by Ben Hartwig, web operations director at InfoTracer.
Account takeover (ATO) is a form of online identity theft that occurs when a fraudster gains unauthorised access to someone else’s account like a bank account, loyalty account, or e-commerce account, changes information such as login credentials or the email address associated with the account and then makes unauthorized transactions by using the hacked account. In the height of the COVID-19 crisis, all forms of fraud are up, including corporate account takeover. This type of fraud is particularly attractive to criminals today because they do not have to leave home to commit the crime and to illegally benefit from it. Additionally, since they control password reset communications, they are often able to carry out continued fraudulent account activity without being detected.
This cyber threat happens on the personal and corporate levels, so businesses must be vigilant to protect themselves and their customers from this crime.
Measuring the Impact of ATO
Account takeover statistics show that as technological advances have expanded, so, too, have the number of account takeovers. The number of account takeovers has steadily increased over the last few years. Losses from ATO rose 122% from 2016 to 2017. Then, in 2018, it increased by another 164%. The number of ATOs increased from 380,000 0in 2017 to 679,000 in 2018, which included personal and corporate account takeover. Previous research predicted that losses from ATO would reach $25.6 billion (£21.6 billion) by the end of 2020, but that was before the COVID-19 situation came about.
In addition to the immediate economic impact of account takeover, this type of fraud can also wreak havoc on a pe ..
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