Martin Endjala
It has been revealed that 3.1 percent of Namibian transactions conducted during the Black Friday period, spanning from 23 to 27 November 2023, were potentially fraudulent.
Globally, the figure stood at 3.6 percent for all e-commerce transactions according to findings from TransUnion regarding global e-commerce fraud trends for the start of the 2023 Christmas season.
TransUnion also detected that the average number of suspected digital fraud attempts on any given day in Namibia during that period was 87.5 percent higher than during the same period in 2022 and 19.5 percent higher than the rest of 2023 (from January 1 to November 22).
The report states that globally, the average number of suspected digital fraud attempts on any given day during that period was 15 percent higher than the same period in 2022, but 50 percent lower than the rest of 2023.
As part of this analysis, TransUnion identified the primary indicators of fraudulent e-commerce transactions during the holiday shopping season worldwide.
This year, transactions per Internet Protocol (IP) and transactions per device, both characterized by an unusual volume of activity from a single IP address or device to a customer’s site in a short time, were the leading indicators for potential fraud attempts.
Lara Burger, the Country Manager at TransUnion Namibia, stressed the importance of equipping retailers with the necessary tools to detect fraud early, especially during the holiday season.
She reiterated that protecting legitimate transactions involves implementing comprehensive fraud solutions that verify customer identity and authenticity from the outset of a transaction, including both account creation and login.
Burger noted that TransUnion’s conclusions were primarily based on intelligence from its identity and fraud product suite, TransUnion TruValidate, which enhances trust across channels and delivers efficient consumer experiences.
Steve Yin, Global Head of Fraud at TransUnion, highlighted that as the holiday season drives consumers online for gift shopping, it also becomes a prime target for fraudsters looking to exploit the season for their financial gain.
Yin said that online retailers must ensure that consumers seeking the best deals on their sites are simultaneously safeguarded from fraud through a seamless and frictionless experience.
The study also unveiled the suspected digital fraud rate for each day during the holiday shopping period, both for transactions where the consumer was in Namibia and globally. In contrast to the previous year when Black Friday (November 25, 2022) recorded the highest suspected digital fraud rate of 4.7 percent, this year’s highest rate occurred on Thursday, November 23, at 5.6 percent.
