The latest findings of TransUnion about global e-commerce fraud trends found that 17.46% of all transactions between Nov. 25 and Nov. 29, were potentially fraudulent. The report also revealed that in the Philippines, 2.49% were suspected fraud.

The global percentage of suspected fraudulent e-commerce transactions is 3.74% higher than the same five-day period leading up to Cyber Monday last year. For transactions originating from the Philippines, the percentage decreased by 48.79% in the same timeframe. These findings are based on intelligence from billions of transactions and more than 40,000 websites and apps contained within TransUnion’s flagship identity proofing, risk-based authentication, and fraud analytics solution suite — TruValidate.

The analysis also observed the top two reasons globally for potentially fraudulent e-commerce transactions in the five days leading up to Cyber Monday. The top reason was the number of accounts per device, which triggers when a device has accessed the minimum number of accounts during the set time period. The second was evidence exists, which occurs when an account or device has previously had a fraudulent transaction.

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“The holiday shopping season is a popular time globally for bad actors to engage in fraudulent activity, particularly in the e-commerce and retail industry,” said Shai Cohen, senior vice president of global fraud solutions at TransUnion. “Online shopping is the new norm for the majority of consumers and that trend has been further accelerated due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Consumers want to shop with online retailers that not only provide a seamless user experience but also take consumer security and privacy seriously. It is imperative that those businesses equip themselves with the proper tools to detect fraud at the first warning sign without inhabiting the consumer journey.”

TransUnion released the following fraud analysis for the Philippines regarding the percentage of suspected fraudulent e-commerce transactions during the start of the holiday shopping season as well as the entire year from 2019 to 2021.

• 2.49% from Nov. 25 – 29, 2021; 3.95% so far in 2021
• 4.86% from Nov. 26 – 30, 2020; 4.63% in 2020
• 7.29% from Nov. 28 – Dec. 2, 2019; 6.07% in 2019

Decline in suspected fraud attempts

The decline of suspected digital fraud during the traditionally busiest days of the holiday shopping season occurred as consumers expressed concern about being victimized. TransUnion’s Q4 2021 Consumer Pulse Study found that 95% of Filipino consumers are concerned with falling victim to online fraud this holiday season.

“With an exponential rise in digital transactions in the Philippines during pandemic times, concerns related to online fraud continue to be top of mind for businesses and consumers alike,” said Pia Arellano, president and CEO of TransUnion Philippines. “Despite a fall in suspected fraudulent e-commerce attempts from the Philippines during this last year, it is important everyone remains vigilant. “

TransUnion monitors digital fraud attempts reported by businesses in varied industries such as gambling, gaming, financial services, healthcare, insurance, retail, and travel and leisure, among others. To find out how data varies across select countries, how mobile plays a large part in digital holiday fraud, and what days during the holiday shopping season are most popular for fraud, and more,