In this episode of Fraudology, Karisse Hendrick provides a comprehensive debrief following the Merchant Risk Council (MRC) Vegas conference. Karisse shares her highlights and lowlights from one of the industry's biggest events, cutting through the conference hype to provide practical insights for fraud and payments professionals.

The conversation explores the evolving mechanics of Agentic AI in commerce, detailing how tools like Sardine are now identifying AI agents by monitoring "invisible" behaviors, such as fields being filled without mouse movement. Karisse provides an inside look at why OpenAI recently shelved its "instant checkout" feature, moving away from being a merchant of record to avoid the liability of chargebacks and complex transaction enablement.

We also explore the "hot topics" dominating the fraud landscape today:

• The VAMP Threshold "Cliff": How Visa is drastically reducing high-risk merchant ratios from 220 basis points to 150 basis points this April, potentially catching many enterprise merchants off guard.
• The Complexity of Agentic Chargebacks: Real-world examples of "authorized" AI purchases where merchants are losing disputes because card brands like Visa do not yet have established "compelling evidence" protocols for AI agents.
• The Human Element vs. AI: Why senior fraud leadership cannot be replaced by LLMs, as the critical "domain expertise" required to manage sophisticated fraud is not found in open-source data.

Additionally, Karisse dives into the latest FTC fraud statistics, revealing a staggering 430% increase in fraud since 2020. We break down the $375 million jury verdict against Meta in New Mexico, a historic win for child safety that challenges the long-standing "Section 230" liability shield. Finally, we examine a Reuters study uncovering how Meta's ability to block scam ads depends almost entirely on the financial liability they face in specific countries.

In this episode of Fraudology, host Karisse Hendrick provides a comprehensive debrief following the Merchant Risk Council (MRC) Vegas conference. Karisse shares her highlights and lowlights from one of the industry's biggest events, cutting through the conference hype to provide practical insights for fraud and payments professionals.

The conversation explores the evolving mechanics of Agentic AI in commerce, detailing how tools like Sardine are now identifying AI agents by monitoring "invisible" behaviors, such as fields being filled without mouse movement. Karisse provides an inside look at why OpenAI recently shelved its "instant checkout" feature, moving away from being a merchant of record to avoid the liability of chargebacks and complex transaction enablement.

We also explore the "hot topics" dominating the fraud landscape today:

1. The VAMP Threshold "Cliff": How Visa is drastically reducing high-risk merchant ratios from 220 basis points to 150 basis points this April, potentially catching many enterprise merchants off guard.
2. The Complexity of Agentic Chargebacks: Real-world examples of "authorized" AI purchases where merchants are losing disputes because card brands like Visa do not yet have established "compelling evidence" protocols for AI agents.
3. The Human Element vs. AI: Why senior fraud leadership cannot be replaced by LLMs, as the critical "domain expertise" required to manage sophisticated fraud is not found in open-source data.

In this episode of Fraudology, host Karisse Hendrick is joined by Frank McKenna, Chief Fraud Strategist at PointPredictive and the mind behind Frank on Fraud. Frank shares his latest deep dive into Starkiller, a sophisticated new phishing-as-a-service (PaaS) platform that emerged following the takedown of Tycoon 2FA.

The conversation explores the terrifying mechanics of Attacker-in-the-Middle (AITM) attacks, where fraudsters use "headless browsers" to mirror legitimate login sessions in real-time. Frank provides an inside look at how this tool allows criminals to capture not just credentials, but also two-factor authentication (2FA) codes and session cookies, enabling them to maintain access even after a user logs out.

We also explore the "hot topics" dominating the fraud landscape today:

1. ATO Without a Login Event: How marketplaces are seeing "good" users perform legitimate actions, only to have their payout information changed moments later within the same session.
2. The Democratization of Fraud: The professionalization of phishing kits on Telegram, which offer Netflix-style subscriptions and user-friendly dashboards for as little as $300 to $500 a month.
3. Detection Challenges: Why traditional device intelligence and cybersecurity tools struggle to flag these attacks because the victim is interacting with the real merchant website, not a clone.

In this episode of Fraudology, Karisse Hendrick is joined by Keith Briscoe, VP of Education and Advocacy at the Merchant Risk Council (MRC). Keith shares his journey from marketing commodity transaction software in the late '90s to falling in love with the high-value world of fraud intelligence at Ethoca.

The conversation dives deep into the MRC's critical role in global advocacy, highlighting how they foster balanced dialogues between merchants, issuers, and card networks to create sustainable change. Keith provides an inside look at the recent evolution of Visa’s Acquirer Monitoring Program (VAMP) and the collaborative effort to make its thresholds and calculations more equitable for merchants.

We also explore the "hot topics" dominating the industry today:

1. Agentic Commerce: How AI-driven shopping agents are redefining liability and the "intention" behind a purchase.
2. Professional Certification: The growth of the CPFPP (Certified Payments and Fraud Prevention Professional) program and its role in standardizing expertise for the next generation of fraud fighters.
3. Event Innovation: A preview of the MRC’s new "Lightning Talks" in Las Vegas—bite-sized, high-impact sessions designed for a new generation of learners.

In this episode of the Fraudology podcast, Karisse Hendrick is joined by Matt Vega, Chief Fraud Strategist at Sardine, to explore how artificial intelligence has fundamentally altered the threat landscape for financial institutions and online retailers.

First, Matt reveals the alarming ease with which AI can now be used to orchestrate phishing campaigns. Using advanced tools like Vercel’s v0, Matt demonstrates how he can clone a legitimate website—complete with branding, functional images, and login flows—in less than five minutes. He explains how attackers use these replicas to execute sophisticated "man-in-the-middle" attacks, tricking victims into handing over two-factor authentication (2FA) codes to gain fully authenticated access to accounts.

Later in the episode, Matt and Karisse dive into the rise of "polymorphic" AI attacks. These autonomous agents are capable of adapting their behavior in real-time to bypass bot detection and security thresholds as soon as they are implemented. Matt also discusses "dust trailing," a tactic where fraudsters spread large volumes of small transactions across hundreds of platforms to make traditional human investigation cost-prohibitive.

In this episode, we discuss:

1. The 5-Minute Phish: How AI models use simple screenshots and prompts to create pixel-perfect clones of banks and government agencies.
2. Polymorphic Attacks: The emergence of autonomous AI agents that instantly adapt to security controls, making traditional bot mitigation obsolete.
3. The Power of Basics: Why "low-tech" solutions like card-to-name matching and behavioral biometrics remain the most effective tools against high-tech fraud.
4. Threat Intelligence: Best practices for proactive defense, including beacon technology, "hidden watermarks," and strategic domain acquisition.
5. Upcoming Events: Details on meeting Matt and the Sardine team at the upcoming MRC conference in Las Vegas.

Fraudology is presented by Sardine. Request a 1:1 product demo at sardine.ai

In this solo episode, Karisse Hendrick checks in from a hotel room in San Diego at the Merchant Advisory Group (MAG) conference to share urgent intelligence from the front lines of e-commerce fraud before the full chaos of conference season begins.

First, Karisse explores two sophisticated new fraud trends that are leaving even seasoned investigators scratching their heads. She breaks down the rise of the "Two-Victim ATO," a unique spin on account takeover where fraudsters leverage the "legacy" and trust of an active account to bypass security, only to hit it with a completely different person's stolen credit card. Then, she dives into a high-tech trend hitting digital gift card retailers: Malware-driven session hijacking. Karisse discusses how fraudsters "piggyback" on a legitimate customer's active session and device to commit a second, high-value theft—making it nearly impossible for traditional fraud systems to flag as a separate entity.

Later in the episode, Karisse discusses the "scary" new frontier of Agentic AI. She shares insights from recent tests by major retailers showing that autonomous shopping bots are beginning to make purchases that are currently indistinguishable from human behavior, creating a massive "Know Your Agent" (KYA) challenge for the industry.

In this episode, we discuss:

1. The Two-Victim ATO: Why fraudsters are adding new payment methods to active, high-history accounts instead of just using cards on file.
2. Session Hijacking & Malware: How bad actors are using VPNs and malware to "replay" or continue a legitimate customer's session to buy high-value gift cards.
3. Agentic AI & KYA: The difficulty in identifying AI-initiated transactions and why current device ID technology can't tell the difference between a human and a bot.
4. Upcoming Events: Details on the Merchant Advisory Group, and the first annual Merchant Fraud Alliance Conference in Chicago this October.

Fraudology is hosted by Karisse Hendrick, a fraud fighter with decades of experience advising hundreds of the biggest ecommerce companies in the world on fraud, chargebacks, and other forms of abuse impacting a company's bottom line.

Connect with her on LinkedIn

She brings her experience, expertise, and extensive network of experts to this podcast weekly, on Tuesdays.

Fraudology is presented by Sardine. Request a 1:1 product demo at sardine.ai

In this solo "vacation" episode, Karisse Hendrick checks in from the island of Maui to catch up on the latest in the fraud world before the chaos of conference season begins.

First, Karisse explores a hilarious yet alarming trend in artificial intelligence: AI Hallucinations. Reading from a recent article by Frank McKenna, she highlights how Google’s AI summary tool is confidently inventing absurd fraud schemes—from the "Donkey Scam" involving miniature donkey rescues to the bizarre "Clown Smile Scam" in the dentistry industry. While the examples are funny, Karisse discusses the serious integrity risks that arise when AI refuses to say "I don't know" and instead presents fiction as fact to analysts, journalists, and students.

Later in the episode, Karisse dives into a deeper, more personal topic: The difference between a Fraud Professional and a Fraud Fighter. She shares "core memory" stories—including taking a fraud emergency call from the middle of a family corn maze—to illustrate the relentless drive and "addiction to the hunt" that defines a true fraud fighter.

In this episode, we discuss:

1. The AI Information Gap: Why Google’s AI summaries are creating "fake" fraud types like hot dog fraud and snowman schemes.
2. Content Integrity: Karisse’s concerns about AI models using creator content without proper citation or compensation.
3. The Fraud Fighter Identity: How to recognize if you have fraud prevention in your DNA and why it matters when building a team.
4. Upcoming Events: Details on the Merchant Advisory Group, the Merchant Risk Council (MRC) in Vegas, and the first annual Merchant Fraud Alliance Conference in Chicago this October.

Fraudology is hosted by Karisse Hendrick, a fraud fighter with decades of experience advising hundreds of the biggest ecommerce companies in the world on fraud, chargebacks, and other forms of abuse impacting a company's bottom line.

Connect with her on LinkedIn

She brings her experience, expertise, and extensive network of experts to this podcast weekly, on Tuesdays.

Fraudology is presented by Sardine. Request a 1:1 product demo at sardine.ai

In this episode of Fraudology, Karisse Hendrick welcomes back elite fraud fighter and Stratovera CEO Robert Capps to discuss the shifting power balance in the age of AI. Robert shares a fascinating "thought experiment" where he used Large Language Models (LLMs) to reverse engineer obfuscated JavaScript, proving that even non-technical attackers can now identify and dismantle complex front-end fraud tools in real-time.

The conversation dives deep into the "Build vs. Buy" debate, with Robert cautioning organizations that the true cost of building internal tools isn't just the initial code—it's the ongoing "immune response" required to fight an AI-powered adversary that never sleeps.

From the "radioactive decay" of legacy device ID to the necessity of designing "entropy" into system responses, this episode is a masterclass in modern fraud strategy.

Fraudology is hosted by Karisse Hendrick, a fraud fighter with decades of experience advising hundreds of the biggest ecommerce companies in the world on fraud, chargebacks, and other forms of abuse impacting a company's bottom line.

Connect with her on LinkedIn

She brings her experience, expertise, and extensive network of experts to this podcast weekly, on Tuesdays.