These are the findings of TransUnion, which has published its Global Digital Fraud Trends Report on the effects the rise of ecommerce is having on issues such as shipping fraud. 

Of the industries surveyed by the report, which also included travel and leisure, telecoms, financial services and insurance, gambling came out on top in terms of year-on-year growth of digital fraud attempts. 

The report speculated the majority of fraud attempts relate to identity fraud, which involves the illegal use of someone else’s identity to commit fraudulent transactions. It is due to the economic recovery after the Covid-19 pandemic, the report claims, as well as the rise of online gambling in the US, as to why the rates of digital fraud have increased. 

Sean Donnelly, SVP, Global Fraud Solutions, TransUnion, commented: “Fraud continues to impact a variety of different business sectors and fraudsters are always looking for the next opportunity.  

“However, there are some industries that continue to have a target on their backs – such as financial services or travel and leisure – that should preemptively employ fraud detection solutions and strategies to better serve customers and protect their bottom line.” 

In the US, gambling saw an increase in digital fraud attempts of 60% compared with the previous year, travel and leisure noted a 58% increase, telecoms increased by 30%, financial services recorded 27% while fraud attempts in the insurance industry increased by 11%. 

Across the Atlantic, a similar study on identity fraud in Europe revealed as many as 10% of consumers had fallen victim to the crime over the past 12 months. 

GBG found that up to 18% of those aged 18 to 24 had been scammed, while one-third of businesses were not employing anti-fraud technology for their customers.