Black Friday & Cyber Monday see rise in 'false positives', warns SEON

The busy retail shopping days of Black Friday and Cyber Monday, famed for their sizeable sales, bring with them an unexpected issue for merchants - a substantial rise in 'false positives', warns online fraud prevention company SEON.

These 'false positives' refer to legitimate transactions that are mistakenly labelled as fraudulent, posing significant challenges for businesses during these peak shopping periods.

SEON has analysed its internal data and revealed a striking trend associated with these shopping days. Contrary to their reputation for a surge in fraudulent activity, SEON's insights show a decrease in the percentage of transactions requiring a fraud review during Black Friday and Cyber Monday compared to typical rates. However, this decrease comes alongside a significant surge in the incidence of 'false positive' transactions, further substantiating the complexities businesses face at these times.

SEON's data reveals that online transactions escalate by over 150% compared to the usual daily average during Black Friday and Cyber Monday. While these are traditionally high-sales-volume days, the findings unleash the paramount need for businesses to ensure efficient and secure online transaction processing systems are in place.

Tamas Kadar, CEO and Co-Founder of SEON shared: "The landscape of online transactions is continually evolving, especially during high-volume periods like Black Friday and Cyber Monday, which are always busy days for fraudsters." He warns businesses about this alarming increase in 'false positives', which can inadvertently turn away genuine customers and ultimately result in a loss of business.

Kadar further stressed the need for implementing advanced security measures that can accurately distinguish between legitimate customers and fraudulent activities. Without compromising the user experience, these security solutions can help in establishing robust online transaction processes, ensuring the safeguarding of businesses from financial losses. This information becomes even more relevant to merchants as the holiday season rolls around.

Kadar said: "At the same time, as our research indicates, it's never been more crucial for businesses to deploy advanced, adaptive security measures that can distinguish between legitimate customers and fraudulent activities without compromising the user experience."

"Ultimately, without these methods in place, companies risk losing business from genuine customers," said the CEO. 

SEON helps online businesses reduce the cost, time, and challenges faced due to fraud. SEON's anti-fraud solution uses AI and fully explainable machine learning to adapt across sectors. Since its formation, SEON has served over 5,000 merchants to save customers from potentially fraudulent transactions.

SEON's data exposes the dilemmas that businesses face during these high transaction periods and provides a nuanced perspective on combatting such complexities. While the bustling Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales can usher significant business, they also come with their own set of unique challenges. Consequentially, the pressing demand for effective fraud prevention strategies thus becomes more evident.