scam protect

Transforming the fight against scams

Protecting customers across a growing spectrum of scams

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Innovation

Our advanced AI-powered Identity insights examine digital footprints and assess unique patterns to detect risk and flag suspicious activity indicative of scams.

Collaboration

We collaborate across industries, partners and organizations worldwide to secure the digital ecosystem, ensuring payments are safe for all. Combating the growing threat of scams demands a collective effort.

Education

We work with and through our collaborators to provide knowledge and tools that help people protect themselves and their loved ones from scams, while also working to destigmatize the experience of being a victim.

$12.5b

in losses from U.S. consumer reported online scams in 2023¹

$486b

in global losses from scams and bank fraud schemes in 2023²

22%

YoY growth in U.S. consumer scam losses suffered in 2023³

Combat scams at every stage

Identify and prevent scams at all stages of a scam lifecycle from when a user opens an account, logs in, or makes account changes to when they carry out transactions with Mastercard's unique and comprehensive suite of AI-powered solutions.

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Solutions

From sender to recipient, we vigilantly monitor accounts and transactions for any elevated scam risk.

Identity insights

Provides actionable identity insights and risk scores for businesses to improve identifying their good customers from the scammers creating "mule" accounts or impersonating someone else with a false identity.

Behavioral biometrics

Assesses physical interactions across devices to identify any unusual behavior as soon as an account-based payment is initiated with our advanced behavioral biometrics.

Transaction patterns

Flags suspicious activity across the money movement flow to prevent payments to scammers before it is sent through the real-time analysis of transaction elements.

Account confirmation

Enables account validation to confirm account ownership and validate identity details in real-time through our open banking capability, which draws on the safe exchange of consumer-permissioned data to facilitate frictionless and secure payments.

industry collaboration

Partners in scam protection

Collaborating to protect consumers and build trust.

Frequently asked questions

What is Scam Protect?

To combat the growing threat of scams, Mastercard announced Scam Protect, a suite of specialised solutions powered by cutting-edge AI technologies, which help identify and prevent scams. Mastercard is also partnering with organizations across the ecosystem to fight scams.

Why did Mastercard launch Scam Protect?

Scammers weaponize people’s natural impulses — to give, to get, to help and to connect — in well-practiced acts of social engineering. And while this is nothing new, scammers have become more brazen and sophisticated, taking advantage of the latest technologies like AI and other means to deceive consumers. Scams are also becoming increasingly pervasive. According to the FBI, Americans lost $12.5 billion to internet scams in 2023 alone. In the UK, scammers were responsible for nearly 1.4 million cases of fraud during the first half of 2023. That’s the equivalent of once every 12 seconds.  

The stakes for businesses and consumers alike couldn’t be higher and that’s why we’re taking a multi-pronged approach to fight scams.

What technology capabilities available today can help my business in the fight against scams?

The Mastercard portfolio of Identity solutions adds protection across all money movement flows. By combining identity, device, behavioral biometrics and transaction data with sophisticated AI technology we can prevent bad actors from striking across the lifecycle of a scam. We are continuously investing in product development to consistently improve the efficacy of our data and capabilities to detect and combat scams and improve user experience.

What are the most common types of scams seen in the market?

Scammers use variety of ways to collect money from innocent individuals – wire transfers, account-to-account, mobile payment apps, etc. Scams occur when fraudsters manipulate innocent consumers into providing their account credentials or making a payment to accounts they control. Read our guide to identifying social engineering scams and cyber threats to learn more.

Scam Protect news and insights