As we move toward 2026, one thing is becoming unmistakably clear: the fraud and risk-management landscape is entering its most transformative era in more than a decade, explains Frogo CEO Volodymyr Todurov.

For operators across iGaming, e-commerce, payments, fintech and for the companies building the defense, the coming year marks a decisive inflection point.

Not because fraud is merely growing.

But because fraud is evolving. 

For years, fraud was treated as a numbers game. Criminals cast a wide net, relying on high-volume, low-sophistication tactics. 

Recent industry data shows a dramatic shift: while overall attack volumes are stabilizing, the sophistication of fraud is accelerating at unprecedented speed. Multi-step, AI-enhanced schemes are now the norm, not the outlier.

Synthetic identities, deepfakes, automated account takeovers, generative-AI-written documentation and coordinated mule networks have become everyday threats.

“2026 will be the year fraud stops being about how many actors succeed and becomes about how invisible and intelligent those actors become.”

This new wave of fraud is exposing a systemic weakness: most current risk-management tools are simply not built for this world.

Traditional defenses – static rules, document-based verification, simple device checks – cannot keep pace with adversaries who iterate faster than companies can deploy patches.

Industry forecasts point to sharp growth in synthetic identity fraud, real-time payment exploitation and account takeovers as global payment rails move toward 24/7 instant settlement. Meanwhile, biometric checks that once seemed unbreakable can now be circumvented with deepfakes and AI-generated identities.

Businesses increasingly understand that fragmented tools create gaps. The future demands holistic, unified, adaptive platforms that blend: device-level telemetry, behavioral and session analytics, graph-based link analysis, transaction and payment monitoring, dynamic rules and AI-driven scoring, automated decisioning and investigations

“Fraud today is interconnected. Defenses must be too.”

At Frogo, we’ve built a platform designed precisely for this moment – long before the recognition of how quickly the threat landscape would evolve.

AI-driven fraud requires AI-driven defense

As attackers automate, so must defenders. Frogo’s adaptive AI scoring engine, automation workflows and real-time decisioning were engineered to counter multi-step, fast-evolving fraud patterns.

Fraud rings are now networks – so we built network-level detection

Modern fraud spans clusters of devices, accounts, identities and transactions. Frogo’s graph-intelligence layer uncovers hidden connections in minutes, giving operators the context they need to stop abuse before it scales.

Regulatory and reputational risk demand a unified platform

With regulators tightening oversight – especially around payments, AML and consumer protection – enterprises can no longer stitch together fragmented solutions. Frogo provides a single, configurable platform that meets both operational and compliance needs.

High-risk industries need scalability and precision

iGaming, e-commerce and payments continue to face escalating fraud pressure. As these industries grow, so does the complexity of abuse. Frogo’s architecture is built for scale, precision and speed – three qualities that will define survival in 2026.

Solution for the businesses

The companies that thrive in 2026 won’t be the ones who merely react. They’ll be the ones who prepare.

Here’s where the shift begins:

Reevaluate your foundations

Move beyond static, document-first systems. Embrace behavioral analytics, telemetry, adaptive scoring and continuous monitoring.

Consolidate your tools

Fragmented risk stacks create blind spots. A unified platform reduces operational friction and strengthens defense.

Automate investigations and detection

Manual review teams cannot keep pace with automated fraud rings. AI-driven alerts, scoring and case management are essential.

Continuously tune your controls

Fraudsters iterate at real-time speed. Your rules, models and workflows must evolve just as quickly.

Preserve user experience

The future belongs to companies that can balance frictionless onboarding with robust security.

Those who act early will gain resilience. Those who wait will find themselves playing a dangerous game of catch-up.

The digital ecosystem has never been more dynamic. Unfortunately, neither has fraud. But 2026 is not simply another “year of heightened risk.” It is the year when risk management transitions from a back-office function to a strategic differentiator.

At Frogo, we’re not reacting to this shift. We’re driving it.

In a world where fraud moves at the speed of AI, businesses need more than reactive tools – they need the ability to leap ahead.

Leap Into Safety. Catch the Risks.

Partner Editorial