Trust: Hard to earn, easy to lose in the digital era

I've been working in cybersecurity for some time now, and when asked what I do, I respond, "I'm a fraud fighter." This phrase can conjure various images—perhaps someone monitoring multiple screens, coding furiously to thwart fraudsters, or maybe a fearless warrior, hands on hips, with "FRAUD FIGHTER" emblazoned across their chest. Or do you picture a Ghostbuster-like figure, armed with a vacuum cleaner in one hand and a flashlight in the other?

In truth, it can be a blend of all three on any given day. Joking aside, fighting fraud is a complex task for any organization, as fraud manifests in many forms: identity theft, phishing, insurance fraud, imposter scams, employment scams, investment fraud—to name a few.

I've read countless stories about scams, but it really hit home when a good friend recently fell victim while trying to buy a ticket for a gig. She was excited about the event and rushed to secure her spot, but something didn’t feel quite right. After completing the purchase, that nagging doubt persisted. Thankfully, she was able to recover her money by disputing the charge with her bank and eventually got the ticket from a legitimate website. The lesson here? Trust your gut. In that moment of hesitation, she ignored her instincts because, as humans, we naturally lean toward trust. 

Without trust, the digital economy cannot thrive. Transactions stall, influence wanes, leaders lose teams, and salespeople lose sales. Trust can take years to build and only a second to break. It's jeopardized the moment someone is tricked into transferring funds or providing credentials. Trust wavers the moment you hesitate before confirming a payment with a new payee. 

So, how do you trust someone on the other side of a screen you cannot see? 

As consumers, we expect the companies we interact with to protect us while making payments easy and fast, ensuring confidence at every touchpoint. 

I take great pride in being a fraud fighter, especially working for an organization that values trust in payments. At Mastercard, trust is at the center of everything we do; it’s built into the connections we make and the relationships we build that move value. Let’s face it—the company was built on facilitating the connections that grow the economy! Every day Mastercard helps ensure people can securely engage with the institutions they want while enabling businesses and governments to trust the people they serve. 

In fact, Mastercard has invested heavily in the identity space to enable any organization—on or off our payment network—to place its trust in an identity. In a world that prioritizes experience, expects privacy and faces continuously advancing threats, trust demands more than customer input and fragmented pieces of identity. 

Trust requires organizations to: 

• Contextualize data to better understand how identity elements are being used over time and across organizations. 

• Recognize fraud and how it evolves across borders and industries to better prevent it. 

• Prioritize the delicate balance between fraud management and customer experience. 

To address the surge in scams, Mastercard has introduced Scam Protect, a global initiative dedicated to combating account-to-account payment scams through technology innovation, industry collaboration and consumer education. 

Mastercard's cutting-edge technology not only fights fraud but also identifies and protects consumers from scams. We go beyond technology by collaborating with organizations across the ecosystem to fight scams through joint efforts and education. 

Fighting fraud is challenging, but I'm thrilled to be part of Mastercard’s journey to combat the growing number of scams, ensuring our digital world can thrive. 

To learn more about Scam Protect, visit www.ScamProtect.com.