Losses of approximately US$688bn were calculated from the respondents. Those from Thailand, India and Vietnam had been frequently retargeted
Based on a phone survey by two firms of 24,731 participants across 13 Asian markets* to gain insights into the evolving landscape of digital scams across the region in 2023/2024, some trends have been announced.
First, scam-related losses among the respondents are estimated to have reached US$688bn. The most prominent channels used for scams were, in descending order: Text/SMS, phone calls, chat apps, social media, and email.
Second, nearly half of the respondents had indicated their belief that online platforms should be held accountable for their scam losses, while those from Singapore tended to place the most blame on banks and payment providers.
Other findings
Third, one in four scams were indicated by respondents to have been completed in just minutes, and 8% of scam cases had spanned over a year. Also:
- Identity theft was the most common in China, Japan, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam. In Malaysia, Indonesia, and Pakistan, investment scams dominated responses, while shopping scams were most prevalent in respondents from India and the Philippines
- Generally, respondents’ expectation was that online platforms and website providers should be responsible for refunding the losses incurred from scams
According to Jorij Abraham, Managing Director, Global Anti-Scam Alliance (GASA), a non-profit firm that conducted the survey in collaboration with another firm, ScamAdviser: “As scammers become more sophisticated, leveraging AI to scale their attacks, our defense strategies must advance rapidly. We are honored to collaborate with industry partners to strengthen our collective efforts in protecting citizens and businesses throughout Asia.”
*including randomly selected unpremeditated calls to respondents from China (1,000), Hong Kong (511), India (1,000), Indonesia (1,000), Japan (921), Malaysia (1,202), Pakistan (1,000), the Philippines (1,000), Singapore (1,109), South Korea (708), Taiwan (5,003), Thailand (9,603) and Vietnam (647). Respondents were distributed across an age range of 18 to more than 54 year (those aged 35–44 being the largest group), across middle school to postgraduate education levels (those with a University education being the largest group). The dates of the survey period were not disclosed.
