Viral crimes, crypto scams and AI-driven bot attacks are among the top five anticipated fraud threats for the new year, according to Experian’s 2025 Future of Fraud Forecast. With the help of generative AI and other advanced technologies, fraudsters are leveling up the way they defraud businesses and consumers.
Digital Journal spoke with Kathleen Peters, chief innovation officer at Experian North America, diving deep into the biggest anticipated fraud threats for 2025 to help businesses and consumers protect against fraud.
Digital Journal: Experian just launched its 2025 Future of Fraud Forecast. Tell us about this year’s fraud predictions.
Kathleen Peters: Technology has revolutionized the way we live, work and play, but it has also armed fraudsters with powerful new tools. These bad actors are leveraging the same advancements to launch more sophisticated and widespread attacks. We’re already seeing the staggering impact of fraud on a national and global level. The Federal Trade Commission reported that U.S. consumers lost over $10 billion to fraud in 2023 while the Global Anti-Scam Alliance found that scammers stole over $1 trillion worldwide in 2024.
As the digital world evolves, fraudsters become more innovative and persistent – bringing new threats. With the stakes higher for both businesses and consumers, staying ahead demands a clear understanding of what’s coming next.
Our latest Future of Fraud Forecast highlights the challenges we’ll all be facing, and how the rise of advanced technology like generative AI (GenAI) can amplify fraud. Among this year’s threats, we predict that fraudsters will take advantage of popular investments like cryptocurrency, leverage generative AI to launch new-gen bot attacks and deploy large-scale password spraying cyberattacks to obtain valuable information.
It’s interesting to note our predictions show that fraudsters won’t abandon tried-and-true fraud schemes. In fact, fraudsters will use GenAI and technology to find new and innovative ways to commit scams faster and at a greater scale.
DJ: How could the rise in cryptocurrency value influence fraud attacks?
Peters: We know fraudsters are agile and opportunistic so with a rise in cryptocurrency, we believe they’ll take advantage in a variety of ways. Criminals could trick consumers through investment and romance type scams and ask their victims to send them funds via cryptocurrency. They could also create fake websites for people to buy into cryptocurrency and steal funds that way too. It’ll be vital for consumers to be on guard and educate themselves on these types of scams in order to avoid being swindled.
DJ: Pig butchering scams already exist, how will they become more prevalent?
Peters: Pig butchering occurs when criminals entice their victims over time to participate in an investment scheme and then disappear with the money, leaving the victim with significant financial losses. These scams require the fraudster to build trust with their victim over time to eventually gain access to their financial accounts.
While this isn’t necessarily a new form of fraud, it will take on a new life as bad actors find ways to produce better results more quickly, allowing them to defraud people more easily and stay off the radar for longer.
DJ: How does social media contribute to the emergence of new fraud schemes?
Peters: Social media can be a perpetuator of fraud in many ways, but we’ll begin to see more everyday people leverage it to commit fraud instead of the typical, sophisticated criminal. We’ve already seen this prediction begin to play out. For example, last year a form of check fraud went viral that involved people recording themselves writing bad checks, depositing them at the ATM and withdrawing cash before the check bounced. Some participants in this trend may not have been fully aware of the repercussions. In reality, they were committing check fraud by hopping on the bandwagon.
Viral trends can be a fun way to participate in social media, but consumers need to be careful not to get caught up in an activity that is illegal and can come with consequences. It’s important to keep in mind that if it sounds too good to be true, it likely is.
DJ: What role does Generative AI play in modern fraud attacks?
Peters: GenAI has created a world of opportunities for businesses and consumers, but it can also help criminals perpetuate fraud schemes. Companies are especially concerned about this, with 70% saying that AI fraud is expected to be the second greatest challenge for their business, according to a recent Experian report. Two ways we see GenAI playing a role in fraud this year is through tactics like password spraying and Gen4 bot attacks.
We predict that healthcare companies will be targeted by fraudsters leveraging GenAI-created bots to deploy password spraying cyberattacks to access personally identifiable information these companies have on consumers. Password spraying occurs when an attacker applies a list of commonly used passwords against a list of accounts to guess the right password. Armed with GenAI-fueled bots, bad actors can launch these attacks at rapid speed and with more discretion, making it harder for companies to detect when it is occurring.
While we are on the topics of bots, we also know that a new generation called Gen4 bots will surge in usage by fraudsters. These bots are built by AI and trained to emulate human behavior. They will be harder to identify and their human-like actions will allow them to slip under the radar to carry out fraud.
DJ: How can businesses stay ahead of fraudsters in 2025?
Peters: In 2025, businesses will have to navigate an increasingly complex fraud landscape, but they can rise to the challenge with innovative strategies and cutting-edge technologies. We always tell our clients that proactivity is the key to mitigating risk and staying ahead of fraudsters.
First, I recommend businesses work with a trusted partner to identify their current and future strengths and weaknesses. Then they can fully understand how to put effective multilayered fraud prevention strategies in place. This includes leveraging the right data, advanced analytics and technology to consistently predict and detect fraud. With AI enabling bot attacks that take on more human-like behavior, it’s becoming harder to distinguish fraudulent activity. So, integrating additional signals such as behavioral analytics will be essential for identifying fraud in real time.
Finally, it’s important that companies educate employees and their clients to ensure they are aware of the latest scams. This will ultimately protect them and mitigate unnecessary risk to the business.
