- A TransUnion report shows that the rate of suspected digital fraud attempts from Kenya in the year’s second quarter (Q2) decreased by -27 per cent compared to the same period last year
- The rate of suspected digital fraud attempts originating from Kenya declined across half of the industries tracked
- TransUnion observed the largest declines from Kenya-based transactions in communities, which include online forums and dating at -70 per cent, telecommunications at -42 per cent and insurance at -20 per cent
A new report now shows that the rate of suspected digital fraud attempts from Kenya in the year’s second quarter (Q2) decreased by -27 per cent compared to the same period last year. The performance was against a -14 per cent decline shown globally.
According to TransUnion’s quarterly fraud analysis, the rate of suspected digital fraud attempts originating from Kenya declined across half of the industries tracked.
The rate of suspected digital fraud across all industries in Kenya decreased by 27 per cent. TransUnion observed the largest declines from Kenya-based transactions in communities, which include online forums and dating at -70 per cent, telecommunications at -42 per cent and insurance at -20 per cent.
The industry that saw the biggest increase in the rate of suspected digital fraud attempts coming from Kenya was logistics, which increased 61 per cent during that period.
The most common fraud reported to TransUnion by its logistics customers in the second quarter was shipping fraud, where buyers spoof shipping addresses or a seller receives payment for goods or services but never ships the goods to the buyer. Other industries with increases coming from Kenya were gambling (36 per cent ) and retail (23 per cent).
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“The focus on the industry has been on identifying more of the good transactions and customers to allow them to pass with less friction,” said Amritha Reddy, Head of Fraud at TransUnion Africa.
“Strong fraud and authentication practices decrease false positives and focus fraud-fighting resources on the minority of interactions that warrant scrutiny. By reducing the pool of manual reviews and customer interrogations, organisations can dramatically reduce costs, increase revenue, and improve the overall customer experience.”
TransUnion’s data on fraud against businesses is based on intelligence from billions of transactions and over 40,000 websites and apps in its flagship identity proofing, risk-based authentication and fraud analytics solution suite – TransUnion TruValidate™.
Insurance industry infiltrated by fraud
Overall, the report also noted that the global insurance industry saw a year-on-year suspected digital fraud attempt rate increase of 159 per cent in the second quarter, while the global logistics sector increased by 13 per cent.
“We have observed interesting trends in the first half of 2022 with suspected fraudulent activity in the insurance industry continuing to be elevated,” said Shai Cohen, senior vice president of global fraud solutions at TransUnion.
“In recent years, fraudsters have shifted their industry focus each quarter. At this time, we believe the insurance industry is seeing more ‘soft fraud’ because some consumers may be representing their policies incorrectly in an effort to save money, especially in a high inflation environment that places more pressure on their wallets.”
Cyber attacks move to corporates
In a related story, Kaspersky’s Financial Cyberthreats report indicates that attacks in the financial sector in Kenya and Nigeria are becoming increasingly corporate-oriented and shifting away from consumers.
Kaspersky Security Network data shows that the number of financial phishing attempts in the African regions increased significantly from Q1 to Q2 of 2022. Banks, payment systems, and e-commerce websites were attacked.
In the second quarter, a total of 100,192 financial phishing attacks aimed at organisations were detected in Kenya, a 201% increase compared to the first quarter.
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The largest share of attacks was directed at e-commerce websites, with banks and payment systems following. For the same period in Nigeria, a total of 61,344 financial phishing attacks aimed at organisations were detected, an increase of 79 per cent compared to the first quarter. The largest share of attacks was directed at e-commerce websites, with payment systems and banks following.
