Cyberfraud: Over four per cent of digital transactions globally during the Black Friday weekend and Cyber Monday were fraudulent, according to a recent report by TransUnion. Global intelligence network TransUnion conducted an analysis based on millions of transactions made between November 28 and December 2, concluding that suspicious fraud transactions are down 1.4 percentage points from last year (from 6% to 4.6%). The study found that the average number of suspected digital fraud attempts on any given day during that holiday period was 30.2% lower than the same period in 2023 and 5.9% lower than in the rest of 2024 (January 1, 2024, to November 27, 2024). The worst day for cyber fraud was on November 28, with 5.3% of global transactions being suspected of digital fraud.
Companies should keep a watchful eye year-round
Cyberfraud was down during Black Friday weekend and Cyber Monday, compared to all of 2024 before November 28, with 7.5% of transactions being suspected of e-commerce fraud.
“For online retailers, this speaks to the need to maintain diligence year-round. For the remainder of this holiday shopping season, and beyond, online retailers must continue to implement tools that maintain a friction-right experience, wherein both business and consumer are protected without major disruption,” explains Steve Yin, global head of fraud at TransUnion.
TransUnion also determined the top signals indicating a risk of fraudulent e-commerce transactions during the holiday shopping season globally. This year, unusually high transaction volume from a single device and devices being newly associated with an account were among the leading indicators for potential fraud attempts.
In 2025, cybersecurity challenges, such as phishing, are set to persist, with measures such as malware protection and network firewalls being insufficient to counter increasingly sophisticated attacks.
For shoppers, the University of British Columbia suggests four ways to spot cyber scams during discount seasons: prices that seem too low, red flags about payments, identifying sites that look poorly designed, and spotting if stores are missing key information (such as return, sales, privacy policy and contact information).
Shoppers remain concerned about digital fraud
Almost two-thirds (64%) of consumers in the country with the highest spending per capita, the US, say that they are “extremely, very or moderately concerned about digital fraud” during this busy shopping period. In some countries, consumers are more concerned, such as the Philippines, India and South Africa, with 91%, 86% and 85% of consumers being at least moderately concerned. Other countries, like the UK (56%) and Canada (59%), report lower levels of concern, but still, over one in two consumers in these countries say that they are worried about digital fraud.
Nonetheless, consumers continue to demonstrate their willingness to spend their hard-earned money. “The winter holidays are always hugely impactful to retailers’ bottom lines, and our recent survey indicates that consumers may be particularly eager to buy this holiday shopping season,” says Yin.
“It’s as important as ever for retailers to equip themselves with the tools they need to detect fraud early. These tools can help minimize fraudulent transactions while at the same time protecting legitimate transactions. Retailers should seek to implement holistic fraud solutions that can verify customer identity and authenticity as early as possible during a transaction,” he concludes.
