The latest data from the 2025 AFP Payments Fraud and Control Survey reveals an alarming rise in payments fraud, with 79% of organizations reporting they were victims of fraud attempts or attacks in 2024. This figure, though slightly down from the previous year’s 80%, underscores the ongoing vulnerabilities businesses face in today’s digital and paper-based payment environments.
Key Trends in Fraud Attacks:
- Business Email Compromise (BEC) continues to be the leading method for fraud, with 63% of organizations impacted by these scams. BEC has evolved, with vendor and third-party impersonations on the rise. In fact, 60% of respondents cited vendor impersonation, while 63% reported third-party scams.
- Checks remain a frequent target for fraud, despite many businesses transitioning to digital payments. In 2024, 63% of organizations reported check fraud, highlighting the ongoing risk of this traditional payment method. Interestingly, while check fraud has slightly decreased from previous years, a significant number of companies (75%) have no plans to reduce check usage over the next two years.
- Wire Transfers have reclaimed their position as the most vulnerable payment method targeted by BEC scams, with 63% of respondents reporting fraud attempts. ACH credits, which were the primary target in 2023, still account for 50% of BEC fraud in 2024.
Fraud Recovery: Despite the rising frequency of fraud, there is some positive news on the recovery front. In 2024, 58% of organizations managed to recover up to 75% of the funds lost to fraud, a significant improvement over 2023. However, 20% of businesses reported that they were unable to recover any funds at all, illustrating the challenges in mitigating financial losses due to fraud.
Why the Surge in Check Usage?
