The rate of suspected digital fraud attempts from Kenya in Q2 decreased by 27% compared to the same period last year, while there was a 14% drop globally. This is according to TransUnion’s quarterly fraud analysis.
The largest declines from Kenya-based transactions came from communities (which include online forums and dating) (-70%), telecommunications (-42%) and insurance (-20%).
The industry that saw the biggest increase in suspected digital fraud attempts coming from Kenya was logistics, which increased 61%. The most common fraud type here is 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 Kenyan industries with increases were gambling (36%) and retail (23%).
The global insurance industry saw a year-on-year suspected digital fraud attempt rate of 159% in Q2 2022, while the global logistics sector increased by 13%. In contrast, TransUnion observed a -20% decrease in the rate of suspected digital fraud attempts in insurance worldwide for transactions originating from Kenya. The most common type of fraud reported to TransUnion by its insurance customers in Q2 2022 was first-party application fraud, which involves fraudulent applications containing intentionally inaccurate information with the intention of receiving certification, lower rates or better terms for a policy/contract.
TransUnion’s data on fraud against businesses is based on intelligence from billions of transactions and more than 40,000 websites and apps contained in its flagship identity proofing, risk-based authentication and fraud analytics solution suite – TransUnion TruValidate™.