Fraud attempts: Back to school shopping can be a summer storm

by Traci Krepper 1 min read August 17, 2015

Increased volume of fraud attempts during back to school shopping season

shutterstock_300833339Back to school shopping season will be the first time many consumers’ use their chip-enabled credit cards and stores’ new card readers. With the average K-12 family spending $630.36 per child in back to school shopping, and more than 1/3 shopping online, according to the National Retail Federation – is your fraud strategy prepared to handle the increased volume? And are you using a dynamic knowledge based authentication (KBA) solution that incorporates a wide variety of questions categories as part of your multi-faceted risk based authentication approach to fraud account management?

Binary verification, or risk segmentation based on a single pass/fail decision is like trying to stay dry in a summer rain storm by wearing a coat. It’s far more effective to wear rubber boots and a use an umbrella, in addition to wearing a rain coat. Binary verification can occur based on evaluating identity elements with two outcomes –pass or fail – which could leave you susceptible to a crafty fraudster.

When we recommend a risk based authentication approach, we take a more holistic view of a consumers risk profile. We advocate using analytics and weighting many factors, including identity elements, device intelligence and a robust knowledge-based authentication solution that work in concert to provide overall risk based decision.  After all, the end-goal is to enable the good consumers to continue forward based, while preventing the fraudster from compromising your customer’s identity and infiltrating you’re your business.

Related Posts

ValidMind on Partnership and the Future of AI

ValidMind CEO Jonas Jacobi shares insights on AI, innovation and why Experian's partnership is helping shape the future of responsible AI.

July 16, 2026 by Scarlet Nickel
Filling the Gap: The Private Student Lending Opportunity Opening This Fall

Due to new federal student loan regulations, the families of undergrad and graduate students may look to private lenders to fill the gap.

July 16, 2026 by Justin Osman
How Caliber Financial Uses Data to Drive Better Decisions

Learn how Caliber Financial uses Experian data to improve lead targeting, underwriting and AI-driven decisioning for better outcomes.

July 14, 2026 by Scarlet Nickel