In the first half of 2023, the Philippines recorded a suspected digital fraud rate of 8.2 percent, outpacing the global figure of 5.3 percent, as reported by US consumer credit reporting firm TransUnion.
Notably, the video gaming industry led with a 15.2 percent fraud rate, while retail transactions closely followed at 11.2 percent.
TransUnion highlighted the absence of comparative figures but pointed out the video gaming rate coinciding with a 19.4 percent decrease in Philippine transactions, while retail observed an 11.2 percent increase over the six-month period.
Financial services and insurance registered digital fraud rates of 8.3 percent and 7.1 percent, respectively, amid substantial transaction surges of 78.5 percent and 160.3 percent. Suspected fraud rates in other sectors, including communities (5.0 percent), logistics (4.6 percent), travel and leisure (3.1 percent), and telecommunications (2.4 percent), rounded out the findings.
The overall suspected digital fraud rate in the Philippines exceeded both the global average and rates for worldwide video gaming and retail.
TransUnion emphasized the growing trend of fraudsters exploiting transactions for personal gain, citing a consumer pulse study in July where 62 percent of respondents reported being targeted without falling victim.
Of those surveyed, 9 percent admitted falling for fraud schemes, with phishing (51 percent), smishing (45 percent), and money/gift card scams (34 percent) being the most prevalent.
TransUnion’s digital fraud rate data relied on its TruValidate product offerings, representing interactions either denied in real time or determined to be fraudulent after manual review, compared to all transactions assessed for fraud.
