Valentine’s Day isn’t all roses. In fact, fraudsters love the romantic holiday as much as those going online to look for love. This is according to security findings from our authentication and fraud prevention client, iovation.

The firm recently shared trend data resulting from the analysis of hundreds of millions of online dating transactions it screens for fraudulent indicators every year. And with the help of Voxus, it used this data to secure coverage in notable media outlets while helping others to swipe left on (i.e., “to stop”) online fraud. Here’s a glimpse at how.

Leveraging data for security PR

Companies often possess insightful industry data, which businesses and consumers alike will find useful or interesting. However, the challenge is knowing what data to use and when. Sifting through iovation’s data, Voxus recently pinpointed an opportunity to secure media coverage around Valentine’s Day. And from our analysis, we specifically surfaced the following:

  • On Valentine’s Day 2015, 1.26% of all online dating transactions were fraudulent
  • In 2015, the top types of online dating fraud were 1) spam, 2) identity mining, 3) scams/solicitations, 4) profile misrepresentation and 5) credit card fraud
  • The top originating countries for online dating fraud in 2015 were 1) United States, 2) Ghana, 3) Nigeria, 4) France and 5) Vietnam
  • In 2015, the highest amount of online dating fraud occurred between 9am to 12pm UTC

With stats in mind we snapped into action.

The Voxus approach

One way to identify media opportunities is to work around the calendar. That is, developing timely stories around holidays and events. This was our initial step in determining to share fraud trends around Valentine’s Day. Next, we developed a press release that featured the most interesting stats. In doing so, we made sure the information was easy to digest and compelling. Finally, we reached out to and coordinated with key journalists that cover topics like security, online dating and technology.

Results

As result, Voxus secured more than a dozen articles in leading media outlets like CNBC, SC Magazine and GeekWire. It also helped further position the company as a security thought leader, while keeping its executives top of mind as a source for journalists.

This is just the tip of the iceberg for the traction Voxus has generated for its security clients. To learn more, check out our other blog posts published this month.

This post is part of a month-long series based on Voxus PR’s award-winning work in security and cybersecurity public relations. To view all of this month’s posts, click here.