GBG’s Global Fraud Report surveyed over 520 businesses across the Asia Pacific region to reveal how they are combating fraud
July 24, 2024 – SYDNEY, Australia – New research conducted by GBGthe leading expert in global identity and location, has revealed that 81% of businesses in the Asia Pacific region believe cross-industry collaboration and intelligence sharing are critical to stemming the growing tide of fraudulent criminal activity. The findings are part of New GBG Global Fraud Report 2024 which surveyed companies in Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines, across financial services, fintech, crypto, banking, retail and gaming, to assess the levels and types of fraud, the impact it has on businesses and how they are responding.
How does collaboration work? And where does it take place?
When it comes to intelligence sharing and collaboration, businesses are already taking action. More than three-quarters (80%) of businesses in the Asia Pacific region are currently part of an identity intelligence consortium, which connects transactions across the globe and shares global consumer information between businesses, across industries and national borders. Of those not part of an identity intelligence consortium, the majority (91%) believe they should join one.
Obstacles to collaboration
More than three-quarters (83%) of Asia Pacific businesses surveyed believe that organizations are too focused on maintaining a competitive advantage to engage in collaboration to combat fraud. 79% believe that governments around the world are not doing enough to support cross-industry collaboration. This is despite 76% of Asia Pacific businesses saying it is extremely difficult to identify fraudsters when onboarding.
Carol Chris, GBG’s Managing Director for Asia Pacific, said: “Sharing consumer intelligence to combat fraud does not mean a business will lose its competitive advantage. This is a myth that needs to be debunked quickly. Businesses are not sharing raw data within consortia, but rather anonymised patterns and insights into confirmed or suspected fraud. This is a huge benefit to all businesses, regardless of their industry. After all, criminals do not limit their fraud attacks to a single company or industry, nor do they stop at national borders.
If businesses are not part of such a group, they risk losing out because they will miss out on early insights that can anticipate crime detection and stop fraudsters before they even enter a business. Alarmingly, more than two-thirds (76%) of businesses in the Asia Pacific region say it is extremely difficult to identify fraudsters at the onboarding stage – it is critical that this problem is reduced.”
Australian organisations expect government to set clear standards
Nearly a quarter (24%) of Australian respondents believe their local government is not doing enough to help organisations combat fraud. When asked what government should do to combat fraud, over half (59%) said establishing clear standards on fraud prevention requirements was the key issue. The next issue was supporting organisations at risk of a data breach. Given that 98.9% of respondents have been affected by a data breach in the last 12 months, it is understandable that this is the priority for over half of Australian respondents (52%).
Increased levels of fraud
GBG’s report comes amid a growing fraud trend, with 69% of Australian businesses surveyed admitting to having been the victim of actual or suspected fraud in the past 12 months. Nearly three-quarters (71%) also revealed that attempted fraud had increased compared to the previous year. More than three-quarters (78%) said there had been a significant increase in the sophistication of attempted fraud in the past year. That said, 69% of respondents believe that opportunistic and convenient fraud poses a greater threat to their business than sophisticated fraud, which is the most concerning for 31%.
Burnout is common among those fighting fraud
100% of Australian professionals working in risk, fraud or risk prevention are losing sleep over the risks fraud poses to their organisation. Respondents are most likely to cite a lack of resources (46%), changing tactics used by fraudsters (44%), organisational silos between compliance, fraud and identity teams (44%) and identity verification (42%) as keeping them up at night. At the same time, Australian respondents face the biggest challenges in their work related to a lack of shared knowledge, such as identifying and stopping fraud at onboarding (32%), understanding the latest fraud trends (31%) and knowing the best tools to use (31%).
Carol Chris concludes: “Sharing consumer information is a powerful trust-building tool that creates a safer online environment and experiences for businesses and consumers. It’s encouraging to see companies adopting this approach, as it protects them and their users from fraud and financial loss. It would also help the many industry professionals who are reporting burnout due to high levels of fraud. Companies that aren’t collaborating now should do so quickly, or they risk losing out.“
For more results and to download the full Global Fraud Report, please visit: https://www.gbgplc.com/the-global-fraud-report-2024/
About the research
The study was conducted through an online survey conducted by Censuswide. Censuswide surveyed 407 CXOs, VPs, directors and managers in risk/fraud, operations and compliance roles between April 26 and May 8, 2024 in the following areas:
- Sectors: Financial services, fintech, banking, insurance, retail, gaming, e-commerce
- Country (APAC):Australia (213), New Zealand (100), Malaysia (52), Indonesia (52), Thailand (52). Philippines (51)
Censuswide respects and employs members of the Market Research Society which is based on ESOMAR principles and are members of the British Polling Council.