Losses from Authorized Push Payment (APP) scams are projected to reach $7.6 billion by 2028 across six major real-time payment markets, including the U.S., U.K., and Brazil, according to ACI Worldwide’s latest Scamscope report.
APP scams exploit trust by deceiving victims into willingly transferring funds, bypassing traditional fraud detection systems. As real-time payments continue to grow in speed and accessibility, fraudsters increasingly exploit the rapid movement of funds, making it harder to trace stolen money. The report forecasts a 17% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) in APP scam losses through real-time payments between 2023 and 2028, far outpacing the 12% CAGR for overall APP scams globally.
Financial institutions face heightened challenges from these scams, with the Scamscope report revealing that 25% of victims switch banks after falling prey to fraud, and 20% close accounts without opening new ones. Regulatory pressures further complicate matters, as governments impose mandates requiring victim reimbursement and robust fraud prevention measures. Institutions are turning to artificial intelligence (AI) solutions to bolster defenses, analyzing transactions in real-time and collaborating with other banks to detect and mitigate fraud. However, as Cleber Martins of ACI Worldwide notes, AI is a double-edged sword, with fraudsters also leveraging it to automate attacks and enhance social engineering techniques.
Country-specific trends underscore the diverse impact of APP scams. Brazil, the second-largest real-time payments market, is projected to see the fastest growth in losses, while the UAE, though currently experiencing the smallest losses, faces a 30% CAGR in real-time APP scam growth. The U.K. has achieved a rare decline in losses due to improved regulations and fraud prevention, while India, the world’s largest real-time payments market, is showing promising results in tackling scams effectively. In the U.S., the widespread adoption of real-time payments has intensified fraud risks, with APP scam losses expected to grow at a 19% CAGR by 2028. Coordinated global efforts, including cross-industry intelligence sharing, are critical to mitigating these losses and dismantling mule networks that enable scams.
