Visa's newly established scam disruption unit, part of its Payment Ecosystem Risk and Control (PERC) division, prevented over $350 million in attempted fraud in 2024.

This specialized team includes engineers, AI developers, and experts from law enforcement and the military, working together to identify and disrupt scam networks. Over the past five years, Visa has invested more than $12 billion in technology to combat fraud, combining proprietary AI tools with human expertise to uncover sophisticated scams. Investigators leverage generative AI for data correlation and pattern detection, enabling them to analyze massive datasets and expose fraudulent activities.

One major operation uncovered by Visa involved fraudulent merchants exploiting identity verification scams. Using phishing links disguised as legitimate verification sites, scammers tricked victims into recurring billing schemes. By analyzing transaction patterns and IP data, Visa mapped out the broader network and shut down nearly 12,000 fraudulent sites, preventing losses exceeding $37 million. Beyond disrupting scams, Visa collaborates with intelligence agencies, law enforcement, and industry groups to strengthen fraud prevention across the financial ecosystem. “Fraud usually has no face, but a scam is personal,” says Michael Jabbara, Visa’s SVP of PERC, highlighting the direct and often devastating impact on victims.