According to one global survey, the region had a 6% higher incidence rate than the global average …

In a Jan–Mar 2022 survey of 1,849 business respondents from the financial services sector, and 6,062 consumers from 20 countries, many respondents across all markets in six countries in the Asia Pacific region were unconcerned about fraud and identity theft amid growing fraud risk due to digitalization.

Of the six APAC markets (Australia, China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore), respondents from  China and India appeared to be especially vulnerable, with 29% of respondents having been the victim of online fraud. This is slightly higher than the global average of 23% in the survey. While 45% of India respondents were very concerned about fraud and identity theft, 9% of Chinese respondents felt the same way.

Furthermore, 5% of APAC respondents indicated that at least one of the fraud incidents they had encountered had resulted in substantial monetary or reputational damage. Also, 8% of APAC respondents’ friends and family members had suffered substantial monetary losses due to fraud incidents. 

Other APAC findings
The survey report noted that APAC respondents experienced the most fraud incidents across social media sites and apps: in Indonesia, 51% of respondents had experienced fraud incidents on social media sites. Also:

  • 80% of respondents expected businesses to take the necessary steps to protect them online, reflecting global trends where nearly three-quarters of respondents felt the same.
  • Nearly half of all business respondents reported that fraud was a high concern, and more than half of survey respondents from retail banking, credit card networks and consumer lending specialists categorized their fraud concerns as “high”. 
  • 26% of Singapore respondents felt that businesses had met their digital experience expectations, and 59% still did not feel secure when transacting with a business online. 
  • 94% of Malaysia consumers surveyed—the highest in APAC—were “extremely” to “somewhat trusting” of businesses that can provide a seamless customer journey by recognizing their online identity repeatedly.
  • 67% of APAC respondents had interacted with AI powered chatbots or virtual assistants in the past six months. Overall, APAC consumers were becoming more comfortable with businesses leveraging AI: 64% of India respondents were “much more” and “somewhat likely” to trust AI more than humans—the highest figures in APAC.

According to Luciano Scalise, Decision Analytics Managing Director (EMEA & APAC), Experian, which commissioned the survey: “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, while businesses can connect identity recognition, fraud prevention and customer experience and take advantage of a single platform to bring all their tools and data sources together.”