As payments move deeper into the artificial intelligence economy, fraud is evolving alongside it, adopting the same technologies that power faster, more seamless commerce. James Mirfin, SVP, Head of Risk and Security Intelligence Solutions at Visa, said the transformation is fundamental. “Fraud has become a business, an economy,” he told PYMNTS CEO Karen Webster, adding that technology has shifted criminal activity from ad hoc schemes to coordinated, professionalized operations. Advanced technology has not only empowered defenders. It has given fraudsters new weapons. Mirfin pointed to the rise of agents, deepfakes and voice cloning as tools that allow scams to scale faster and appear more convincing. Criminals are automating activities that once required human labor, enabling attacks to run continuously and at massive volume. Advertisement: Scroll to Continue Equally concerning is the patience of modern fraud operations. “These guys are patient,” Mirfin said. Credentials may be tested, shelved and sold months later, after consumers believe the risk has passed. Fraud is no longer about quick wins but sustained exploitation. An Asymmetric Battle for Banks The challenge for banks is structural asymmetry. Fraudsters move quickly because they can. Banks move carefully because they must. “Banks aren’t notorious for being fast,” Mirfin said. Legacy systems, regulatory obligations and operational complexity limit how quickly institutions can adapt, even as fraud typologies evolve daily. Criminals, by contrast, can experiment, fail and pivot with little consequence. The problem has grown more complex as payments choice expands. Consumers now move fluidly between cards, faster payments and other rails, often assuming the same protections apply across all of them. That fragmentation makes intent harder to determine and increases the risk of misclassifying legitimate behavior. False Positives, False Declines and Payments Choice The result is a flood of false positives and false declines that frustrate consumers, cost merchants sales