New research from TransUnion's Consumer Financial Hardship studies found that phishing is the top digital fraud scheme worldwide related to the COVID-19 pandemic.Among consumers reporting being targeted with digital COVID-19 schemes globally, 27% said they were hit with pandemic-themed phishing scams. To help prevent identity fraud that can result from phishing, TransUnion utilizes solutions within their flagship IDVision with iovation suite that focus on identity verification, consumer authentication and fraud prevention."From the impacts of phishing and other well documented COVID-19 scams like unemployment fraud, it's clear that fraudsters have the data and increasing opportunities to create synthetic identities and utilize stolen identities," said Anne-Marie Kelly, VP, Market Development, Identity Management and Fraud Solutions for TransUnion. "According to surveyed Canadians, identity fraud is a primary way fraudsters leverage stolen consumer data from phishing, the most common threat in Canada, and other social engineering schemes. It can have long-term impacts for consumers such as the compromise of multiple online accounts and bringing down credit scores, which we anticipate will increase during pandemic reconstruction."To better understand the impacts of COVID-19 on consumers, TransUnion surveyed 7,384 adults in Canada, Colombia, Hong Kong, South Africa, the U.K., and the U.S. between June 30 and July 6, 2020. It asked the consumers if they had been targeted by digital COVID-19 fraud and if so, which digital fraud scheme(s) related to COVID-19 were they targeted with. Globally, 32% said they had been targeted by digital fraud related to COVID-19.
TransUnion: digital COVID-19 Scams focus on ID theft
