TransUnion found that the Philippines continued to record higher digital fraud activity than the global average, with the country’s suspected digital fraud rate reaching 4.1% in 2025 compared with the global rate of 3.8%.
The credit information and analytics company said this marked the sixth straight year that the Philippines exceeded the global fraud level, based on data from billions of transactions across websites and apps monitored through TransUnion’s global intelligence network.
The report also showed that 72% of Filipino consumers said they were targeted by digital fraud attempts between August and December 2025, far higher than the global average of 53%. These fraud attempts included scams through email, websites, social media, phone calls, QR codes, and text messages.
Despite the high exposure, the financial impact per incident in the Philippines remained lower than in many other countries. About 38% of Filipinos surveyed said they lost money to digital fraud last year, with median losses reaching $850 or about ₱50,000. Globally, the median loss stood at $1,671 or about ₱98,000.
“Our data indicates that fraud in the Philippines is driven more by scale than severity,” said Yogesh Daware, chief commercial officer at TransUnion Philippines. “The breadth and frequency of these incidents make digital fraud a persistent concern.”
TransUnion linked the growing fraud exposure to the country’s high digital activity. About 91% of Filipinos surveyed said they manage at least part of their accounts online, including profile updates, address changes, and other transactions.
Phishing remained the most common scam reported by Filipinos at 45%, followed by smishing or fraudulent text messages at 38%, and third-party seller scams on online marketplaces at 28%.
The report identified account logins as the riskiest stage for fraud in the Philippines, with a suspected fraud rate of 6.1%, well above the global average of 4.3%. Account creation followed at 4.5%, while financial transactions recorded 1.1%.
“With fraud risk in the Philippines highest at the account login stage, fraud in the Philippines is fundamentally an identity issue,” Daware said. “AI-powered tactics make these attacks easier to scale and harder to identify.”
Among industries, logistics posted the highest suspected digital fraud rate in the Philippines at 8.5%, up from 6% a year earlier. TransUnion said fake delivery scams and fraudulent cash-on-delivery transactions contributed to the increase.
Insurance followed at 7.6%, while communities platforms, including social media sites, online dating apps, and forums, recorded 5.8%. Retail reached 5.2%, financial services 2.3%, travel and leisure 0.8%, and telecommunications 0.6%.
To address growing fraud risks, TransUnion Philippines said it continues to expand the Fraud Industry Council (FIC), an anti-fraud task force launched in November 2024 that brings together financial institutions and industry players for fraud intelligence sharing.
“Through the Fraud Industry Council, we are bringing industry leaders together to share intelligence, enhance safeguards, and better protect Filipino consumers,” Daware said. “Ultimately, this effort is about enabling people to transact with confidence, supporting business growth, and strengthening trust across the country’s digital economy.”