The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted businesses and forced people to stay home. Not only that, but also the number of suspected online fraud originating from the Philippines has more than doubled during this global crisis. This is according to TransUnion, which recently released its analysis of digital fraud trends in the Philippines.
Based on its assessment, the percentage of suspected online fraud originating from the Philippines more than doubled when comparing the periods Jan. 1-March 10 and March 11-April 28, increasing 119%. This makes the Philippines the country with the 76th highest percentage of digital suspected fraud originating from it from March 11 to April 28, 2020. In comparison, TransUnion found the rate of suspected fraudulent online transactions rose 5% globally during the pandemic.
With social distancing changing shopping patterns, fraudsters have adapted accordingly. They have targeted the more digital forward industries while following the money globally. These industries include telecommunications, e-commerce, and financial services.
“Given the billions of people globally that have been forced to stay at home, industries have been disrupted in a way not seen on this massive of a scale for generations. Now that many transactions have shifted online, fraudsters have tried to take advantage and companies must adapt. Businesses that come out on top will be those leveraging fraud prevention tools that provide great detection rates and friction-right experiences for consumers,” TransUnion Philippines President and CEO Pia Arellano said in a press statement.
Analyzing online transactions
TransUnion used March 11, 2020 as the base date for its analysis. It was on this day that the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global pandemic.
TransUnion analyzed the billions of online transactions its flagship fraud and identity solution, IDVision with iovation, assessed for fraud indicators on more than 40,000 websites and apps globally. It identified more than 100 million suspected fraudulent digital transactions worldwide from March 11-April 28.
IDVision with iovation fuses traditional data science with machine learning to provide businesses with unique insights about consumer transactions, safeguarding tens of millions of transactions each day globally.
TransUnion analyzed the following industries for a change in the rate of suspected digital fraud against them, comparing the periods of Jan. 1-March 10 and March 11-April 28.
Suspected Digital Fraud Post-Pandemic Declaration
| Increase in suspected fraud originating from the Philippines | Industry | Global suspected fraud increase |
| 3,139% | Telecommunications | 76% |
| 114% | Financial Services | 11% |
| 18% | Communities | -11% |
| Same | Public Sector | -1% |
| Same | Insurance | -3% |
| -5% | Logistics | -7% |
| -24% | Gambling | -1% |
| -30% | Gaming | -43% |
| -39% | E-Commerce | 12% |
| -44% | Travel & Leisure | -38% |
| -43% | Healthcare | -40% |
Types of online fraud
Globally post-pandemic, the most common types of online fraud in telecommunications — the industry with the highest percentage of suspected digital fraud growth from the Philippines — are credit card fraud and account takeover/hijacking.
Meanwhile, the types of online fraud from the industry with the second highest rate of suspected digital fraud growth from the Philippines — financial services — are identity theft and account takeover/hijacking globally.
TransUnion’s analysis also detected the Philippines as the country with the highest rate of suspected online fraud originating from it targeting the logistics industry during the pandemic. The overwhelming type of digital fraud in logistics TransUnion sees is shipping fraud wherein criminals typically take over a customer’s account but don’t change the shipping address in order to avoid detection. Once the package has shipped, they intercept it at the carrier website and change the shipping address.
