December 12, 2024
MANILA – Cybersecurity firm Sumsub warned against the rising cases of identity fraud in the Philippines and the rest of Asia Pacific, noting that cyberattacks have become more sophisticated.
In its Identity Fraud report, Sumsub revealed that Philippines ranked seventh among the 10 surveyed countries in the region, showing a 119-percent increase in detected fraud this year.
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In Asia Pacific, the firm estimated a 121-percent surge in identity fraud this year. Singapore saw the most increase at 207 percent, followed by Thailand with 206 percent and Indonesia with 201 percent.
The highly targeted sectors for identity fraud are dating apps, banking and insurance and financial technology, among others.
The survey also found out that 85 percent of the respondents expressed “fear” over deepfake, a cybersecurity threat whereby bad actors digitally alter a video or audio file. Motivations of the cybercriminals may vary but, ultimately, the goal is to spread false information.
Using deepfakes, cybercriminals can also “catfish”—or create a fictitious online persona who usually are conventionally more attractive than the real person behind the fake identity.
Bad actors
“As the digital economy in Asia Pacific continues to grow, the evolving nature of fraud presents new challenges that businesses cannot afford to ignore,” said Penny Chai, vice president of business development for Asia Pacific at Sumsub.
“With tactics becoming more sophisticated and fraud becoming more accessible, the need for enhanced verification measures is more urgent than ever,” Chai added.
In fact, it has become a business with the rise of fraud-as-a-service platforms that bad actors can tap.
These have enabled fraudsters to launch multiple attacks at once, making it more challenging for enterprises to detect and block fraud.
In the study, Sumsub analyzed over 3 million fraud attempts and surveyed more than 200 fraud and risk professionals in the region.