Visa Threat Trends Report: As Network Security Strengthens, Criminals Rapidly Shift to AI-Powered Social Engineering

SAN FRANCISCO — (NYSE: V) — Visa, a global leader in digital payments, today released its "Spring 2026 Biannual Threats Report." The report highlights that scams are the fastest-growing category of consumer fraud, as criminals increasingly leverage AI and social engineering to enhance tactics that trick consumers into making payments themselves.

Based on intelligence from Visa's global network, the report indicates a significant shift in fraud trends. While core payment security at the network level continues to strengthen, criminals are moving away from technical system breaches towards exploiting human trust.

Between July and December 2025, Visa identified approximately $1 billion in fraud-related activity, with scams becoming the largest category of consumer payment fraud. Unlike traditional fraud, these attacks do not necessarily require technical breaches. Instead, criminals impersonate trusted brands or institutions, create a sense of urgency, and deceive victims into making seemingly legitimate transactions themselves.

"Payment security across the network is steadily improving, but threats are evolving faster than ever," said Paul Fabara, Chief Risk and Client Services Officer at Visa. "Criminals are targeting people, not technology, exploiting trust through deception, urgency, and AI-powered tactics. To combat this shift, continuous innovation at the network level and collaboration across banks, merchants, policymakers, and the entire payment ecosystem are essential."

Four Trends Shaping the Global Payments Threat Landscape

The "Spring 2026 Biannual Threats Report" outlines four key emerging trends significantly altering global payment security:

● Security is Working, Fraud is Moving Elsewhere

Fraud using device tokens decreased by 9.6% year-over-year from July to December 2025. This indicates that enhanced authentication and network-level protections are effectively functioning, even as the overall volume of attacks continues to rise.

● Scams Are Accelerating

Scams are now the biggest threat to consumers. Criminals are increasingly prioritizing social engineering over system breaches.

● AI is Transforming Both Attackers and Defenders

Criminals are using AI to execute more sophisticated and convincing scams at scale. Simultaneously, defenders are increasingly leveraging AI to detect and prevent fraud earlier in the transaction lifecycle.

● Ransomware is Changing Structure

Global ransomware attacks increased by 26% year-over-year from July to December 2025. However, the percentage of victims paying ransoms dropped to a record low of 23%. This is attributed to improved defense and recovery capabilities, as well as concerns about data leakage regardless of payment.

"The rapid proliferation of AI has significantly lowered the barrier to entry for fraud," said Michael Jabbara, SVP, Visa’s Payment Ecosystem Risk and Controls. "What once required sophisticated technical skills can now be achieved with simple prompts. This reality underscores the critical importance of intelligence-led defense and ecosystem-wide collaboration. Through this report, Visa aims to provide leaders with insights to take action against fraud before it reaches consumers."

The Japanese version of the Spring 2026 Biannual Threats Report can be found here:

Spring 2026 Biannual Threats Report

For more information on Visa's efforts to protect the global payment ecosystem, please visit Visa.com/security.

About Visa:

Visa is a global leader in digital payments, facilitating transactions between consumers, businesses, financial institutions, and government entities across more than 200 countries and territories. Visa's mission is to connect the world through the most innovative, convenient, reliable, and secure payment network, empowering individuals, businesses, and economies to thrive. We believe that inclusive economies worldwide – where everyone has access to opportunity – strengthen economies everywhere by providing access to the future of payments. Learn more at Visa.com or www.visa.co.jp.