JOHANNESBURG, July 23 (Reuters) - Visa prevented

80 million fraudulent transactions worth $40 billion globally

last year thanks to investments in technology including

artificial intelligence (AI), a senior company figure said on

Tuesday.

In 2025, cybercrime is projected to cost the world $10.5

trillion. If this were a nation's gross domestic product, it

would rank as the world's third-largest economy, Charles Lobo,

the Regional Risk Officer for Visa in Central and Eastern

Europe, Middle East, and Africa told Reuters.

This comes as scams evolve in sophistication, with criminals

using new approaches to trick unsuspecting consumers and

businesses in a digitally evolving world.

Worldwide, the world's largest payments processor has

invested over $10 billion over the past five years in

technology, including $500 million on AI and data infrastructure

to protect clients and customers from fraudulent activity.

"In just the last year, those investments, how have they

benefited us? We've blocked $40 billion of fraudulent

transactions. That's 80 million transactions prevented," Lobo

told Reuters on the sidelines of a Visa payment security

conference in Johannesburg, South Africa.

"Now despite that, there's still a lot of bad that's

happening," he added.