A recent analysis by TransUnion®️ revealed that 10.4% of all attempted digital transactions made by consumers in the Dominican Republic during the first half of 2024 were classified as suspected digital fraud.
This figure represents a slight decrease compared to the first half of 2023, when TransUnion recorded a suspected digital fraud rate of 11.9% in the country.
The Dominican Republic had the second highest rate of suspected digital fraud in the first half of 2024 of the 19 countries where TransUnion conducted regional analysis. This occurred at a time when more than three in ten (32%) of the country’s consumers indicated they had recently been the target of fraud attempts via email, online, phone calls or text messages.
These findings are part of TransUnion’s latest Omnichannel Fraud Report Update, which investigates fraud trends. fraud during the first semester of this year (from January 1 to June 30). The report highlights that certain sectors were especially vulnerable to these attacks, despite the fact that digital fraud affected various industries in the Dominican Republic.
Industries with the highest rate of suspected digital fraud attempts
According to data from TransUnion TruValidateTM, communities (dating sites, online forums, etc.) recorded the highest rate of suspected digital fraud in attempted transactions by consumers in the country during the first half of 2024 at 16.1%. Next were retail and video games at 10.9% and 8.7%, respectively.
Globally, TransUnion community customers reported profile spoofing (when a user posts inaccurate information on their profile and/or uses fake profile photos) as the most common type of digital fraud observed in the first half of the year. 2024. The communities sector had the highest rate of suspected digital fraud in seven of the 19 countries and regions for which TransUnion provided breakdowns in the first half of 2024.
Industries with the largest increase in the rate of suspected digital fraud attempts
According to data from TransUnion TruValidateTM, digital transaction attempts directed at government agencies, made by consumers in the Dominican Republic, experienced the largest increase in the rate of suspected digital fraud among the sectors analyzed, with an increase of 221% in the first half of the year. from 2023 to the first half of 2024. This was followed by logistics (74%) and video games (50%).
Risk of new account fraud threatens digital experiences
Digital fraud can occur at different stages of a customer’s transaction process. More than two-thirds of business leaders recently surveyed by TransUnion indicated that at least 25% of their organizations’ new account openings were conducted online, with more than a third stating this percentage was 51% or higher.
According to data from TransUnion TruValidateTM, 17.3% of digital account opening attempts by consumers in the country were considered suspected digital fraud attempts in the first half of 2024, and 13.3% of account logins were classified as suspected digital fraud during that same period.
TransUnion also determined that synthetic identity fraud (the use of personally identifiable information to create a person or entity to commit a dishonest act for personal or financial gain) was the fastest growing type of digital fraud by volume reported to TransUnion by its clients, with an increase of 153% from the second half of 2023 to the first half of 2024 globally.
For its part, fraud in electronic fund transfers (also known as ACH/debit payments) experienced the highest growth in volume year over year globally, with an increase of 113% from the first half of 2023 to the first half of 2024. However, promotion abuse (consumers or fraudsters taking advantage of marketing offers to receive unintended financial incentives) was the most common type of digital fraud globally in the first half of 2024, representing 3.6% of all reported digital fraud to TransUnion for its customers.
“The situation of scams is advancing more and more in the country and it is essential that today organizations have fraud prevention programs that allow mitigating risks, and which include specialized technologies, such as identity verification, IP intelligence, device reputation and synthetic identity detection,” says Danilda Almanzar, Country Manager of TransUnion in the Dominican Republic.
TransUnion’s TruValidateTM solution enables businesses to verify consumer identity, assess and prevent fraud, increasing trust between organizations and consumers by creating a unique experience for users.
About Analysis
TransUnion reached its conclusions on digital fraud based on intelligence from its suite of identity and fraud products that help ensure trust across channels and deliver efficient consumer experiences: TransUnion TruValidate™️. The rate or percentage of suspected digital fraud attempts reflects those that TransUnion customers determined met one of the following conditions: 1) real-time denial due to fraudulent indicators, 2) real-time denial for corporate policy violations , 3) determined to be fraudulent after customer investigation, or 4) determined to be a violation of corporate policy after customer investigation, compared to all transactions that were evaluated as fraud.
For more information on the recently released TransUnion®️ (NYSE: TRU) Study, visit the TransUnion Omnichannel Fraud Report Update for H2 2024. Country and region-specific data in the report includes the United States, Botswana, Brazil, Canada , Chile, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Hong Kong, India, Kenya, Mexico, Namibia, Philippines, Puerto Rico, Rwanda, South Africa, Spain, United Kingdom and Zambia.
About TransUnion
TransUnion is a global information and knowledge company with more than 13,000 associates operating in more than 30 countries, including the Dominican Republic.
We enable trust by ensuring that each person is reliably represented in the marketplace. We do this by providing a carefully managed, multi-dimensional view of consumers.
Through our acquisitions and investments in technology, we have developed innovative solutions in areas such as marketing, fraud, risk and advanced analytics. As a result, consumers and businesses can transact with confidence and achieve great things. We call this Information for Good®️, generating economic opportunities, great experiences and personal empowerment for millions of people around the world.
