Survey: Majority of businesses increasing fraud budget, prevention teams
Across industries, budgets for fraud prevention are increasing.
A new survey of business leaders from fraud prevention firm SEON revealed that 85% of companies are increasing fraud budgets, and 88% are expanding their fraud teams. A similar number of companies (86%) report spending over 3% of their revenue on fraud prevention, while 27% spent 5-6%, and 10% spend over 6% of their revenue on prevention.
Over the next 12 months, 65% of those surveyed said they will slightly increase their fraud prevention budget, while 20% said they will significantly increase them. Thirteen percent of respondents said the amount will stay the same. Virtually none plan to decrease budgets slightly or significantly.
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Larger enterprise companies are making the biggest investments — over 59% are hiring more than three fraud professionals, signaling expansion and commitment to fraud prevention. Mid-market organizations are scaling their fraud defenses, closely mirroring enterprise hiring patterns. Of these, 39% are hiring three-to-five team members. Small businesses recognize fraud’s complexity, with 36% adding one-to-two people, which SEON says is an indicator of increasing awareness but more conservative hiring trends.
Most respondents surveyed believe they outperform peers in fraud prevention, with 18% claiming they perform “much better,” reflecting growing confidence in fraud teams. However, 29% say they perform “about the same" as their peers.
SEON noted that businesses need to close the fraud tech skills gap to keep pace with innovation. Survey data shows that 76% of in-demand fraud prevention skills are related to advanced data analytics and AI and machine learning expertise. When asked which emerging technology will have the biggest impact on fraud prevention in the next three years, AI and machine learning (54%) was by far the most popular response.
“2025 is the year of adaptive fraud prevention — focusing on intelligent, real-time decision-making that balances security, agility and user experience,” said SEON CEO Tamás Kádár. “Fraud teams must move beyond static defenses to dynamic, context-aware models that continuously adapt in real time. This shift will enable organizations to anticipate threats, respond instantly and refine fraud strategies as risks evolve.”
SEON surveyed 574 fraud, risk and compliance professionals around the world for the report.
