Hong Kong businesses lose US$11 billion to digital fraud in past year, TransUnion says

Core Insights - Hong Kong businesses experienced financial losses of HK$92 billion (US$11.84 billion) due to digital fraud over the past year, despite a lower digital fraud rate compared to the global average [1] - The survey indicated that fraud losses globally increased to 7.7% of annual revenue, up from 6.5% the previous year [2] - In Hong Kong, only 2.7% of attempted digital transactions were suspected to be fraudulent, but businesses reported losses equivalent to 7.1% of their annual revenue [3] Survey Details - The survey was conducted from late May to early June, involving 1,200 respondents worldwide, including 200 from Hong Kong, all in managerial roles overseeing risk and business fraud [2] - Only companies with annual revenues of at least HK$200 million were included in the Hong Kong responses [2] Concerns and Impact - More than half of the respondents in Hong Kong expressed being "extremely" or "very" concerned about the business impact of fraud [4] - The main cause of reported fraudulent cases was third-party fraud, accounting for 26% of cases in Hong Kong [5] Types of Fraud - Other significant causes included account takeovers (22%) and scams (18%) [6] - Identity theft and unauthorized access were identified as major threats, with account login attempts making up nearly 11% of suspected digital fraud transactions in Hong Kong, which is twice the global average [7] Industry Trends - The retail sector experienced a 155% increase in suspected digital fraud compared to the previous year, marking the highest increase among analyzed industries [8]