Visa identified scams timed around gift buying and other predictable consumer activities as a major payment-security concern for 2026. Its January 21 outlook described criminals switching between holiday offers, tax refunds and retail promotions as shopping behavior changed.

Chief risk and client services officer Paul Fabara said inexpensive tools were making sophisticated fraud easier to launch. The company also pointed to deepfakes and synthetic identities, arguing that attacks increasingly targeted a person's identity rather than a single transaction.

Shipping and romance scams were among the threats Visa said were expanding. Its proposed response combined AI-assisted detection, faster intelligence exchange and cooperation among banks, merchants, telecom providers, digital platforms and law enforcement across borders.

Visa said it had invested about $13 billion in ecosystem protection over five years. It also reported detecting $1 billion in scams through its Scam Disruption initiative since the program's 2024 launch. The outlook presented these as company-reported measures of its response.