Mastercard Using AI to prevent fraud

AI security guards for your credit card? Say what?

So MasterCard is now using AI to spot compromised credit card numbers much faster! Mastercard is of course one of the largest payment networks in the world!

According to security.org, over 52 million Americans experienced credit card fraud in the last year.  I don’t have the data for Jamaica and the Caribbean, but anecdotally, it seems to be on the rise.

So MasterCard plans to use AI to help catch the scammers BEFORE they cause major damage. Once a card is compromised, the company can quickly send out AI guards to secure it and prevent further unauthorized use.

See when hackers steal credit cards, they’ll usually post a few of the numbers to entice third-parties to purchase them. 

When third-parties buy your card numbers, they’ll in turn make additional purchases using your card. Mastercard’s “AI cops” can now reportedly conclude the number in question before it’s been revealed.

When that alarm is set off, then MasterCard will move in and shut it down before a fraudulent purchase has even been made. Now of course, there are the hackers and then there are the spenders. 

Neither is acceptable, but at least the AI cops can go to work before the spenders do.

According to MasterCard, the technology detects these stolen credit card numbers “by scanning transaction data across billions of cards and millions of merchants at faster rates than previously imagined.”

But this is a gift that keeps giving because Mastercard says the AI is not just about catching fraud after the fact. It’s proactive as well. 

Meaning, it can predict and prevent fraudulent transactions before they even happen.

Okay, now we’re talking.

They claim that by examining the typical spending patterns of cardholders, they can identify any departures from regular behaviour which will result in them flagging suspicious transactions as they occur.

I’m concerned about this though because it seems like there could be numerous false alarms triggered. 

For instance, if I’m vacationing at a hotel, which isn’t my typical behaviour, Mastercard might flag it as unusual, potentially causing significant inconvenience for me.  This has happened to me before when I travel. 

So they’ll be shutting down a card that isn’t actually compromised. 

And then also, just as Mastercard can develop technology to monitor hackers’ behaviour, couldn’t hackers do the same by tracking Mastercard’s technology?

We just have to keep staying one step ahead of the scammers. 

And that’s the bottom line.