Cybercrime , Fraud Management & Cybercrime
The Ecommerce Surge: Guarding Against Fraud
Consultant Toby McFarlane on Coping With Shifting Fraud TrendsAs more consumers shift to online shopping during the COVID-19 pandemic, retailers must ramp up their efforts to guard against ecommerce payment fraud, says Toby McFarlane, a cybersecurity expert at CMSPI, a payments consultancy.
"Retailers should have in place already tools to monitor fraud and approval rates" so they can be benchmarked, McFarlane says in an interview with Information Security Media Group. "If you see a spike in fraud, for example, you want to know if that's a general industry trend or if that is something specific to your business."
The shift toward ecommerce in recent weeks presents opportunities to gain a competitive advantage, McFarlane says. "We've seen average transaction values are increasing online, so if merchants can ensure their online infrastructure and experience is set up to handle that, then we could see certain merchants taking market share from non-optimized merchants," he says.
In this interview (see audio link below photo), McFarlane also discusses:
- The movement away from using cash in stores and getting cash at ATMs;
- The ongoing shift to online fraud in the wake of COVID-19;
- How retailers can protect against online fraud.
McFarlane is head of approvals and fraud at CMSPI. He works with retailers to enhance the way they accept payments, optimize approval rates and minimize fraud and chargebacks.