As part of this week’s Wednesday Wisdom the team took a look at loyalty fraud and how recent technological developments are impacting the loyalty landscape. Increasing online activity coupled with a growing number of loyalty programmes of greater complexity and sophisticated methods of attack provide an attractive and lucrative opportunity for fraudsters.

The team discussed how one of the many challenges facing the industry is the lack of a universal definition of what 'loyalty fraud' means due to the vast range in how loyalty programmes are designed and reward customers. This has ultimately led to a legal grey area that has been exploited by criminals to avoid prosecution.

With fraudulent attacks on loyalty programmes on the rise and the methods of attack becoming more and more sophisticated, the team reviewed the different forms loyalty fraud can take, the various consequences a fraudulent incident can have for a business and what the future of loyalty fraud is likely to look like.

Through regularly reviewing the latest research, our programmes and fraudulent behaviour on other loyalty programmes, Stream aim to ensure that we are continually improving our processes, keeping our programmes secure and staying ahead of potential future threats.