Holiday fraud coming from the Philippines has decreased by 33.41% compared to the same period in 2019. This is according to TransUnion‘s latest findings about online retail trends surrounding the 2020 holiday shopping season.
“The likely explanation for this decline is that fraudsters recognized that ecommerce providers are doing a good job stopping fraud and have moved elsewhere for the time being,” said TransUnion Philippines President and CEO Pia Arellano in a press statement.
Decline in holiday fraud
The research shows a 33.41% decrease in suspected online retail fraud coming from the Philippines during the start of the 2020 holiday shopping season compared to the same period in 2019.
This mirrors the global rate, which also slightly decreased from 15.70% during the 2019 early holiday shopping season to 15.54% during the same period in 2020. The findings are based on the online retail transactions TransUnion analyzed for its ecommerce customers during the traditional start of the holiday shopping season globally, from the US Thanksgiving Holiday (Nov. 26) to Cyber Monday (Nov. 30).
TransUnion, however, is urging businesses to remain vigilant against digital fraud.
Heading into the holiday shopping season, the TransUnion Financial Hardship Study conducted from Oct. 28 to Nov. 5, 2020 found 37% of 9,515 consumers surveyed globally said they had been targeted by digital fraud related to COVID-19, a 28% increase from the same survey the week of April 13, 2020.
Protecting consumers
“Our survey shows fraudsters are increasingly utilizing the pandemic to prey on consumers facing mounting financial pressures. With the COVID-19 pandemic accelerating the move from offline to online transactions, detecting digital fraud attempts has become paramount for ecommerce providers,” Arellano said.
“In order to avoid cart abandonment with all of these new sales opportunities, it is equally if not more important to ensure consumers are able to make friction-right or hassle-free digital transactions,” she said.
Meanwhile, the Philippine House of Representatives has advanced House Bill 7805 or the proposed Internet Transactions Act. This aims to protect consumers and merchants engaged in internet transactions that include retail, online travel services, digital media providers, ride hailing services, and digital financial services.
As a leading provider of information and insights in over 30 countries, TransUnion uses its Global Fraud Solutions to unite both consumer and device identities to detect threats across markets while ensuring friction-right user experiences.
