The Philippines recorded a suspected digital fraud rate of 13.4 percent for digital transactions involving its consumers in 2024, placing the country as having the second-highest rate globally.
This positions the Philippines as the second-highest among the markets analyzed, surpassed only by India (19 percent) and followed by the Dominican Republic (10.9 percent).
Additional data from TransUnion’s first-half 2025 update to the Star of Omnichannel Fraud Report showed that the suspected digital fraud rate in the Philippines was higher than the global level of 5.4 percent in 2024 – consistently exceeding the global rate for the fifth consecutive year going back to 2020, when TransUnion’s analysis began.
It said the suspected digital fraud rate in the country also increased by 5 percent from 2023 – a stark contrast to the 8 percent decrease observed across the globe.
Among consumers surveyed across 18 countries and regions between November and December 2024, over seven in every ten Filipinos (74 percent) reported being targeted by an email, online, phone call or text messaging fraud scheme in the last three months – much higher than 53 percent across the markets surveyed.
Over a third (34 percent) of Filipinos reported losing money due to any of the above mentioned tactics from November 2023 to December 2024, surpassing the global rate of 29 percent.
These trends showed that Filipinos are facing greater risks from fraud, highlighting the need for stronger safeguards to prevent financial losses.
“The average reported fraud loss among Filipinos last year according to our study was $768, exceeding P44,700 in local currency. While these figures are lower than the median of $1,747 [about P101,700] across global markets which TransUnion surveyed, the impact of falling victim to fraud remains significant,” said Yogesh Daware, chief commercial officer at TransUnion Philippines.
“Considering average monthly wages in the Philippines, the losses constitute at least over two months of salary for most Filipino households,” he said.
