New Survey Finds 22% Of Americans Have Been Targeted By Digital Fraud Related To COVID-19

Research from also reveals a 23% increase in ecommerce transactions over the one-week period following the World Health Organization’s Mar. 11 declaration that the novel coronavirus outbreak was a pandemic.

New research from TransUnion is offering early insights into the impact of social distancing, shelter-at-home, quarantine, and lockdown measures taking place in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In a survey of 1068 Americans aged 18 and older, TransUnion uncovered two key findings related to the novel Coronavirus pandemic:

1. A 23% increase in global ecommerce transactions between Mar. 11-18 compared to the average weekly volume earlier in 2020.
2. 22% of responders said they have been the target of digital fraud related to COVID-19.

“It is clear that social distancing has changed consumer shopping behaviors globally and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future,” said TransUnion Senior Vice President of Business Planning and Development Greg Pierson, in a statement. “No doubt fraudsters will continue to follow the trends of good consumers and adjust their schemes accordingly.”

The COVID-19 pandemic comes at a time when cyberfraud was already on the rise. According to TransUnion’s “Global E-commerce in 2020” report, the period from 2018 to 2019 saw a 347% increase in account takeover and a 391% rise in shipping fraud attempts globally against its online retail customers—alongside a 118% increase in risky transactions from mobile devices.

The impact of COVID-19 on the economy is still being determined, but it’s important to remember the words of United States Attorney Scott Brady:

I think we are really going to see an unprecedented wave of cyber attacks and cyber fraud. And that's what we're trying to prepare our partners and the public for.

The following are simple techniques individuals can take to deter hacking attempts and make it easier to identify and address fraud that has occurred:

• Do not click on emails that appear to be fraudelent
• Disable automatic image loading on your email client
• Use a password on all mobile devies and consider using a PIN to access your smartphone
• Verify the publisher of any app or extension you download—especially free ones
• Be vigilant with Bluetooth and public Wi-Fi connections, which can be used to gain access to your device
• Enable two-factor authentication (2FA) whenever possible, with preference toward 2FA apps, such as Authy and Google Authenticator rather than SMS texts.