In a new survey on the landscape of virtual scams and frauds conducted by Koin, a fintech specializing in Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) and fraud prevention in e-commerce, the numbers show that consumer vulnerability remains a threat when shopping online. According to the survey, 62.4% of Brazilians have experienced some attempt of a virtual scam, most of them (41.8%) on shopping websites.
Frauds via WhatsApp are also significant, accounting for 20.6% of attempts, while the Pix scam was mentioned by 18.6% of respondents. Data theft (the so-called "phishing") was the threat mentioned by 13.9% of respondents, while 5.2% of consumers reported having experienced an attempt to steal their password.
Lost money
Most victims reported suffering a loss between R$ 500 and R$ 1,000 (47.6%), with a second significant group losing amounts in the range of R$ 50 to 100 (19%). Already 15.5% of respondents reported being scammed for amounts over R$ 2,000; 10.7% lost between R$ 1,000 and R$ 1,500. Only 7.1% of consumers reported not experiencing financial loss.
Where the scams happen
The survey also showed that the vast majority (92.3%) of scam attempts occurred through mobile devices, mainly cell phones. Another relevant aspect is that 64.3% of the victims did not file a police report after receiving the threat, indicating a possible lack of trust in resolving the issue or unawareness of the importance of this record.
"Our survey numbers reveal that the issue of online fraud and scams is a reality in the lives of Brazilians and can cause losses both for consumers and for retailers, who also suffer financial impacts due to virtual crimes," emphasizes Juana Angelim, Chief Operating Officer of Koin. "Therefore, more and more, companies need to strengthen their online sales with robust anti-fraud systems," the executive adds. In 2023 alone, Koin prevented R$ 240 million in fraud and 120,000 fraudulent transactions.
The survey considered the experience of 350 consumers from all regions of Brazil, in August, with a large portion of respondents from the Southeast (43.1%), followed by the Northeast (18.6%). The age group of the participants also showed a uniform distribution: 35 to 44 years (27.3%), 45 to 54 years (23.5%), and 55 to 64 years (22.5%).
