Nairobi — Kenya saw a 4.6 percent rate of attempted digital fraud targeting transactions in the first half of 2024, according to TransUnion's latest H2 2024 'State of Omnichannel Fraud Report'.

The findings reveal retail industries were particularly targeted by these fraudulent attempts.

Amritha Reddy, Senior Director of Fraud Solutions at TransUnion Africa, noted that the highest suspected fraud rates occurred in the retail, gaming, and community sectors, including online dating sites and forums.

The report highlighted that 80 percent of Kenyan consumers encountered fraud attempts through online, email, phone, or text messages over the last three months of the survey, though only 8 percent fell victim to these scams.

"In the first half of 2024, 4.6% of digital transactions involving Kenyan consumers were identified as suspected fraud, positioning Kenya 10th out of 19 countries and regions analyzed for digital fraud attempts," Reddy said.

Globally, the communities industry saw the highest level of suspected digital fraud at 11.5 percent largely due to profile misrepresentation, including inaccurate information and fake profile photos.

The report emphasized that while fraud prevention efforts continue to improve, evolving tactics by fraudsters necessitate businesses to adopt robust measures like identity verification, IP intelligence, device reputation, and synthetic identity detection as key parts of their defense.