Fraud losses in PH smaller but more frequent 

Fraud losses in the Philippines last year were far lower than the global levels, even as the country recorded a higher-than-average rate of cases, according to credit insights firm TransUnion—a sign that scams are being driven more by volume than by the size of individual hits.

In its “Top Fraud Trends” report for the first half of 2026, TransUnion said a survey of 821 Philippine consumers conducted from Nov. 20 to Dec. 8, 2025, found that the median amount stolen by fraudsters last year was $850, or about P50,000. That was well below the global median of $1,671, or roughly P98,000.

That is despite the Philippines ranking among markets with the most widespread digital fraud exposure across 18 countries and regions surveyed. The firm said the country’s suspected digital fraud rate—activities flagged by TransUnion clients as fraudulent indicators and violations of corporate policy—reached 4.1 percent in 2025, exceeding the global rate of 3.8 percent for the sixth straight year.

At the same time, 72 percent of surveyed Filipinos said they had been targeted by digital fraud attempts—online, email, phone and text messages—between August and December last year, compared with 53 percent globally.

Yogesh Daware, chief commercial officer at TransUnion Philippines, said the findings suggested that fraud in the country “is driven more by scale than severity.”

“These insights point to a landscape characterized by more frequent, lower-value scams across digital channels and industries, rather than isolated big-ticket cases,” Deware said. “The breadth and frequency of these incidents make digital fraud a persistent concern.”

Social engineering

Data from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) showed social engineering schemes—in which criminals manipulate victims into revealing sensitive information that enables fraudulent transactions—emerged as the Philippines’ most prevalent cybersecurity threat last year, accounting for 76 percent of total fraud losses.

Hacking made up 13 percent, while card-not-present fraud, once the country’s most common cybercrime, accounted for 8 percent.

TransUnion said 91 percent of Filipinos reported managing at least part of their accounts online—including address changes, account name updates and other modifications—a level of digital engagement that increases exposure to fraudsters and related vulnerabilities.

Among those who reported being targeted, the most common schemes were phishing (45 percent) or tricking people into handing over sensitive information, smishing or text message fraud (38 percent) and third-party seller scams on legitimate online retail platforms (28 percent), the report showed.

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Fraud risk in the country was highest at the account login stage (6.1 percent), significantly above the global rate of 4.3 percent, followed by account creation (4.5 percent) and financial transactions (1.1 percent).

“With fraud risk in the Philippines highest at the account login stage, and phishing and other scams primarily focused on stealing credentials, fraud in the Philippines is fundamentally an identity issue,” Deware said.

“Fraudsters rely on impersonation and synthetic identities to evade detection, while AI (artificial intelligence)-powered tactics make these attacks easier to scale and harder to identify.”

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