PayPal is introducing AI-Powered scam alerts

PayPal has launched AI-powered, dynamic scam detection for PayPal and Venmo Friends and Family payments. „Designed to proactively alert customers to potential scams and prevent losses in real-time, the alerts intervene when it matters most – before any funds are sent.” – according to the press release.  

„As scammers attempt to coerce people into sending payments that may not be eligible for refunds, including scams that originate on social media, we believe putting more information directly into customers’ hands will empower them to help stop scams in their tracks.”- the company says.   

Paypal explains:

„When building PayPal’s dynamic alert system, we focused on both effective fraud mitigation strategies as well as enhancing the user experience. The alerts pop up when the system detects a potential scam, sharing critical and relevant information about the likelihood of fraud right at the point of payment. To help stay ahead of the curve, the alerts learn and adapt to evolving scam tactics. PayPal’s system leverages continually learning AI models that quickly analyze billions of data points and update when patterns change. This means our system can help more quickly detect a potential new scam, even if we have never seen that specific scam before.”  

„Unlike traditional, one-size-fits-all static warnings, PayPal’s alerts are dynamic and tailored to be shown based on the likelihood of fraud for each transaction. The system shares messages that appropriately reflect the risk level of the payment customers are trying to make. It also sends progressively stricter alerts as its confidence that a scam exists grows and adds more friction into completing payments for higher-risk scenarios. We continue to automatically decline payments that we detect as highly risky.”  

The alerts are live in all global markets in which PayPal operates, and across the U.S. on Venmo.