the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). “The BEC scam continues to target small local businesses to larger corporations, and personal transactions while evolving in their techniques to access those business or personal accounts,” the FBI says.

With Latin America facing an unprecedented increase in claims for unrecognized credit and debit card transactions, banks and card issuers are directly feeling the impact of fraud and cyber-attacks that are growing more sophisticated by the day. Recent regulations have been implemented across Latin America to address a variety of payment fraud, including an unprecedented surge in claims of unrecognized transactions involving debit, credit and financing products.

The Better Business Bureau (BBB) has observed a six-fold increase in losses from investment scams over the past three years. The BBB has received more than 4,000 reports of investment scams since 2020, with the median reported loss rising from $1,000 in 2021 to almost $6,000 in 2024.

What do bank account takeovers, credit card scams, purchase of counterfeit goods, and frequent flier mile theft, all have in common? All these cyber crimes usually begin with a user visiting a fake website. In the first quarter of 2024, over 963,000 unique phishing sites were detected worldwide. Phishing sites are just one category of fake websites that mimic legitimate sites to steal information. The overall scope of fake websites is likely much broader.

Online gaming has become a global phenomenon, connecting millions of people worldwide and providing endless hours of entertainment. However, with its growing popularity comes a set of unique challenges, including the increasing risk of scams. From phishing emails to in-game item scams, these threats are becoming more sophisticated, targeting players of all ages and skill levels. Falling victim to such scams can result in financial loss, compromised accounts, and even damage to your device.

Almost a decade after their emergence, Progressive Web Apps (PWAs) finally went mainstream in 2024. Their MO? To compete with, and in some cases replace native apps. To do this, PWAs promise to combine the best features of web and native mobile apps, delivering seamless, reliable, and engaging experiences across all devices and platforms. Cross-platform compatibility, direct distribution, cost and maintenance advantages – it all sounds very alluring.

Did you fall for a scam and accidentally give your card details to a scammer? To protect yourself and your finances, you should lock your card, contact your card issuer and freeze your credit report. Continue reading to learn what you should do if you’ve fallen for a scam and how you can avoid scams in the future.