Learn about the operational challenges and risks associated with compliance with payment networks like Visa and Mastercard and find out how to simplify this process and make it more manageable and efficient.

Scheme Compliance

The reality of payment network compliance today

Payment network compliance (often called scheme compliance in Europe) sits at the heart of every card issuer’s operations. Yet for most banks, it remains a manual, time-intensive process that diverts resources from higher-value priorities.

The numbers tell the story: Visa and Mastercard require licence holders to track and implement every applicable change across their networks. For a typical issuing bank, that means digesting 150+ publications every month. Miss one? The penalties for non-compliance with card network mandates can be severe.

But what if compliance could be more than a defensive exercise? What if it became a foundation for resilience and growth?

The challenges every issuing bank recognises

Across our client base the same pain points surface repeatedly:

Kajo transforms payment network compliance from reactive and fragmented to proactive and systematic:

 once relied on Excel and manual downloads to process 150+ monthly bulletins. After adopting Kajo, they gained a centralised view, automated task assignments, and proactive risk management.

Major risk reduction, cost savings, and a shift from firefighting to planning.

Cornèrcard: Driving adoption with usability

sought audit-friendly compliance but faced team resistance to new tools. Kajo’s intuitive interface won adoption quickly, creating lasting engagement.

A streamlined workflow with strong audit readiness.

PostFinance: Traceability and workload relief

 managed a heavy volume of scheme announcements without proper audit trails. Kajo reduced manual effort and delivered full traceability.

: Stronger communication, improved tracking, and reduced risk of missed deadlines.

With separate methods across operations, risk, and finance, 

lacked alignment. Kajo integrated distribution, notes, and updates into one workflow.

: Faster coordination and fewer ad-hoc meetings.

Across banks and issuers, common themes emerge:

 Compliance excellence isn’t about working harder, it’s about working systematically.

For leadership teams, Payment Network Compliance isn’t just a regulatory obligation,it’s a lever for resilience and competitive advantage:


The conversation shifts from “How do we stay compliant?” to “How does compliance strengthen our strategy?”


Staying compliant is mandatory. Leveraging compliance as a strategic asset is optional, but decisive.

The issuers highlighted here didn’t just survive the burden of Card Network Mandates. They turned compliance into a capability that supports speed, efficiency, and confidence in growth.

That opportunity is available to any issuing bank ready to move beyond spreadsheets, portals, and email chains.

The path is proven. The question is simple:

Will your compliance operations remain a burden, or evolve into a competitive strength?

Payment network compliance often feels like a heavy, reactive burden for issuing banks: tracking hundreds of bulletins, managing fragmented teams, and scrambling to avoid penalties. But with the right tools and processes, compliance can become a strategic asset, boosting audit readiness, lowering risk, improving efficiency, and enabling growth. This post explores how banks like Worldline, PostFinance, Cornèrcard, and others have moved from firefighting to foresight and how you can too.

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Payment network compliance: From compliance burden to strategic asset

Learn about the operational challenges and risks associated with the fraud & dispute process for banks and explore strategies and best practices benefitting both banks and their cardholders.

Fraud & Disputes

Over the past few years, issuers have seen a sharp rise in both fraud claims and cardholder disputes. More online spending, a surge in "friendly fraud", and rising customer expectations all mean more cases landing on already stretched teams.

, we outlined how to structure a dispute management flow so that cases move cleanly from intake to resolution. But even the best-designed flow faces a new challenge: 

. So what happens when even a well-organised flow starts to buckle under growing volume? 

Several forces are converging to drive dispute volumes higher. E-commerce continues to grow, creating more opportunities for fraud and delivery disputes. "Friendly fraud" is becoming more common, as cardholders contest legitimate transactions... sometimes through confusion, sometimes intentionally. And cardholders themselves are quicker to dispute, with expectations shaped by instant digital experiences elsewhere in banking.

Industry forecasts reflect this reality. Mastercard projects that global chargeback volumes will climb 

 Each case adds cost, but more critically, each one adds pressure to teams already running at capacity.

What does this mean for dispute teams? When volumes surge, the pain points multiply: queues get longer, agents spend more time on repetitive tasks, and back-and-forth with cardholders or merchants creates delays. Even small inefficiencies become costly when multiplied across thousands of cases. And because disputes are time-sensitive, the risk of missed deadlines rises sharply.

Issuers don’t need to wait for a complete technology overhaul to cope with this growth. Several targeted improvements can make existing teams more resilient.

Providing cardholders with guided digital flows helps resolve many claims before they escalate into cases. Amiko data shows that for "do not recognise" claims, 

nearly 50% are resolved in under a minute

 once the cardholder is prompted with additional transaction details. That prevents unnecessary cases from entering the system at all.

Traditional workflows force agents to chase missing details, costing 

. Automating validation during intake means cases arrive ready to be worked… no follow-up required.

Card payment networks provide tools such as 

 that allow merchants to resolve transactions quickly. With Ethoca Alerts, around 

, often resolving the case before it escalates to a formal dispute. Waiting for these outcomes can deflect a large share of disputes before they hit the back office.

When multiple transactions from the same cardholder are disputed, agents shouldn’t need to repeat the same process dozens of times. Bulk actions compress hours of manual work into minutes, processing 

, rather than the three hours it would take without automation.

Rising dispute volumes are not a temporary spike. They reflect long-term changes in how people shop, pay, and challenge transactions. Teams that continue to rely on manual intake and fragmented systems will struggle to keep pace. But by introducing self-service, automating data collection, and making use of pre-dispute tools, issuers can create space for their agents to focus on the cases that truly need expertise.

The question isn’t whether disputes will keep growing. They will. But whether your operations can grow with them. So, how ready is your organisation to manage that growth without sacrificing cost efficiency or customer experience?

Dispute volumes are climbing fast, fuelled by more online shopping, friendly fraud, and rising customer expectations. Here's how issuers can keep operations resilient and efficient, even as cases surge.

Working on complex tasks

How to effectively manage a growing volume of disputes

News

From October 26–29, Rivero will be in Las Vegas for Money20/20 USA, joining thousands of leaders across payments, banking, and fintech to explore the future of the industry.

With card network compliance, dispute management, and fraud recovery at the heart of our mission, Money20/20 is the perfect opportunity to connect on how Rivero helps U.S. issuers and processors automate compliance, reduce operational risk, and simplify payment operations.

 will be on-site and available for one-on-one meetings. If you’re attending, it’s a great chance to learn how Rivero can help you:

 to see how Rivero can support your compliance and fraud recovery strategies.

We look forward to connecting with many of you in Las Vegas!

Rivero will be at Money20/20 Las Vegas to discuss card network compliance, dispute management, and fraud recovery. Book a meeting with AE Tommy Townsend.

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Meet Rivero at Money20/20 Las Vegas

As a card issuer, staying on top of Visa and Mastercard communications isn't just about compliance, it's about protecting your business and serving your customers effectively. Both networks send a constant stream of updates, rule changes, and program announcements that directly impact how you operate. Understanding what to expect and when can help you stay ahead of the curve.

Visa Core Rules & Product and Service Rules

Think of this as Visa's constitution, the master document that governs everything from transaction processing to dispute handling. Visa typically updates these rules periodically, with recent editions including detailed "Summary of Changes" sections that highlight what's new.

The rulebook covers transaction authorization, clearing and settlement requirements, issuer and acquirer responsibilities, chargeback and dispute procedures, new payment technologies like 

 or Visa Passkey, and regional variations that can significantly impact your compliance obligations.

Major updates occur 1-2 times per year, with smaller revisions as needed

When these rules change, they often trigger system updates, process changes, and sometimes new product requirements across your organization. 

Mastercard takes a different path, spreading its core rules across multiple documents like the Transaction Processing Rules and Chargeback Guide. Rather than one rulebook, they publish targeted updates through various compliance programs.

These documents cover transaction processing standards, security and fraud prevention requirements, specific compliance program details, and regional rule variations. Updates vary by document type, but expect quarterly to bi-annual updates for major components.

These rulebooks cascade into technical specifications, implementation guides, and best practice documents, each impacting compliance, technology, and product planning.

This is where having a robust scheme compliance management solution like 

 becomes invaluable for tracking and implementing these changes systematically.

The Real-Time Challenge: Risk and Security Updates

Visa has recently consolidated several monitoring programs into the Visa Acquirer Monitoring Program (VAMP) and 

). This change, effective from mid-2025, represents a significant shift in how fraud and dispute monitoring works.

VIMP flags issuers with elevated fraud or dispute rates for card-not-present (CNP) transactions. Metrics include dispute-to-transaction ratios and fraud-to-sales ratios, plus minimum volume thresholds (which vary regionally)

VAMP updates include monthly performance thresholds for fraud and disputes, new monitoring categories like enumeration attacks, consolidated reporting requirements, and updated fine structures. Program updates typically come quarterly, but threshold changes can happen with 3-6 months' notice.

Visa's security updates tend to come through various channels including bulletins, alerts, and program-specific guides. A notable recent change was the sunsetting of their PIN Security Program in late 2023, which shifted more responsibility to issuers for PCI PIN compliance validation.

These communications typically include data security standard updates, new threat intelligence, technology requirement changes, and compliance validation procedures. Security alerts can come monthly or even more frequently during active threat periods.

Mastercard's Structured Security Approach

Mastercard publishes a comprehensive Security Rules and Procedures Manual and maintains regular communication through quarterly PCI newsletters and the Site Data Protection (SDP) Program.

Their security communications include detailed security implementation standards, PCI DSS requirement updates, data breach response procedures, and third-party service provider compliance requirements. The Security Rules Manual updates annually, PCI Newsletters come quarterly, and SDP Program updates arrive as needed, typically 2-3 times per year.

Who Gets Impacted? Your Internal Stakeholders

Understanding how network communications ripple through your organization helps you prepare the right teams for action.

Your scheme compliance team serves as the primary interpreter and distributor of network communications. They analyze rule changes and their implications, coordinate cross-departmental responses, manage relationships with network contacts, and track compliance status across multiple programs.

This team is most impacted by all network communications, but especially rulebook updates and new program launches. Having a centralized system to track and manage these communications becomes critical as the volume and complexity continue to increase.

Network updates often require technical implementation, from system configurations to entirely new capabilities. Your technology and engineering teams handle implementing new authorization requirements, building fraud monitoring tools for programs like VAMP, updating security protocols and data protection measures, and integrating new payment technologies.

These teams are most impacted by security rule changes, new payment technology requirements, and monitoring program updates that require system modifications.

Your operations teams feel the immediate, day-to-day impact of network changes, especially those affecting transaction processing and dispute management. They adjust daily processing procedures, manage tighter timelines for dispute resolution, implement new merchant monitoring processes, and coordinate with external partners on compliance issues.

Operations teams are most impacted by monitoring program threshold changes, dispute procedure updates, and operational requirement modifications.

Network rules often drive product roadmaps by either enabling new capabilities or requiring specific features for compliance. Product development teams incorporate new network requirements into product designs, develop features that help meet compliance thresholds, plan product launches around rule implementation timelines, and ensure new products meet current and upcoming network standards.

These teams are most impacted by core rulebook updates, new payment technology standards, and security requirement changes.

Every network communication has potential financial implications, from new fees to non-compliance penalties. Finance and risk management teams analyze cost implications of rule changes, budget for compliance technology investments, manage financial exposure from monitoring programs, and calculate ROI on proactive compliance measures.

These teams are most impacted by new fee structures, monitoring program penalty schedules, and major compliance requirement changes that could affect the bottom line.

Visa vs. Mastercard: Different Approaches, Similar Goals

 tends toward comprehensive, periodic updates with detailed change summaries. Their recent move to consolidate monitoring programs (like VAMP) reflects a philosophy of simplification and unified compliance frameworks.

 prefers more frequent, targeted communications through distinct programs. This approach allows for more granular control but requires tracking multiple information streams.

With Visa, expect larger, less frequent updates that may require significant cross-departmental coordination. For Mastercard, plan for more frequent, smaller updates that may require ongoing attention from specialized teams.

Both networks apply many rules regionally, meaning your compliance requirements may vary by market. This is particularly important for multi-market issuers who need region-specific compliance strategies, understanding which updates apply to your specific licensing arrangements, and planning implementation timelines that account for regional variations.

Establish a central system for tracking and distributing network communications. This might include regular cross-departmental meetings to discuss upcoming changes, shared documentation systems for tracking implementation status, and clear escalation procedures for time-sensitive updates. Solutions like 

 can help centralize this process and ensure nothing falls through the cracks.

Not all network communications require immediate action. Develop a framework for prioritizing updates based on implementation timelines, potential financial impact, technical complexity, and resource requirements.

Strong relationships with network representatives can provide valuable context and early warning about upcoming changes. Consider participating in network-sponsored webinars and training sessions, attending industry conferences where network representatives present, and maintaining regular communication with your network relationship managers.

The payments landscape continues to evolve rapidly, with new technologies, security threats, and regulatory requirements emerging regularly. Network communications will likely become more frequent and technical as digital payments expand and new use cases emerge.

Key trends to watch include increased focus on real-time fraud detection and prevention, more stringent data security requirements, integration of new payment methods and technologies, and enhanced cross-border compliance requirements.

Successfully navigating Visa and Mastercard communications requires more than just a dedicated compliance team, it 

. By understanding what to expect, when to expect it, and who needs to be involved, you can transform compliance from a reactive burden into a strategic advantage.

The networks' communications aren't just regulatory requirements, they're signals about the future direction of the payments industry. Organizations that master this flow of information will be better positioned to serve their customers, manage risk, and capitalize on new opportunities in an increasingly complex payments ecosystem.

Remember: the goal isn't just to avoid penalties, but to use these insights to build stronger, more secure, and more competitive payment products and services.

Ready to streamline your scheme compliance management? 

 helps card issuers track, manage, and implement network communications efficiently. 

 to see how we can help you stay ahead of the curve in this rapidly evolving landscape.

Visa and Mastercard issue constant updates that directly impact issuers. From rulebooks to fraud monitoring and security changes, this guide breaks down what to expect, who’s affected, and how to turn compliance communications into a strategic advantage

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A card issuer's guide to Visa and Mastercard communications

Gain exclusive insights into the evolving world of payments that are reshaping the banking sector and enhancing customer experiences.

Thought Leadership

 offers a critical window into the state of customer trust across the UK financial services industry. While the headline figures might suggest a market-wide improvement, a deeper look reveals a more complex and challenging reality for the banking and credit card sector.

The patterns emerging from the second half of 2024 complaints data suggest that banks face a fundamental challenge in maintaining customer trust during their most vulnerable moments. 

Here's what the numbers tell us: This data comes from 220 companies, including 52 banks, over six months in 2024. And the results are eye-opening. Nearly half (49%) of all complaints are about cards and payments. Add in insurance complaints (40%), and you've got 89% of all customer problems. That's a huge chunk of unhappy customers dealing with payment issues

The FCA data reveals a troubling reality about dispute resolution efficiency across the industry. Here's the problem: Only 46% of complaints get sorted within three days. That means more than half take longer. And it's getting worse. A small percentage of total complaints are being resolved quickly now compared to 2022-2024, suggesting that complexity and workload are outpacing operational improvements

Even more concerning? Nearly half (49%) of complaints take weeks to resolve. Think about that. You have a problem with your card, and there's almost a 50/50 chance you'll be waiting weeks for an answer.

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This costs banks serious money. Every complaint sitting in the system for weeks means staff time, paperwork, and frustrated customers. When half your complaints take weeks to solve, you're basically running a slow, expensive process that nobody likes

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The Erosion of Trust: From a Card Dispute to a Lost Customer

Beyond the operational costs, the most significant long-term risk exposed by this data is the erosion of 

. The number of complaints that are ultimately upheld in a customer’s favour is a powerful metric. When a Financial Institution admits that a complaint is valid, it’s an acknowledgement of a failure in its processes, products, or services.  

And here's the kicker: 56% of complaints are upheld. And around half of them (the 49% mentioned above) had to wait for more than 3 days for a resolution. That means more than half the time, the customer was right. Think about what that means. Most people complaining aren't just being difficult. They have legitimate problems that the bank should have fixed from the start.

The upheld rates for some of the UK’s largest banks are substantial. Banks like HSBC, Lloyds, Santander, and Barclays all had tens of thousands of complaints upheld in just one six-month period. This indicates that many customer grievances are not frivolous but are justified issues that should have been addressed from the outset.  

A negative experience in a core service like card payments can have a ripple effect across a customer's entire relationship with a bank. A stressful or inefficient fraud resolution process can damage a customer's confidence in a bank’s reliability, potentially influencing their decision to look elsewhere for higher-value products such as a loan or a mortgage. In a competitive market, the ability to handle complaints effectively is not just a measure of its customer service, but a leading indicator of its overall business health.  

The trend isn't improving either. Complaint numbers are staying the same or going up. So we're looking at more complaints, longer wait times, and most customers being proven right. That's not a recipe for happy customers

Moving Forward: A Proactive Approach to Complaints

The takeaway is clear: complaints data should not be viewed as a backward-looking compliance exercise. It is a strategic tool for proactive business improvement. By leveraging technology to automate the triage of simple cases, banks can free up human agents to provide a more empathetic and effective service for complex issues. Adopting this strategic approach can transform a bank’s complaints framework from a costly liability into a powerful engine for building and protecting customer trust.

FCA data reveals business-critical trust issues in UK banking: 49% of complaints are payment-related, 56% upheld, and nearly half take weeks to resolve. Explore how banks can rebuild consumer confidence.

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The banking complaints conundrum: Are UK banks losing the trust battle?

While banks spend millions protecting against card fraud and account takeovers, there's a quieter threat draining their profits: serial disputers. These individuals exploit the very systems designed to protect consumers, turning chargebacks into a mechanism for organized refund abuse. 

The numbers are staggering. What started as isolated "friendly fraud" cases has evolved into organized fraud-as-a-service operations, complete with TikTok tutorials and professional refund services. 

For issuing banks and card issuers, understanding and addressing this challenge is critical to protecting their bottom line and maintaining the integrity of the payments network.

This blog post dives into the world of serial disputers, a category that includes sophisticated refund fraudsters and those who weaponize "empty box" claims. We will clarify the distinctions between different types of disputes, explore the tactics used by these abusers, and outline a path forward using advanced technological solutions, like 

, to identify, track, and ultimately prevent this rising threat.

Defining the Battlefield: Disputes, Fraud, and Friendly Fraud

Let's clear up some terminology first, because the payments industry loves throwing around words like "disputes," "fraud," and "chargebacks" as if they're all the same thing.

The serial disputer is an evolution of the friendly fraudster. Instead of a single, opportunistic act, a serial disputer makes a habit of it, systematically filing disputes across multiple accounts and transactions. They often leverage sophisticated tactics to avoid detection, making them a significant challenge for traditional fraud detection systems.

The Anatomy of Serial Disputers: Beyond the Individual

Serial disputers operate in two primary ways: as individuals who repeatedly exploit the system, and as part of a more organized network, which the industry is now referring to as "Fraud-as-a-Service."

These are a growing problem for issuers. They are not one-time offenders but repeat players who have identified a loophole in the chargeback process. They might make a purchase, receive the item, and then immediately file a dispute claiming "item not received" or that the box was "empty." Their goal is to get a refund while keeping the product. They learn which claim codes are least likely to be challenged and which merchants have the weakest dispute resolution processes.

 This is the more alarming trend. As highlighted by experts in the field, FaaS is flourishing on social media platforms like TikTok and messaging apps, moving from the dark web to the surface web. These services offer a "fraudster-for-hire" model where an individual can pay a fee (often a percentage of the desired refund) to have an experienced fraudster handle the entire chargeback process on their behalf.

The FaaS operators have developed sophisticated scripts and methods, and because they are not directly linked to the original transaction, they are difficult for traditional fraud systems to flag. They're ghosts in the machine, and 

, the more complex the ecosystem becomes, the more opportunities for abuse emerge.

The Challenge of Identity: Tracking a Cardholder Despite PAN Changes

One consideration for issuers in combating serial disputers is the issue of identity persistence. A cardholder's Primary Account Number (PAN), which is the 16-digit card number, can change frequently due to card expiry, reissuance after a fraud event, or replacement. At first glance, this might seem to allow a serial disputer to simply get a new card and appear as a “new” customer. In practice, most issuers can identify all PANs connected to a customer, whether active, closed, or reissued, typically through a stable customer ID in the core banking system. This makes the risk of “starting fresh” lower for issuers, though it can still present challenges in edge cases.

, banks need to think beyond individual transactions and look at the whole customer relationship.

Combating a sophisticated and organized threat like serial disputers requires an equally sophisticated and technologically advanced solution. Traditional, manual case management is simply not equipped to handle the volume and complexity of these disputes. This is where advanced solutions, such as Rivero's Amiko, become essential.

Amiko is a comprehensive dispute and fraud management platform designed specifically for issuing banks. Its capabilities go beyond simple case tracking to provide an end-to-end solution for fighting fraud and dispute abuse.

1. Amiko's Virtual Agent Capabilities: The First Line of Defense

The first interaction a cardholder has when they want to dispute a charge is often with a bank's customer service. Amiko’s Self-service Virtual Agent acts as a virtual fraud and dispute agent, providing an immediate, intelligent response within a user's app or portal.


Instead of relying on a human agent who might not be able to spot subtle patterns, the chatbot can be trained with "curated skills" to handle various dispute conversations. It can ask the right questions to determine if a dispute is a legitimate error, a simple friendly fraud claim, or part of a larger pattern. Moreso, the Virtual Agent challenges the customer if something is suspicious, marks the claim as ‘questionable’ in order to alert the agent and rejects the claim if there are clearly no grounds for chargeback.

The virtual agent can leverage data from merchant collaboration networks like Ethoca and Verifi to enrich transaction data with digital receipts and other relevant information. This provides immediate context, allowing the system to quickly resolve simple cases and escalate suspicious ones

2. Process Automation & Smart Case Management

The true power of Amiko lies in its ability to automate the entire dispute lifecycle, from initial claim to final resolution. This automation is particularly critical for combating serial disputers, who exploit manual gaps in dispute handling to repeatedly file fraudulent claims. By tracking disputes across cards, accounts, and customer identifiers, Amiko ensures repeat offenders are flagged early, preventing them from abusing the system.



 Amiko consolidates the entire process into a single platform. This includes communication with the cardholder, collaboration with merchants, and handling official scheme disputes (e.g., Mastercom, VROL). This eliminates the need to switch between multiple systems, reducing human error and improving efficiency, and thus ensures that serial disputers cannot take advantage of inconsistent documentation or delays, as every case is recorded accurately.



 Instead of manual data entry, Amiko can automatically create cases and pre-fill data, including the necessary chargeback codes. This ensures accuracy and speed, which are critical in a time-sensitive process.



The platform guides agents through the dispute process, ensuring they follow the correct steps and that all deadlines are met. This is particularly important for junior agents or in high-volume situations, preventing costly mistakes and lost disputes.



 Amiko provides a central hub for all case documentation. It can automatically detect document types (e.g., invoices, shipping receipts) and highlight important tags, ensuring all relevant evidence is easily accessible for the agent.



, banks are realizing that automation isn't just nice to have, it's essential.

3. Proactive Fraud Recovery through Data Analytics

Amiko's robust search & customized views feature is where issuers can proactively combat serial disputers. With over 100 filter criteria, an analyst can:



By cross-referencing dispute history with persistent identifiers, issuers can flag cardholders who repeatedly file disputes, even with different cards.



Our dashboard capabilities are constantly evolving and provide issuers with tools to spot emerging dispute trends. At the same time Amiko allows users to export dispute data in the form of various reports, making it easier to track and share in your organization,

By moving beyond reactive fraud recovery to a proactive, data-driven approach, issuers can identify and prevent serial disputers before they cause significant financial damage.

The rise of serial disputers and organized "fraud-as-a-service" represents a new frontier in the battle against financial crime. For issuing banks, it is no longer enough to react to individual fraudulent transactions. The key to long-term success lies in adopting a holistic, cardholder-centric approach that leverages technology to identify and track patterns of abuse.

 are already seeing the benefits of taking a comprehensive approach to dispute management. When you combine intelligent automation with proactive pattern detection, the results speak for themselves:

Even our recent discussions on industry podcasts highlight how banks are recognizing that the old ways of handling disputes simply don't work anymore.

The good news? Banks don't have to fight this battle with outdated tools. By adopting a cardholder-centric approach and leveraging intelligent automation, you can:

The question isn't whether serial disputers will continue to evolve. They will. The question is whether your bank will evolve faster than they do.

Ready to take the fight to serial disputers? The technology exists, the patterns are identifiable, and the solution is proven. All that's left is making the decision to move from reactive to proactive dispute management.

Want to see how Amiko can help your bank identify fraud patterns and prevent dispute abuse? 

While banks invest heavily in preventing card fraud and account takeovers, serial disputers are exploiting dispute systems to drain profits. This blog explores how “fraud-as-a-service” is fueling organized refund abuse and how banks can fight back using advanced tools like Rivero’s Amiko.

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The hidden pattern: How issuing banks can spot and stop serial disputers and refund fraud

I had a fascinating conversation with one of my friends, an expert in fraud detection and prevention. We chatted about trends and new fraud attack vectors, which made me stop and think: fraudsters are getting far too good at playing the long game.

Here's an example - would you come up with such a game plan? 

You apply for a job, let's say, through LinkedIn. It looks legitimate. The company page checks out. The recruiter has a credible profile. You upload or send your CV, maybe even answer some "screening questions". 

Congratulations, the fraudsters now have your full name, email address, phone number, employment history, and, in some cases, even your home address. That's not just data, that's ammunition.

A few days or maybe even weeks later, you get a call from a "bank". They tell you they're just following up because "the loan you applied for has been approved". Of course, you never applied for a loan with that bank. However, because they reference your personal information, which they obtained from the fake job post, such as your place of work, the industry you're in, and possibly even your financial situation, it suddenly feels plausible.

They don't ask for your password. They don't need to. Instead, they say: "We just need to verify your account number, so we can cancel the loan if it wasn't you.".  

But the account number they read back isn't yours. And here's the sting: through clever social engineering, they trick you into making a "verification" or a "refundable cancellation fee" payment. They've turned your job hunt into their revenue stream.

I have to admit: it's sophisticated. And it's a sign of where fraud is heading.

Fraud today isn't always about brute-force attacks or phishing emails with bad spelling. It's about exploiting trust, context, and timing. It's about knowing that when you're in a vulnerable moment, such as searching for a new role or anxious about your finances, you're more likely to believe a convincing voice on the other end of the phone.

And the numbers back this up. UK Finance's latest fraud report shows that 

 (APP) fraud,where victims are tricked into sending money to criminals, continues to rise, costing over £459 million in 2023 alone. Account-to-account fraud is increasingly powered by psychology, not technology.

Banks need to double down on proactive customer education, not just after the fact.

Platforms that enable the collection of personal information must recognise that fake job postings aren't just spam, they're fraud pipelines.

This blog explores how fake job postings are being used as a new fraud pipeline, where scammers harvest personal data under the guise of recruitment and then convert it into Authorised Push Payment (APP) fraud. We unpack how the scam unfolds, why it represents a dangerous shift in fraud tactics, and what banks, platforms, and individuals must do to stay protected.

Blog

Payment network compliance: From compliance burden to strategic asset

How to effectively manage a growing volume of disputes

Meet Rivero at Money20/20 Las Vegas

A card issuer's guide to Visa and Mastercard communications

The banking complaints conundrum: Are UK banks losing the trust battle?

The hidden pattern: How issuing banks can spot and stop serial disputers and refund fraud

When a job application becomes a fraud attack

How to organise a dispute management flow

The dispute lifecycle explained