Half of consumers have been exposed to fraud - Experian

Insights from Experian’s 6th annual Global Identity & Fraud Report found that more than half of consumers surveyed globally have been a victim of fraud or know someone who has, with identity theft overtaking credit card theft as the biggest security worry.

Despite these concerns, most consumer respondents say their online activity will increase in the next three months.

Fifty-seven percent of consumers report that they are willing to share data if it ensures greater security or prevents fraud and nearly 75 percent expect businesses to take the necessary security steps to protect them online.

The majority of business respondents expect consumers to cite security as a top priority and 70 percent say preventing fraud is their top concern – the highest that figure has ever been. 

Whose responsibility?

Commenting on the report’s findings Luciano Scalise, decision analytics managing director EMEA & APAC, Experian, said:

“Maintaining a safe and secure online experience is a shared responsibility between consumers and businesses. Consumers need to be aware of the risks they face online and practise good cyber hygiene.

”Meanwhile, businesses can leverage orchestration solutions to connect recognition, fraud prevention and their customer experience, and take advantage of a single platform to bring all their tools and data sources together. This allows them to adapt to changing risks and improve their customer journey.

“It’s all about striking a fine balance in keeping their customers protected whilst ensuring a seamless digital experience.”

Additional EMEA markets findings from this year’s annual identity and fraud report include:

• Globally online banking is highest among consumers in Norway and South Africa (almost 90% of consumers in both countries), followed by consumers in The Netherlands (85%).
• Over half (52%) of consumers globally say they are very or somewhat concerned about conducting activities online with higher levels of concerns in Spain (57%),
• 83 percent of consumers say security is their most important factor of the online experience. In Europe that figure is highest in Ireland (89%), Germany (82%), Spain (81%) and Italy (79%).
• Businesses in Denmark place more importance on security and open banking. In South Africa businesses tend to cite implementation of new AI models and model optimization as the most important investment priorities of 2022, while in Norway, businesses are more likely to place importance on areas like ransomware and green financing.
• In Spain 100 percent of businesses respondents cite more investment towards AI and customer authentication verification in 2022