CHAMWE KAIRA
Fifty-three percent of Namibians surveyed in the TransUnion 2024 State of Omnichannel Fraud Report don’t trust that personal data would be secure.
This was in response to the top reason consumers said they abandoned online application or form for a financial or insurance product.
Six percent of Namibians surveyed said they fell victim to phishing while 41% said they were targeted but did not fell victim while 53% said they were not targeted.
The Namibian retail industry was industry with the highest rate of suspected digital fraud. The rate of suspected digital fraud attempts in retail where the consumer was in Namibia when transacting was the highest among industries analysed in 2023 at 3,4%.
However, that rate decreased 21% year-over-year (YoY). When it came to the industries with the greatest increase in the rate of suspected digital fraud, travel and leisure led that statistic with a 67% rise. This was followed by gaming (online sports betting, poker) where the rate of suspected digital fraud increased by 37% YoY. The findings were revealed in TransUnion’s 2024 State of Omnichannel Fraud Report.
TransUnion also found across industries in 2023, 1,2% of all transactions where the consumer was in Namibia were flagged as being suspected digital fraud, a 1% YoY decrease.
The TransUnion report revealed that nearly one in seven (13,5%) newly created accounts are suspected to be created via digital Fraud globally, largely driven by bad actors using fabricated or stolen identities. This may indicate a shift in the tactics deployed by fraudsters hoping to engage earlier in the transactional process.
Examples of the types of transactions that take place during the account creation process include account signup, registration and loan origination. Among the industries that saw the highest percentage of digital account creation transactions suspected to be digital fraud globally in 2023 were retail (44,7%), travel and leisure (36%), and video gaming (31,5%).
“This early phase new account digital fraud may represent a paradigm shift of sorts among fraudsters globally,” said Lara Burger, country manager at TransUnion Namibia.”
In contrast, for transactions where the consumer was in Namibia, the highest percentage of suspected digital fraud in the online customer journey occurred at account login, at 1,6%, varying widely by industry.
The study found that 5% of all global digital transactions were suspected to be Digital Fraud in 2023, with the volume of risky transactions up 14% YoY and 105% from 2019 to 2023. This growth continues to outpace the growth in digital transactions overall, which rose 90% from 2019 to 2023.
The report’s findings are based on proprietary insights from TransUnion’s global intelligence network, and includes data from Namibia, Botswana, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Hong Kong, India, Kenya, Mexico, the Philippines, Puerto Rico, Rwanda, South Africa, Spain, the United Kingdom, the United States and Zambia.
This online survey of 13 923 adults was conducted in December 2023 by TransUnion in partnership with third-party research provider, Dynata. Adults 18 years of age and older residing in 18 global markets (Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Hong Kong, India, Kenya, Mexico, Namibia, the Philippines, Puerto Rico, Rwanda, South Africa, Spain, the UK, the US and Zambia) were surveyed using an online research.)
