New Zealand businesses are facing a sharp escalation in fraud threats, with more than half reporting increased losses over the past year and many conceding their current technology is no longer fit for purpose.
New research commissioned by Experian and conducted by Forrester Consulting reveals that 58 percent of New Zealand organisations have experienced a year-on-year increase in fraud losses. At the same time, 65 percent admit their existing fraud technology stack cannot keep pace with increasingly sophisticated attacks.
The findings are part of a global study of 979 senior fraud decision-makers across nine countries in EMEA and APAC, including New Zealand, examining the growing gap between fraud threats and organisational defences.
The outlook for the year ahead is equally concerning. According to the research, 68 percent of New Zealand respondents expect more fraud attacks in 2026 than in the previous year, underscoring the mounting pressure on businesses to modernise their prevention strategies.
The report points to the rapid expansion of cybercrime networks and the rise of generative AI as key drivers behind the surge. These technologies are enabling criminals to operate at greater scale while deploying more convincing and complex attack methods.
Sector-specific trends show social engineering and identity theft on the rise in financial services and telecommunications, while friendly fraud and refund abuse are becoming more prevalent in eCommerce.
Traditional approaches to fraud prevention are struggling to keep up. Nearly two-thirds (65 percent) of New Zealand fraud leaders say their current fraud stack is inadequate, highlighting what the report describes as a critical capability gap.
Globally, 71 percent of organisations are now investing more in fraud technology than in human analysts, signalling a shift away from manual reviews and rules-based systems that can no longer handle the volume and sophistication of attacks.
Seven in ten respondents identified strategic reviews of fraud solutions as their top priority for the year ahead, followed by cloud migration and investment in new tools.
As businesses look to strengthen defences, additional data sources such as device and behavioural data are becoming central to modern fraud detection. In New Zealand, 76 percent of organisations plan to invest in these passive signals to improve accuracy and reduce friction for legitimate customers.
Making sense of these large and complex datasets increasingly requires machine learning (ML). Among organisations already using ML, 60 percent report measurable improvements in detection accuracy since implementation. The same proportion cite real-time detection as the biggest advantage, while 65 percent agree ML helps detect fraud that rules-only systems would miss.
The research also found that 73 percent of fraud leaders globally believe sharing fraud intelligence is key to staying ahead of emerging threats, although three-quarters stress that building trust within fraud consortiums is essential for collaboration to succeed.
Mathew Demetriou, Managing Director, Software Solutions A/NZ at Experian, says the findings highlight an urgent need for businesses to rethink their approach.
“Organisations across New Zealand are adapting to a rapidly evolving fraud landscape,” he says. “Fraud losses are rising, attacks are becoming more sophisticated, and many businesses know their existing technology can’t keep pace.”
He adds that the rapid adoption of AI by criminals is compounding the challenge.
“The rise of generative AI is accelerating both the scale and sophistication of attacks, making it critical for organisations to reassess their fraud prevention strategies. Collaboration and innovation are no longer optional; they are essential to building resilience in New Zealand’s fraud landscape in 2026 and beyond.”
For SMEs and larger enterprises alike, the message is clear: as fraudsters adopt advanced technologies at speed, standing still is no longer an option. Investment in machine learning, behavioural analytics and secure data-sharing networks is fast becoming the new baseline for staying ahead of an increasingly organised and AI-enabled threat landscape.
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