Scammers and fraudsters are good at making the best of a bad situation. As the COVID-19 pandemic enters its second year, society the world over is tired, stressed, and uncertain. The “New Normal” of masking and distancing has, for many of us, begun to seem just “normal.” Despite Zoom calls, distance learning, and socially distanced outdoor walks, everyone from nine to ninety is isolated and on edge. That means that we’re all more susceptible to manipulation. If your organization operates a contact center, you’re almost certainly seeing significantly greater call volume than you were a year ago. And with increased calls come more would-be fraudsters.
Contact center call volumes will vary from industry to industry and from month to month, but the general trend is steeply upward. In the first few months of COVID in 2020, some contact centers reported an 800% increase in their average call volume. Some contact centers have hired new agents, and almost all have experienced significant changes in protocol and daily operations. While some agents have returned to offices, many contact centers remain remote. Increased call volumes and new procedures have affected companies’ bottom lines: 36% of financial institutions saw contact center fraud losses in 2020 were higher than they were two years before.