01/05/2026

How fraud detection rules are evolving in 2026

FinTech Global

In 2024, consumers and businesses reported losses of more than $12.5bn to fraud, representing a 25% year-on-year increase.

According to AiPrise, the scale of this growth underlines a hard reality for organisations operating in financial services, payments and crypto: criminal tactics are evolving faster than many traditional controls. Fraud today is no longer slow, obvious or isolated. It is automated, coordinated and increasingly difficult to distinguish from legitimate activity, placing constant pressure on risk and compliance teams.

Modern fraud attacks exploit weaknesses in static rule sets, hide within normal-looking transactions and test controls at speed. While most organisations already rely on rule-based controls within their risk engines, understanding how these rules function — and how to adapt them — has become critical to managing losses while keeping false positives in check. When applied correctly, fraud detection rules act as the first decision layer, determining which activity deserves scrutiny and which can proceed without friction.