NICE Actimize Report: Check Fraud Accounts for 52% of Overall Fraud-Value Attempts
- The NICE Actimize annual report on fraud is available
- Check fraud attempts are for larger dollar amounts than any other fraud attempt
- NICE Actimize recommends key areas of improvement for financial institutions to consider
In a recent press release, NICE Actimize published its annual report on fraud, based on 2024 data. The report, entitled "2025 NICE Actimize Fraud Insights Report, U.S. Retail Payments Edition," focuses on US payments, providing insight into market-specific fraud trends.
As a leading fraud platform, NICE Actimize is a proponent of the multi-layered technology approach to fraud. In fact, through their X-Sight Marketplace, many financial institutions are now leveraging technologies from fintech vendors like OrboGraph to enhance their check fraud detection capabilities.
With this in mind, it's no surprise that checks are prominent in the report; check fraud accounts for 52% of overall fraud-value attempts.
While check fraud dominates in terms of value, the report reveals that checks account for only 21% of volume, indicating that each check fraud attempt is for a larger dollar amount than any other fraud attempt. NICE Actimize concludes that fraudsters are targeting different characteristics of each payment for fraud.
The report’s statistics also show that fraudsters are strategically targeting different payment types based on their characteristics—high-value fraud through checks and wires, and high-frequency, lower-value fraud through faster digital channels like Zelle.
Check Fraud Data
According to the report, check fraud is the only segment where attempted fraud value increased roughly in line with the overall value, with 9% vs. 10%, respectively. Also, in terms of volume, checks are broadly in line with general growth; they've experienced 19% vs. 21% growth, unlike the other payment channels.
Diving deeper into the report, we can see what channel is being exploited most by fraudsters -- check deposit fraud occurs 51% of the time at a bank branch.
The report highlights the differences in value of fraudulent checks depending on the deposit channel:
- Branch: $13,648
- ATM: $6,408
- Mobile: $3,240
The data also show an interesting pattern. According to the report:
ATM is by far the most interesting segment. Our insights show that a significant volume of the deposits take place within recently opened accounts. As shown in the pie chart on page 7, 23% of Check fraud deposits made via ATM take place within the first 30 days of account opening.
Additionally, 19% of the total value of checks deposited via ATM within the first 30 days of an account opening are fraudulent.
Recommendations from NICE Actimize
NICE Actimize suggests key areas of improvement for financial institutions to consider when tackling check fraud:
- Onboarding & early account monitoring
- Ensure solutions are truly cross-channel
- Integrate check fraud imaging
- Have a playbook ready
These elements should be integrated into every financial institution's multi-layered approach for check fraud -- particularly integrating a check image fraud detection solution like Anywhere Fraud. Fraudsters have evolved their tactics for altering and counterfeiting checks, and even the most keen-eyed bank employee may not identify a fraudulent check at the branch. The steps NICE Actimize recommends provide added protection and enable back-end fraud analysts to efficiently review potential fraudulent items.
