Higher levels of smartphone and mobile payments use naturally means more opportunities for fraud, and Juniper identified four key fraud trend areas to watch for:

Social media: Fraudsters are using sites like Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram and Telegram to set up accounts impersonating actual users, create phishing posts, recruit fraudsters and money mules, and commit synthetic fraud. They're also taking advantage of the popularity of merchants on Instagram, creating fraudulent merchant accounts to perpetrate scams.
Rogue or unauthorized apps: Bad actors create these apps using the brand of a recognized organization to trick users into providing access to personal data on their mobile devices, Juniper said. They can even be downloaded from trusted sources like Google Play, Apple's App Store and the Microsoft Store, increasing the chances of deceit.
Data exposure: This refers to any type of mobile data exposure, which can occur as a result of malware, rogue apps, poor app design, phishing and "man in the middle" attacks.
Synthetic identity and deepfakes: Referred to as the potential "future of verification and authorization fraud," this category of fraud involves the creation of new identities using fake or combinations of real and fake personally identifiable information. Some fraudsters are creating identities using stolen biometrics or deepfake technology. The latter can be leveraged when biometric security requires a user to take a "live selfie," which is then breached.

"The digital transformation of payment operations has opened more payment channels (e.g., cloud, IoT and mobile); giving more options to consumers," the report stated. "The changing dynamics of the ecosystem and increasing connectivity across a myriad of platforms has increased the vulnerabilities and opened up opportunities for fraudulent activities. The number of mobile payment fraud occurrences has increased as well. Every possible entry point from social media to rogue apps to synthetic identity is used to circumvent security measures."

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