Mastercard: Fraud attempts jump as retailers feel cyber attack sting
The head of artificial intelligence at Mastercard said the payment giant had seen a surge in fraud attempts, which follows a string of cyber attacks on major retailers.
Greg Ulrich, chief data and AI officer at Mastercard, told City AM the payments network is “attacked perpetually” by fraudsters.
The payments network recorded a 40 per cent jump in mitigated attacks for the first quarter of 2025, compared to the same period last year, Ulrich said.
As attackers leveraged new tech to advance attacks, Ulrich said the threats were “keeping us on our toes”.
Research from Mastercard last month found that one in four business owners in Europe had been targeted by fraudsters.
The rise in threats comes as major retailers fall victim to cyber attacks.
Most notably, Marks & Spencer suffered an attack that halted online orders and is expected to blow a £300m hole in its earnings this year.
City AM reported last week a third of UK fintechs were putting customers data at risk of a cyber attack, according to an analysis of 800 firms by Ethihack.
No way to battle fraud without AI
Ulrich said the use of artificial intelligence in fraud was a “two-way battle”.
“We are seeing fraudsters use AI to up their game, be it identity or trying to pose as someone else.”
But the tech boss said there was “no way to keep up with fraudsters if you’re not using it.”
Payment giants have fully embraced AI initiatives in the last year.
Visa launched “Intelligent Commerce,” which enables AI agents to make shopping decisions for consumers based on their preferences.
Meanwhile, Mastercard created “Agent Pay,” which allows users to speak to an AI assistant or chatbot to get personalised recommendations and complete payments within the conversation.
Ulrich said Mastercard was also leveraging AI for “role specific agents” which allows divisions of workers to become “more efficient.”
Financial services services have faced industry-wide criticism from consumers for decentralisation efforts, which have left human interaction minimal.
Ulrich stressed it was necessary for a “balance,” which he described as “co-intelligence”.
He suggested the modern tech was a “co-pilot”.
“It’s not replacing anything – it is enabling,” he said.