Mastercard unveils ‘Crypto Secure’ a fraud prevention solution

LAGOS (CoinChapter.com) — Payment giant Mastercard has launched a new digital asset solution “Crypto Secure” focused on helping banks find and prevent fraud on digital asset merchant platforms.

In detail, Mastercard rolled out the new solution to help financial firms and other card issuers assess the risk profile of crypto exchanges or other virtual asset service providers.

Mastercard in a statement stated that the new fraud prevention feature will be available across 2,400 exchanges. It further noted that Crypto Secure will be powered by CipherTrace, a crypto anti-money laundering and fraud detection technology provider.

Notably, CipherTrace which was acquired by Mastercard a year ago will use artificial intelligence algorithms and data from public blockchains to assess the prevalence of financial crime on crypto exchanges.

The firm provides each card issuer with a color-coded dashboard that shows where their cardholders are purchasing crypto. Fundamentally, Crypto Secure will allow issuers to identify and turn away transactions with crypto merchants who are predispose to fraudulent activity.

Ajay Bhalla, president of Mastercard cyber and intelligence in a statement expressed delight with the new feature. She pointed out that the new platform will have unique capabilities including identifying crypto exchanges, measuring transaction approvals and declines, understanding customers’ portfolio risk, and accessing a benchmark for peer group financial institutions.

$4 Billion Worth Of Crypto Laundered This Year

Meanwhile, it is worth noting that crypto fraud and money laundering have been on the rise. In 2022, over $4 billion worth of crypto has been launder on decentralized cryptocurrency exchanges, according to crypto analytic firm Elliptic.

Furthermore, data from Elliptic revealed that hackers stole $540 million from RenBrdige cross-chain this year by hackers. Additionally, most bad actors plaguing the blockchain space are linked to North Korea’s Lazarus Group and Russia’s Wizard Spier cybercrime gang.

Notably, the illicit actors are increasingly targeting decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols, which are uniquely vulnerable to hacking. Moreover, $190 million was recently from crypto startup Nomad and $5 million from several Solana digital wallets in August.

Additionally, in Australia investors lost $242 million to investment and crypto-related scams. Wormhole, another blockchain bridge between the Ethereum and Solana networks, lost $325 million in a hack this year.

“The only way to stop them is for the industry to shore up security and educate consumers on how to find safe projects to invest in.”

An expert said.

Fraudulent Crypto Scam Decreasing —Report

Despite the high figure, a report from blockchain firm Chainalysis indicates that fraudulent activities in the industry is decreasing. Notably, scam revenue in 2022 is down 15% year over year.

According to Chainalysis, 2021 marked a new all-time high in crypto crime with fraudulent wallet addresses receiving $14 billion. When compared to the $4 billion recorded so far in 2022 the rate of fraudulent activity has dropped significantly.