The high risk industries most targeted by fraud in 2026 are online dating and social communities, iGaming and sports betting, video gaming, cryptocurrency, eCommerce marketplaces and retail, financial services and lending, telecommunications, and travel. Each one pairs fast digital transactions with accounts, credit, or goods that fraudsters can cash out quickly. They also rely on identity checks that criminals now attack at signup rather than at checkout.
What Makes High-Risk Industries a Fraud Target?
High-risk industries share a few traits: card-not-present payments, digital goods or credit that can be resold or drained in minutes, and onboarding flows built for speed. Acquirers and processors look at the same traits when they label a business a high risk merchant, which usually means higher fees, rolling reserves, and closer chargeback monitoring.
The short answer to what is a high risk merchant is a seller whose category or history signals above-average fraud, chargeback, or regulatory exposure through high-risk transactions. The bigger shift in 2026 is where the attack happens.
The TransUnion H1 2026 fraud trends update found that 8.3% of attempted account creations worldwide in 2025 were suspected fraud, an 18% jump year over year. Fraudsters are planting fake or stolen identities at signup and waiting to cash out, which hits high risk business industries hardest because their accounts hold money, credit, or resellable value.
Fraud Rates Across the 8 High-Risk Industries
The table below pulls together the most recent dated figure for each sector. Rates come from different methodologies (suspected attempt rates, reported losses, application-level fraud), so compare them within a row rather than across rows.
Industry fraud data reference
| Industry | Key 2026 Data Point | Most Common Fraud Types |
|---|---|---|
| Online dating and communities | 11.7% suspected fraud attempt rate (U.S., 2025), volume up 7% | Romance scams, fake profiles, account takeover |
| iGaming and sports betting | 9.8% of U.S. transactions flagged as suspected fraud | Bonus abuse, multi-accounting, stolen cards |
| Video gaming | 8.3% suspected fraud attempt rate, volume down 32% | Stolen-card purchases, account takeover |
| Cryptocurrency | $11.366 billion in reported U.S. losses, 181,565 complaints | Investment scams, crypto ATM fraud, recovery scams |
| eCommerce marketplaces and retail | 3.8% retail fraud attempt rate; 19.1% of marketplace documents high risk | Third-party seller scams, document fraud at seller onboarding |
| Financial services and lending | Identity theft in 6.12% of applications, H1 2026 | Identity theft, synthetic identities, first-party fraud |
| Telecommunications | First-party fraud runs highest in telecom and auto lending | First-party fraud, identity theft on new accounts |
| Travel | Airline ticket fraud risk up 32% year over year in May 2026 | Card-not-present booking fraud, loyalty theft, fake booking sites |
The 8 High-Risk Industries Most Targeted by Fraud in 2026
The list below runs from the highest suspected fraud pressure to sectors where the risk sits in fewer, larger attacks, primarily based on the TransUnion H1 2026 fraud trends update. Use it as a working high risk industries list for underwriting, risk reviews, and fraud budget planning.
1. Online Dating and Social Communities
Dating apps, forums, and other community platforms carried the highest suspected fraud attempt rate in TransUnion’s U.S. data at 11.7%, and they were one of the few sectors where fraud volume grew (up 7%) in 2025.
Sumsub’s Identity Fraud Report 2025-2026 also ranks dating and online media at the top of its industry fraud rates. Fraud here runs on trust: fake profiles build relationships fast, then push victims toward off-platform payments or investment schemes.
What merchants in this space should watch
Subscription payments made with stolen cards, bulk account creation from the same device, and profiles that move conversations off-platform within hours. Strong identity verification at signup does more here than tighter checkout rules.
2. iGaming and Sports Betting
Nearly one in 10 U.S. transactions on online sportsbooks and poker sites (9.8%) was flagged as suspected fraud in 2025, and that rate held flat year over year while most other sectors fell. Promotional bonuses, instant deposits, and fast withdrawals make these platforms a natural target for bonus abuse, multi-accounting, and stolen-card deposits.
Where the gaming industry fraud risk concentrates
Risk spikes around new-player promotions and major sporting events. Operators that link accounts by device, payment method, and identity data catch multi-account rings that look like separate new customers on their own.
3. Video Gaming and In-Game Digital Goods
Video gaming posted an 8.3% suspected fraud attempt rate, even after fraud volume fell 32% year over year. In-game currency, skins, and accounts can be bought with stolen cards and resold within minutes, which makes this one of the cleanest cash-out channels for card fraud. TransUnion also links Gen Z’s heavy use of gaming platforms to that generation reporting the highest fraud losses (38% in the U.S.).
Signals that a purchase is not legitimate
New accounts buying high-value currency packs, repeated small purchases that look like card testing, and account logins from new devices just before a large spend.
4. Cryptocurrency and Digital Assets
Crypto is where fraud losses are largest by dollar value. The FBI’s 2025 Internet Crime Report logged 181,565 cryptocurrency complaints with $11.366 billion in losses, more than half of all reported internet crime losses and a 22% increase from 2024. Investment scams drove $7.2 billion of that total, and losses tied to crypto ATMs and kiosks rose 58% to $389 million.
Why this matters beyond crypto platforms
Crypto is often the exit point for fraud that starts elsewhere, from dating scams to stolen-card purchases of digital goods. Merchants that accept crypto, or sell gift cards and digital goods that convert easily into it, inherit part of that exposure.
5. eCommerce Marketplaces and Retail
Retail’s suspected fraud attempt rate fell 41% in volume but still sat at 3.8% in TransUnion’s 2025 U.S. data, and 24% of U.S. consumers who lost money to digital fraud blamed third-party seller scams on legitimate eCommerce sites. Marketplaces face a second front at seller onboarding: the Resistant AI Global Document Fraud Report 2026 found high-risk markers on 19.1% of marketplace documents, the highest of any vertical it tracks.
Why sellers end up with a high risk eCommerce merchant account
High chargeback ratios, digital or high-resale goods, and fast fulfillment push many online stores into high risk merchant processing. Our breakdown of the latest eCommerce fraud trends and our list of dropshipping scams targeting sellers show how these schemes play out on real storefronts.
6. Financial Services and Lending
Identity theft reached a record 6.12% of financial applications in the first half of 2026, roughly one in 16, according to SentiLink’s August 2026 Fraud Report, which reviewed more than 170 million applications. SentiLink also found fraud-related charge-offs on credit cards ran 68 times higher than the industry average.
Where lenders lose the most
Fraud rings now open credit lines and home equity products in real customers’ names, so losses surface months after approval. Fintechs and card issuers that lean on instant approval carry the most exposure.
7. Telecommunications
Telecom shows a low suspected attempt rate at transaction time (0.4% in TransUnion’s data), but that number hides where the damage happens. SentiLink found first-party fraud, where real customers apply with no intent to pay, ran highest in telecom and auto lending, against a cross-industry average of 2.00% of applications. Device financing and postpaid plans turn a phone contract into a line of credit that is easy to abuse.
What carriers and device retailers should check
Applications that stack several financed devices at once, mismatched identity and device data, and accounts that default after the first bill. These patterns point to first-party and synthetic fraud rather than stolen cards.
8. Travel and Hospitality
Travel is a classic member of most high risk industries lists because tickets are high-value, booked card-not-present, and often consumed before a chargeback lands. Riskified’s 2026 travel analysis found airline ticket fraud risk rose 32% year over year in May 2026, with fraud rings exploiting loyalty programs and fake booking sites. TransUnion’s broader travel and leisure rate looks low at 0.2%, which signals fewer, larger attacks rather than safe ground.
How travel industry fraud reaches the merchant
The merchant usually absorbs the loss twice: the chargeback on the stolen card and the seat or room that could have been sold. Our guides on how to win a fraud dispute and on payment dispute management cover the recovery side.
How High-Risk Merchants Can Reduce Fraud Exposure
The common thread across all eight sectors is that fraud now starts at account creation and ends at a fast cash-out. A high risk merchant does not need the same controls as every other seller in its category, but it does need controls placed at those two points.
- Verify at signup, not just at checkout. Device, identity, and document checks at onboarding stop the accounts that later commit fraud.
- Link accounts across signals. Shared devices, payment methods, and contact details expose multi-accounting and fraud rings.
- Watch the cash-out paths. Gift cards, in-game currency, crypto, and refunds to new payment methods deserve tighter limits.
- Track chargebacks by reason code. Separating stolen-card fraud from first-party misuse tells you which control to fix. Chargeflow’s guide to managing chargebacks in high-risk industries walks through how to build that review into a repeatable process.
- Train staff on social engineering. Teams that can spot a phishing scam close one of the easiest doors into merchant accounts.
Merchants still setting up payments can start with our walkthrough on applying for a high risk merchant account, then build out controls with our merchant fraud protection guide and our steps to prevent credit card fraud.
Match Your Fraud Controls to Your Industry's Risk in 2026
Fraud in 2026 is concentrated in sectors where identity is easy to fake and value is easy to move: dating and community platforms, online betting, video gaming, crypto, marketplaces, lending, telecom, and travel. Falling transaction-level fraud rates in several of these sectors do not mean lower risk, because the attacks have moved to account creation and grown more targeted.
Start with an honest review of where your own business sits on this list, then put identity checks at signup, account linking across devices and payment methods, and tighter limits on fast cash-out channels. Review your chargeback data by reason code this quarter so your next fraud budget goes to the control your industry actually needs.
Frequently Asked Questions
Charity Amancio
Charity Amancio specializes in SaaS solutions for global eCommerce businesses, including payments and risk management applications. She bridges the gap between technology and merchant needs, offering practical perspectives on the tools shaping eCommerce. Her insights appear regularly in B2B publications covering the digital commerce space.