Revolut launches AI feature to break the scammers’ "spell"

Revolut has announced the launch of an advanced scam detection feature to help protect customers from card scams.

Revolut customers can now experience an added layer of security protection, on top of the technology already in place, to detect APP (Authorised Push Payment) scams, where criminals trick the user to get them to transfer money to another account.

Revolut has launched an advanced AI-scam feature, developed by its financial crime team, employing machine learning to identify potential scams and prevent customers from transferring funds to fraudsters. This innovative feature evaluates the likelihood of a transaction being a scam, automatically declining suspicious payments. It safeguards users from similar fraudulent activities by initiating an in-app scam intervention process. Here, users are asked to provide more details about their attempted transaction to assess if they're being manipulated. Additionally, users receive educational content on scams to encourage critical thinking before payment completion. If necessary, customers are directed to a live chat with a Revolut fraud specialist for a more thorough investigation into the potential scam.

Since its introduction, Revolut has reported a 30% decrease in fraud losses attributed to card scams, particularly those involving supposed investment opportunities.

David Eborne, Head of Fraud at Revolut, said: "We’re very excited to be launching our new AI-scam feature which implements advanced technology to interrupt fraudsters taking advantage of everyday people. We’ve invested heavily in the product to ensure that customers can continue to spend and send their money safely. For example, a growing number of banks are increasingly restricting or heavily limiting the ability to make card payments to crypto and investment websites. With this advanced feature, rather than completely block those transactions, we ensure that customers who want to perform legitimate payments continue to do so, but also intervene to protect those who are being guided by criminals to make fraudulent ones. We are giving our customers both freedom and security at the same time”.

Across its UK customer base in 2023, Revolut found that 60% of all of its reported UK scam cases originated from just three sources: Facebook, Instagram, and Whatsapp. Additionally, 33% of the total value of all money lost to scams began on Meta platforms across the same period. The use of Meta platforms as the primary originator of scams is only increasing, rising from 52% of all reported cases in the UK in the first half of the year, to 66% in the six months to the end of December 2023

The new AI card scam feature is live in the Revolut app and available to customers worldwide.