PH companies lost P4 trillion to fraud in 2025, TransUnion says

Philippine businesses lost about P4 trillion in revenues over the past year due to fraud, according to a survey conducted by global information and insight company TransUnion.

In a news release, TransUnion Philippines chief commercial officer Yogesh Daware, citing the company's H2 2025 Update to the Top Fraud Trends Report, said "fraud is no longer a peripheral risk but a systemic threat to businesses, consumers, and the broader digital economy."

"It also highlights the need for a stronger, bolder approach to identifying and preventing potentially fraudulent digital activity," Daware said.

He said that "first-party fraud"—where misrepresented identities or falsified information are used for financial gain— emerged as the leading cause of fraud loss in the country as reported by 25% of Philippines business leaders. 

TransUnion surveyed 200 business leaders in the country.

"This is significantly higher than the global average of 16% and signals a distinct local vulnerability," he said.

"Equally concerning is scam or authorized fraud, which was also reported by 25% of Filipino business leaders as the most prominent cause of fraud losses. These schemes trick individuals into willingly giving up something of value like sensitive information, account access or money, often through social engineering tactics," he added.

Daware said 7 in 10 or 70% Filipino business leaders surveyed said they are "very or extremely concerned" about fraud's impact on their business, placing the country among the most worried globally across the six markets surveyed, behind only the United States at 89% and India at 82%.

"Synthetic identity fraud, account takeover and third-party fraud remain prevalent with 19%, 17% and 13% of Filipino business leaders respectively reporting them as the most prominent cause of fraud losses, adding layers of complexity to an already challenging landscape," he said.

Daware said that fraud is not just a business problem, "it is a consumer crisis." 

"Almost two-thirds or 65% of Filipino consumers reported being targeted by email, online, phone call or text messaging fraud attempts between February and May 2025, far above the global average of 48%," he said.

"Among the Filipinos who said they were targeted, the most common schemes they reported in that time period were phishing (44.5%), money/gift card scams (40.4%), and smishing (39.7%)," he added.

The TransUnion official said that "businesses need to anticipate, adapt, and act to protect trust at every stage of the consumer lifecycle and ensure that the digital economy remains an environment of opportunity and a platform for growth."

GMA News Online has requested comment from the Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center (CICC) and Securities and Exchange Commission about TransUnion's survey findings, but they have yet to respond as of posting time. — VDV, GMA Integrated News