Artificial Intelligence (AI) will be instrumental in the rise in global eCommerce fraud from $44.3 billion in 2024 to a staggering $107 billion by 2029, which will be a 141 per cent rise.

This is according to a new study by Juniper Research, a leading authority on fintech and payment markets globally. Juniper Research explained that the prevalence of AI, which has become a huge instrument in the hands of fraudsters, would enable more sophisticated and large-scale attacks across the eCommerce ecosystem.

The report highlighted how AI, particularly through the creation of deepfake, poses a significant threat to online merchants by defeating verification systems.

According to the report, the rise of “friendly fraud,” where customers themselves commit fraud, such as through refund scams, is becoming an increasing concern, further threatening the profitability of merchants.

The report pointed out that AI technology has allowed fraudsters to stay ahead of security measures, creating highly credible messages and synthetic identities to execute sophisticated attacks.

It added that the scalability of AI also empowers fraudsters to automate their schemes and overwhelm traditional, rules-based fraud prevention systems. According to the author of the report, Thomas Wilson, “eCommerce merchants must seek to integrate fraud prevention systems that offer AI capabilities to quickly identify emerging tactics.

The report further warned that online marketplaces have become prime targets for fraudsters, particularly since the rapid growth of eCommerce following the COVID-19 pandemic.

It noted that the expansion of online retail has created more opportunities for fraudsters to exploit weaknesses in merchant systems, with sensitive customer information being an attractive target.

Juniper Research in the report emphasised that fraud detection and prevention measures are critical to merchants across many industries since they represent ways of preventing unnecessary revenue loss through things such as chargebacks and order reprocessing.

“It is pivotal that anti-fraud measures evolve, as fraudsters are always changing the tactics they use to manoeuvre around current measures.

“For merchants and businesses, fraud detection and prevention refer to the merchant’s ability to monitor all transactions and payments that the business takes effectively and safely; identifying any suspicious activity quickly and taking appropriate action,” it stated.

The report revealed that merchants globally are increasingly turning to AI-driven fraud detection systems to recognize emerging fraud patterns and react in real time.