Applying Big Data technologies to counter cyber fraud

Abstract

By January 2021, the number of Internet users amounted to 4.7 billion, while the social media audience hit the 4.2 billion mark. Two-thirds of the world’s population use mobile phones daily. The average Internet user spends 42% of his time in the global network. These figures prove convincingly that the Internet has become an integral part of human life. However, man’s using the Internet involves increasingly the risk of cybercrime perpetrated against the user. The purpose of the research is to assess the potential of Big Data technologies to combat cyber fraud as a form of cybercrime. The study used the statistical data provided by the Prosecutor General’s Office of the Russian Federation and the publications in scientific journals. The methodological basis of the research is represented by a combination of general scientific and special scientific methods, with analysis, statistical method and systemic approach being the major tools. It was found in the course of the research that fraud constitutes the majority of crimes on the Internet. To counteract it, mobile operators and banks use anti-fraud techniques based on Big Data analysis. The paper provides an overview of services and programmes based on artificial intelligence and Big Data technologies, aimed at detecting and preventing telephone and internet fraud, used by law enforcement agencies in various countries. The paper concludes that Big Data has changed the vector of law enforcement activity from reactive to proactive.