Financial news

Geographically-specific search patterns related to fraud have the potential to inform tailored solutions and the strategic allocation of resources in the fight against fraud, FYST‘s latest research highlights.

Timed to coincide with International Fraud Awareness Week, the analysis by FYST, a consultancy specialising in payment solutions for ecommerce businesses, delves into worldwide trends in payments fraud.

FYST’s research underscores a significant surge in interest in ‘payment fraud’ over the last five years.

Americas

In North America, the US recorded the highest volume of searches in the region, followed by Canada.

Georgia in the US records the highest volume of searches for ‘payment fraud’, closely followed by Kansas. According to data from the Federal Trade Commission, out of all states, financial scams are most prevalent in Georgia with imposter scams the most common fraud type. Notably, Vermont experiences the highest prevalence of these schemes, with imposter scams accounting for 47.32 per cent of total fraud reports.

Meanwhile, in South America, Mexico has recorded the highest search volume for the Spanish equivalent of ‘payment fraud’ (‘fraude de pago’) since 2003, followed by Colombia, Argentina and Brazil.

Europe

In the past year, the UK leads in ‘payment fraud’ search volume, closely followed by Ireland. Further down the list are the Netherlands, Russia, Germany and France, each exhibiting varying levels of search activity.

Africa

Over the past 12 months, the highest-ranking countries in Africa are South Africa, Nigeria, and Kenya. Over the last five years, and since 2004, South Africa has remained top.

Asia

In Asia, Singapore has recorded the highest search volume since 2004, followed by the Philippines. In the past five months, Singapore and the Philippines remained top of the list, followed by, India, United Arab Emirates, Malaysia, Pakistan, South Korea and Indonesia

Australia

Finally, Australia recorded the highest search volume across all time periods in Oceania, which it dominates geographically.

Evgeniy Ivantsov, CMO FYST, added: “Fraud is a global problem, with 2023 data showing that phishing, pharming, whaling, and ‘friendly fraud’ still prevail. It therefore seems appropriate we highlight these hotspots during International Fraud Awareness Week.

“Payment fraud trends and techniques vary geographically due to differences in payment infrastructure, regulation, law enforcement, and customer behaviours around the world. Understanding the regional specificities and global hotspots for different fraud types is crucial for developing effective fraud prevention and mitigation strategies.

“By understanding geographically-specific fraud search interest, stakeholders can develop targeted solutions suited to their locations and support strategic allocation of anti-fraud resources. With the global fraud problem continuing to grow in scale and complexity, it is crucial that we improve our understanding of where and how fraud is concentrating so we can create effective barriers against it.”