Fraud schemes exposed

Explore the latest scams and fraud tactics uncovered by Sift’s Trust and Safety Architects.

The global Fraud Economy

Fraudsters have evolved from siloed attacks to a full-blown Fraud Economy—a sophisticated and interconnected network of cybercriminals looking to exploit online businesses.

Global fraud economy

Bots-as-a-service

Mechanics of an automated scam

Step 1

The fraudster joins a bot-as-a-service scam group on a deep web forum and pays for temporary use of the OTP bot.

Step 2

The fraudster enters the victim’s phone number into the OTP bot.

Step 3

The fraudster provides the bot with the caller ID for the site or app they want to spoof.

Step 4

The bot calls or texts the victim, impersonates the business, and asks them to provide their OTP.

Step 5

The fraudster receives the OTP to successfully log into the victim’s account.

Step 6

The fraudster can now access and steal the victim’s payment information to make unauthorized purchases.