Visa’s newly established scam disruption practice successfully prevented over $350 million in attempted fraud in 2024. The unit, part of Visa Payment Ecosystem Risk and Control (Perc), leverages a cross-disciplinary team, including AI engineers, former law enforcement, military experts, and data analysts, to combat sophisticated scam operations.
Visa has invested $12 billion in technology over the past five years to enhance fraud prevention and network security. Paul Fabara, Visa’s chief risk and client services officer, emphasized the company’s dual approach: cutting-edge AI technology combined with the expertise of a highly skilled team.
Investigators use Generative AI to analyze transaction patterns, detect hidden connections, and dismantle scam networks. One major operation involved a fraudulent identity verification scheme where scammers used phishing links on dating sites to enroll victims in recurring billing cycles. By correlating transaction data with IP activity, Visa mapped the entire fraud network, shutting down nearly 12,000 fraudulent sites and preventing $37 million in losses.
Michael Jabbara, SVP and global head of Perc at Visa, highlighted the personal impact of these scams: “Fraud usually has no face, but a scam is personal.” Visa also collaborates with law enforcement and intelligence partners to share insights and equip the financial ecosystem to detect scams more effectively.