Experian’s latest fraud forecast reveals viral crimes, crypto scams and more could threaten businesses and consumers in 2025

COSTA MESA, Calif., Jan. 28, 2025 — Experian^® today released its annual Future of Fraud Forecast, revealing five emerging fraud threats that could challenge businesses and consumers in 2025. This year’s predictions show that fraudsters will continue to double down on the digital landscape and leverage Generative AI (GenAI) to commit sophisticated crimes at a rapid pace.   

According to an Experian report, half of consumers surveyed said they are concerned about conducting activities online, and companies are most worried about cybercrime (75%) and GenAI fraud and deep fakes (70%). This underscores the need for robust protections against these fraud attacks and other schemes. As fraudsters continue to evolve and leverage advanced technologies, Experian’s insights aim to help mitigate new risks. This year’s threats include:

1. Crypto highs and lows: Recent events have led to cryptocurrency like Bitcoin increasing dramatically in value. Experian forecasts that criminals will be more motivated to target consumers and crypto providers, leveraging tried-and-true schemes like investment and romance scams, as well as fake websites offering cryptocurrency in an attempt to swindle money from unsuspecting people hoping to ride the wave. Companies will need to leverage robust fraud prevention measures and provide educational resources for consumers to safeguard themselves from these scams.
2. Pig butchering scams get meaty: A fraudster’s endgame is to make off with as much money as possible, and pig butchering scams are a prime way of doing so. Criminals will “fatten up” their victims by enticing them over time to participate in an investment scheme and then disappear with the money, leaving their victims with significant financial losses. This requires the fraudster to build a relationship with the victim and establish trust so they can convince them to hand over their bacon. While this type of scam already exists, Experian forecasts that criminals will find ways to produce results faster and in more convincing ways that will dupe people more easily and allow them to elude detection for longer.
3. Is it a social media challenge or a crime? Social media has fueled viral products and trends that are typically great recommendations or life hacks. However, last year, a form of check fraud went viral that involved people recording themselves writing bad checks, depositing them at the ATM and withdrawing cash before the check bounced. Some participants in this trend may not have been fully aware of the repercussions. In reality, consumers were committing check fraud by joining the bandwagon. Experian predicts that social media users could perpetuate additional trendy financial fraud schemes with the fraudsters being everyday people instead of savvy criminals.
4. Unhealthy password spraying: With the amount of personally identifiable information that healthcare companies have on consumers, Experian forecasts fraudsters will deploy large-scale password spraying cyberattacks using GenAI-created bots to attack healthcare companies at scale to gain access to a company’s systems and the personally identifiable information of employees and patients. Password spraying, also known as credential stuffing or credential guessing, is when an attacker applies a list of commonly used passwords against a list of accounts to guess the right password. This used to be done by humans but, as technology has become more sophisticated, so have the fraudsters. These attacks can now be fueled by GenAI — making the attacks exponentially larger, faster and harder to detect.
5. A new generation of bots up the ante: Bot attacks are a well-known tactic used to defraud people and companies by carrying out repetitive instructions to perform a variety of fraud schemes. A new generation of bots has emerged, known as Gen4 bots. Typically built using AI tools and trained to emulate human behavior, these bots are notoriously more difficult to detect and have the potential to bypass firewalls and security with ease. Experian predicts that as Gen4 bot attacks grow, leveraging behavioral analytics will become table stakes for companies to identify and mitigate this type of automated fraud.

“We know technology is accelerating fraud at a rapid pace. The challenge is clear for businesses — it’s not just about mitigating risk for known threats but anticipating what’s coming next,” said Kathleen Peters, Chief Innovation Officer for Experian North America. “Our 2025 forecast highlights the fight against fraud requires a comprehensive approach — combining advanced technology, consumer awareness and a commitment to constantly adapting to evolving threats. Businesses need to invest in innovative, multilayered fraud prevention strategies that leverage data, advanced analytics and technology to thwart risk.”

Experian’s identity verification and fraud prevention solutions helped clients avoid an estimated $15 billion in fraud losses globally last year. For more about Experian’s fraud detection solutions available on the Experian Ascend Platform™, including NeuroID’s behavioral analytics, please visit https://www.experian.com/business/solutions/fraud-management. To learn more, please register for Experian’s 2025 Fraud Trends: Disrupting GenAI in Fraud webinar scheduled for Feb. 6 at 10 a.m. PT by visiting https://us-go.experian.com/2025-fraud-predictions-webinar.

About Experian

Experian is a global data and technology company, powering opportunities for people and businesses around the world. We help to redefine lending practices, uncover and prevent fraud, simplify healthcare, deliver digital marketing solutions, and gain deeper insights into the automotive market, all using our unique combination of data, analytics and software. We also assist millions of people to realize their financial goals and help them to save time and money.

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