Crime thrives in a time of crisis; one of the few things Al Capone would have testified to. The coronavirus pandemic gripping the world is in many ways a perfect opportunity for fraudsters and online thieves to make new inroads and bigger profits. This current crisis comes on top of the prevailing, long term fraud problems which blight online business and communications.

Worst possible timing

Just prior to the international spread of the virus, online fraud was causing the authorities to worry; in 2019, the FBI detected a 31% rise in phishing fraud, resulting in a $1.7 billion loss to the US economy. This kind of vulnerability was evident when conditions were normal, and online users going about their daily lives and business. Not surprisingly, relevant agencies are deeply concerned that this rise could be the start of something much worse.

The arms race between online fraudsters and methods to stop them is always a fast-moving affair. At the moment, conditions favour the fraudsters, because their prey is vulnerable. Tens of millions of “office workers” have been cut off from that office, and are expected to carry on from home. Not only are they trying to do their day jobs, they might have children to teach at the same time.

Adaptability urgently needed

In the current environment, the online security industry needs to step up, and quickly. The double challenges of fraud protection and good customer experience are heightened at the moment, and the verification process needs to reflect this.

Perhaps counterintuitively, it may be that initial checks are loosened for new customers; many people are finding themselves using new technology, or facing a bewildering series of hurdles when trying to access services for the first time. The risk of abandonment, therefore, is very high at the moment; the onboarding process may consequently have to be made easier rather than harder.

Of course, this exposes businesses to more risk. In this case, the ability to carry out enhanced checks on some customers also needs to improve, in terms of speed and accuracy. The risk of potential loss from fraud or abandonment is always a delicate balance; the pandemic is bringing this equation into even sharper focus.

Lessons to be learned

Like the effects of the virus itself, the effects of the pandemic on fraud activity will no doubt take many months – if not years – to become fully evident. Unfortunately, online businesses and the security professionals they employ do not have the luxury of waiting to see the results of their efforts to counter fraud; the time to act is right now.

It is likely that new verification systems will be flexible, simple and intuitive for the user, while at the same time improving their performance behind the scenes. Back end processes will be developed (probably using AI) to quickly interrogate the right databases in the right way, so that checks are robust and fit for purpose.

Necessity, as the saying goes, is the mother of invention; the coronavirus crisis necessitates some quick thinking which will, hopefully, carry benefits for online verification into the future.