TransUnion (NYSE: TRU) released new findings today around global e-commerce fraud that occurred during the start of the 2022 holiday shopping season. The analysis found that 15% of all global e-commerce transactions reviewed between the Thursday before Black Friday, November 24 and Cyber Monday, November 28 were potentially fraudulent. For transactions originating from the Philippines, 4% of e-commerce transactions during that period were suspected fraudulent.
These findings are based on intelligence from billions of transactions contained in TransUnion’s TruValidate™ fraud analytics solution suite. The analysis determined that the average number of suspected digital fraud attempts on any given day during that holiday period globally was 38% lower than the same period in 2021, and 82% higher than during the rest of the year (January 1, 2022, to November 23, 2022). In the Philippines, it was 70% higher than the same period in 2021, and 2% higher than during the rest of 2022.
The study also revealed the share of suspected digital fraud attempts for each individual day in the holiday shopping period for transactions in the Philippines and globally.
Breakdown of Risky Transactions During Holiday Period
| Day | Philippines | Globally |
| Thursday, November 24 | 15% | 14% |
| Friday, November 25 | 29% | 25% |
| Saturday, November 26 | 18% | 21% |
| Sunday, November 27 | 16% | 18% |
| Monday, November 28 | 22% | 22% |
“Fraudulent activity tends to be particularly prevalent in online retail during the holiday shopping season,” said Pia Arellano, president and CEO of TransUnion Philippines. “Despite the fact that consumers have begun returning in larger numbers to in-person shopping in the post-pandemic era, online retail continues to be the preferred means of holiday shopping for many. It’s important that online retailers ensure consumer security and privacy protections, which is important to consumers, but in a way which ensures a seamless shopping experience that minimizes unnecessary friction.”
TransUnion also revealed in the analysis the top types of potentially fraudulent e-commerce transactions during the holiday shopping season globally. This year, promotion abuse (where a user abuses site promotions such as refer-a friend and free giveaways) and account takeover (where someone other than the owner uses it without permission) were the leading types of fraud attempts.
“Online retailers must equip themselves with the proper tools to detect fraud at the first warning sign, and without inhibiting the consumer journey,” said Arellano. “It’s more important than ever that these online retailers implement holistic fraud solutions that are able to verify customer identity and authenticity at the very beginning of a transaction without resulting in false positives that may cost them legitimate transactions.”
Majority of consumers express more concerns this holiday season
The increase of suspected digital fraud during the traditional busiest days of the holiday shopping season occurred as consumers express concern about being victimized. TransUnion’s 2022 Q3 Consumer Pulse Study conducted between August 19 and September 1 found that a significant 96% of Filipinos expressed concerns on becoming a victim of digital fraud this holiday season, the highest globally among countries and regions surveyed. In fact, more than half (55%) said they had been targeted by digital fraud in the last three months in the Q3 survey.
TransUnion monitors digital fraud attempts reported by businesses in varied industries such as gambling, gaming, financial services, healthcare, insurance, retail, and travel and leisure, among others. The conclusions are based on intelligence from billions of transactions and more than 40,000 websites and apps contained in TransUnion’s flagship identity proofing, risk-based authentication and fraud analytics solution suite – TruValidate™.
To find out how this data varies by select countries and regions, download TransUnion’s holiday fraud trends infographic.
