Suspected Digital Holiday Shopping Fraud in Zambia Increases 104% Compared to Last Year
TransUnion released new findings today around global e-commerce fraud that occurred during the start of the 2022 holiday shopping season. The analysis found 15% of all global e-commerce transactions reviewed between November 24-28 were potentially fraudulent[1]. For transactions originating from Zambia, 7% of e-commerce transactions during that period were suspected to be fraudulent.
These findings are based on intelligence from billions of transactions contained in TransUnion’s TruValidate™ fraud analytics solution suite. The analysis also determined that globally, the average number of suspected digital fraud attempts on any given day during that holiday period was 82% higher than during the rest of the year (January 1, 2022 to November 23, 2022). For transactions originating in Zambia, this percentage was 30% lower than during the rest of the year, but 104% higher than in the same period in 2021.
The study also revealed the share of suspected digital fraud attempts for each individual day in the holiday shopping period for transactions in Zambia and globally.
Breakdown of Risky Transactions During Holiday Period
| Day | Transactions in Zambia | Globally | |||
| Thursday, November 24 | 8% | 14% | |||
| Friday, November 25 | 22% | 25% | |||
| Saturday, November 26 | 20% | 21% | |||
| Sunday, November 27 | 29% | 18% | |||
| Monday, November 28 | 22% | 22% |
“Fraudulent activity tends to be particularly prevalent in online retail during the holiday shopping season,” said Shai Cohen, senior vice president and head of global fraud solutions at TransUnion. “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 minimises unnecessary friction.”
TransUnion also revealed in the analysis the top types of fraudulent e-commerce transactions globally. This year, promotion abuse (user abuses site promotions such as refer-a-friend, free giveaways, etc.) and account takeover (someone other than the owner of an account uses it without permission, indicating that the account has been maliciously compromised) were the top types of digital fraud in retail.
“Online retailers must equip themselves with the proper tools to detect fraud at the first warning sign, and without inhibiting the consumer journey,” said Mildred Stephenson, Chief Executive Officer TransUnion Zambia. “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.”
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 insights, digital insights, omnichannel authentication, and fraud analytics solution suite – TruValidate™.
To find out how this data varies by select countries, download TransUnion’s holiday fraud trends infographic.
Source: Transunion
About TransUnion
TransUnion is a leading global information and insights company that makes trust possible in the modern economy. We do this by providing an actionable picture of each person so they can be reliably represented in the marketplace. As a result, businesses and consumers can transact with confidence and achieve great things. We call this Information for GoodSM. TransUnion provides solutions that help create economic opportunity, great experiences and personal empowerment for hundreds of millions of people in more than 30 countries. Recognized as a leader in the African credit, risk and fraud markets, TransUnion provides consumer reports, risk scores, analytical services and decisioning capabilities to businesses across the continent. TransUnion is the only company in Africa’s IT industry that manages multiple complex databases containing insurance, cellular, consumer, commercial and auto data assets.
For more information visit: www.transunionafrica.com
