With cybercrimes on the rise, both new and old digital risks will become more prevalent in 2022. Most businesses must consider protecting their financial processes, avoiding fraud, and paying more attention to additional emerging dangers.

Here’re the top cybersecurity threats of 2022:

1. Synthetic identity fraud 

Identity theft is nothing new, and criminals are getting better at merging your exposed personal information with publicly available data on the Internet and social media profiles. Cybercriminals can now convincingly spoof consumers’ voices and looks, bypassing verification procedures, thanks to advances in AI technology. Many threat actors target young Internet users to commit synthetic identity fraud.

2. Fraud-as-a-Service (Failure-as-a-Service)

Fraud-as-a-service becomes more automated when a threat actor provides services to carry out fraudulent behavior. Cybercriminals are making the switch to automated voice bots for impersonating businesses and socially engineering customers. The rise of this form of danger exacerbated problems by reducing the skills required of a malevolent actor to carry out illicit action.

3. Payment fraud in real-time

Real-time payments, including mobile payments, provide cybercriminals with previously unexplored chances to perpetrate fraud and cash out instantaneously, transforming money into cryptocurrencies. Real-time payments (RTP) increased by 41% between 2019 and 2020, and they are expected to climb by 23% between 2020 and 2025, as per the report. Threat actors try to remain anonymous when laundering money across several channels because bitcoin is generally unregulated, with a few exceptions. 

4. Immediate credit fraud

Fast credit, or the so-called “Buy Now Pay Later” concept, is a comparable type of illicit behavior. Customers can make purchases before paying at various stores, which is both convenient and potentially dangerous. Malicious opportunities abound, ranging from account takeovers to the use of stolen credit cards to pay off debt. 

5. Ransomware

During the epidemic, ransomware exploded, with huge institutions and important infrastructures experiencing outages and being compelled to pay millions in ransom. The use of AI will increase the strength of ransomware attacks, exposing both customer data and critical corporate information. There has been considerable discussion about the effectiveness of paying a ransom. While many insurance companies choose to pay, experts argue that this option encourages cybercrime and does not guarantee data recovery. In this circumstance, the greatest line of defense is to prevent the occurrence from occurring in the first place. 

6. Scams in the marketplace

Criminal behavior on the internet is frequently linked to current social and political issues. There will be more marketplace fraud incidents in 2022 due to inflation and continuous supply chain issues. Threat actors will try to match market demand with counterfeit goods, filling supply shortages with a series of con games. As a result, buyers will be charged for items that do not exist. 

7. Fraudulent digital identity verification

With inconsistent or limited legislation in existence, identity authentication remains a complicated issue. The switch to a new decentralized identity, which allows you to manage all your identities independently, gives you greater control over your data and appears to lessen risks for businesses. On the other hand, many bigger companies are still hesitant to adopt the technology since data is the new oil, and not everyone is willing to give up access to it so simply.