Three of the biggest fraud trends from MRC Vegas 2026

Executive Summary

Earlier this week, more than 2,000 payments leaders gathered at the Merchant Risk Council (MRC) Vegas 2026 conference to discuss new fraud patterns, authentication strategies, and agentic commerce. One theme emerged: fraud has become more automated and increasingly difficult to detect with traditional tools. The most sophisticated fraud teams are responding by shifting from one-size-fits-all fraud approaches to more dynamic, tailored interventions. They are removing friction for trusted users, embedding fraud detection directly into agentic transactions, and investing in multilayered identity verification to combat deepfakes. Stripe is building with this principle in mind. Stripe Radar’s adaptive 3DS applies friction dynamically, using AI to assess risk level and only triggering an authentication challenge when something looks unusual.