Every day iovation assesses risk on more than 7.5 million transactions for the online customers that we protect around the globe. France ranks third by country, just behind the United States and United Kingdom, in the total volume of Internet traffic from any country that we protect. As you would imagine, France is a very important market for us. It is growing and as we continue to expand our international footprint, France will play a vital and strategic part in our growth.

As part of our effort to expand our device identification, device reputation and real-time risk mitigation services for online businesses in France, I am pleased to announce that Philippe Mazurier has joined iovation as Country Manager, heading up sales and business development and is based in Montpellier.

Philippe brings strong business relationships and deep, in-market experience that will be instrumental in helping us meet online fraud protection demands in this market. He understands the serious and damaging impacts that cybercrime has on online businesses.

As we continue to serve the French market, protecting e-commerce, financial services, gaming and online communities from fraud and abuse, having a seasoned veteran in authentication and fraud prevention services representing iovation will help us serve this market even better.

To arrange meetings with Philippe to talk about any fraud or abuse issues your company is experiencing, please email france@iovation.com or call +33 (0)6 69 79 12 33.

As an online fraud prevention company, our goal at iovation is simple: To protect our clients from harmful online activity that can negatively impact their business and customers. Improving our clients’ businesses by greatly reducing fraud and abuse rates is the ultimate reward. Being recognized by our peers is just icing on the cake. This week, we were proud to announce that we had our cake and ate it, too.

On Monday, we were named by AlwaysOn and industry experts as one of the 2011 OnDemand Top 100 winners, which recognizes leadership and game-changing approaches and technologies likely to disrupt existing markets and entrenched players. iovation was chosen for our unique ability to detect online fraudulent activity in real-time and keep our clients’ businesses and customers safe. (more…)

As Internet advancements change the competitive landscapes of industries across the globe, fraud prevention mechanisms are essential to filter online payments and flag or stop suspicious transactions.

According to the article, “Securing Internet Payments,” 70% of all fraudulent credit card transactions originate from card-not-present (CNP) transactions. This has a substantial impact on the public’s confidence using their credit card for online transactions. Lacking the capability to prevent unauthorized transactions and associated fraud and abuse ultimately trickles down to Internet-based businesses’ bottom line revenues and profits. (more…)

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recently reported that for the 11th straight year, identity theft was the leading complaint among consumers. In the article, “Identity theft and impostor scams among consumer complaints last year, FTC says,” over 250,000 (19%) of the 1.3 million complaints filed to the FTC in 2010 were related to identity theft. While there are many weaknesses in the protection of personal data, many speculate that the Internet has played a huge role in exacerbating this problem.

With identity theft the clear leader of consumer complaints over the past decade, what I found most surprising is that impostor scams — the means of deceptively assuming another identity (either that of an individual or of an organizational entity) — only cracked the FTC’s Top 10 most complained-about consumer issues for the first time last year, coming in at No. 6 with over 60,000 complaints.

With impostor scams, fraudsters earn trust with their victims by impersonating anything from credible, trustworthy businesses to consumers applying for credit or purchasing items over the Internet. Whether fraudsters are attempting to defraud individuals or socially engineer businesses, identifying cleverly concocted impostor scams requires the ability to see beyond the information provided by criminals.

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A recent Norton study estimates that cybercrime will cost Britain £1.9 billion in 2011. That’s an average cost of £103 per victim of online crimes. This information is based on the security firm’s new Cybercrime Index, which displays online threat levels in various countries.

By taking data collected from 113 million servers globally that track cyber attacks like identity theft, phishing threats and fraud activity, the Cybercrime Index is a website that acts like a stock index, informing Internet users about the day’s biggest online threats. (more…)

I’m really looking forward to the upcoming Dominican Republic Caribbean Gaming Show and Conference in Santo Domingo. As one of the presenters on the online gaming panel, I will examine strategies for identifying high-risk transactions that help sportsbooks and online casinos prevent fraudulent activities like financial fraud, money laundering, fraudulent deposits, player collusion, bonus abuse and account takeover.

Last year more than 60 of iovation’s online betting, poker, sportsbook and casino customers reported and shared 350,000 fraud and abuse attempts through the ReputationManager 360 device reputation service, including the likes of William Hill, Entraction and WagerWorks. These experiences are shared along with our knowledge base of more than 500 million unique devices (computers, tablets and mobile phones) which online gaming sites leverage to gain insight into suspicious activity to prevent fraud before it happens. (more…)

For romantics across the globe, love is in the air this Valentine’s Day. But like love itself, it’s also a time to be cautious when seeking romance online. In the article, “Be fraud safe this Valentines — top tips to avoid online dating fraud,” the Action Fraud report found that over the past six months approximately £2.5 million was stolen by online dating fraudsters.

Dr. Bernard Herdan, CEO of the National Fraud authority who runs Action Fraud, said fraudsters who take advantage of online dating sites are a particularly sinister bunch, who use clever tricks to gain the confidence and affections of legitimate site users before asking for money. He warned that nobody should ever send money to someone they’ve never met in person. (more…)

When it comes to helping online businesses fight fraud and abuse, iovation is in a league of its own.

After being recognized by the international gaming and online dating communities in January as one of the top technologies for preventing fraud and increasing profitability, productivity and efficiency, we are extremely proud and honored to be recognized by industry leaders in e-Commerce as one of the most innovative fraud fighting tools for online or multi-channel retailers.

To be eligible for the awards, all entrants must be available for online or multi-channel retailers to use for the purpose of measuring, monitoring or mitigating one or more of the following: card-not-present fraud; advancing online data security; improving online payment processes; and advancing the MRC’s vision of making electronic commerce more efficient, safe and profitable.

This week, the Merchant Risk Council (MRC) announced that iovation ReputationManager 360 has been named a finalist for the 2011 MRC Emerging Technology Awards (also known as the METAwards). The awards are judged by a panel of merchants that include the likes of eBay, BestBuy.com, Go Daddy, HP, Microsoft, NCsoft, Tiffany & Co., Urban Outfitters, T-Mobile, among others. (more…)

We’ve recently learned that iovation ReputationManager 360 has been selected by the Info Security Products Guide as a finalist for this year’s Global Excellence Awards. Our fraud prevention service, which combines device identification, device reputation and real-time device risk reporting to prevent card-not-present (CNP) fraud and other online abuses, has been recognized in the categories of Risk Management and Best Security Service.

While this and the other accolades we’ve received lately have been nothing short of overwhelming, we are extremely proud of being recognized by industry leaders and associations across multiple industries. Because we serve online retail, gaming, social community and financial services companies, the acknowledgements have been a testament to iovation’s ongoing commitment to make the Internet a safer place to interact and conduct business, as well as reinforces the positive impact we make in the everyday lives of our customers by protecting their online transactions to reduce fraud rates.

The 2011 Global Excellence Awards will be announced at an awards gala, February 16th, in San Francisco.

When it comes to fighting fraud, 2010 was an eye-opener for many financial institutions, who more often than not learned about fraud incidents against their organizations the worst way possible — from their customers.

A recent survey conducted by the Information Security Media Group, “The Faces of Fraud: Fighting Back,” found that despite all the anti-fraud technologies banks have put in place to detect criminal activity, more than three-quarters (76%) of fraud incidents are detected by none other than their own customers. Other fraud detection points included:

48% – At the point of transaction
41% – Third-party notification
26% – At the point of origination
23% – During account audit/reconciliation

The survey also found credit/debit card fraud outpaced all other fraud types experienced by financial institutions in 2010, including:

82% – Credit/debit card 6
3% – Check 48% – Phishing/vishing
37% – ACH/wire (account takeover)
32% – Third-party POS skimming

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They sell a variety of goods and services online. Offer a seller’s commission and volume discounts. Need project work? They’ve got that, too. It all sounds like any run-of-the-mill online business, right? While this website may operate like any other business, PandaLabs research has found that black market websites are anything but legitimate online businesses, illegally profiting from stolen financial information and other services aimed at defrauding businesses and consumers alike.

In the article, “Report: Stolen data sold over online black market,” the security firm revealed that cyber criminals have set up shop online to buy and sell everything from stolen bank account information, credit card numbers and passwords to consulting and technical services around developing and operating fake online stores. (more…)

To expand our presence in the Japanese market, we’ve partnered with an exceptionally talented team based in Tokyo, called Info Innovation Japan.  Our new partner will extend iovation’s anti-fraud services to Japan’s leading online brands including retailers, social networks, dating sites, online gaming such as MMOs and virtual worlds, and financial services.

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As the holidays find many of us spending time with family and friends, I wanted to take a moment to thank everyone for their hard work and dedication this past year. Combating online fraud and abuse is no easy task and we don’t do it alone. We work in concert with thousands of virtual crime fighters around the globe. It takes tremendous focus, discipline and collaboration, something each of our customers, partners and employees prove every day.

In 2010, we screened nearly 2 billion transactions and stopped over 35 million fraud attempts. The collaboration we support and the meaningful impact we have in stopping all types of online fraud and abuse are part of what makes us proud of what we do here at iovation.

This was our most successful year ever and we have even higher expectations for next year. Thanks for working with us to make the Internet a safer place. Here’s to seeing what we can accomplish together in 2011.

Happy holidays and best wishes for the New Year.

Sincerely,
Greg

I am very excited to share the news that for the second straight year, iovation has been named a finalist for Best New Technology at the upcoming 2nd Annual Online Dating Industry Awards. After taking home last year’s title for Best New Technology for a SaaS solution that detects fraud before the online business or customers are impacted, this award recognizes our new solution for the “best individual technology created by a vendor for dating and matchmaking websites.”

This is quite an honor for a team so dedicated to building and delivering solutions to help online dating sites protect their business and members from fraud and abusive behavior.

Released in the fall, ReputationManager 360 steps up the defense against online crime activity and abuse by combining customizable business rules, risk profiles, device anomalies, and the firsthand experience of 2,000 fraud analysts around the world.

eHarmony’s Director of Risk Management, Ella Grutman, states, “eHarmony continuously identifies and applies the latest and best fraud protection tools. iovation offers the most comprehensive and effective option to augment our current methods.” (more…)

A recent global study on online security revealed that over the past year nearly one in three U.S. online consumers have experienced online credit card fraud. The study, which surveyed the experiences and perceptions of consumers from the U.S., Finland, Malaysia, Poland, Sweden and the U.K., had some interesting findings, including:

Studies like these continue to remind us of how vulnerable consumers are to the growing threats that exist online. Unfortunately, the second victim to these crimes are the online merchants that are targeted by cyber criminals using stolen data to commit fraudulent transactions. (more…)