Koin, a fintech specializing in simplifying digital commerce through payment solutions and fraud prevention, releases the study"The Impact of Online Fraud in Latin America", in conjunction with GMattos consulting. The survey highlights the increase in scam attempts in the region's e-commerce and the challenges faced by retailers.
The estimate is that the total cost of online fraud (chargeback + prevention) can consume up to 1.9% of the gross sales revenue of online stores — a figure that directly impacts the profitability of any business. According to the study, in cases of halving this cost, the improvement in operational results (EBITDA) can exceed 30%.
In addition to operational data and specific figures from each country on the continent, the study presents a novel approach: analyzing from the fraudster's perspective. The research revealed that organized criminal structures operate in 3 stages or functions. In the case of credit cards, data mining (with card reselling for up to US$ 5), fraudulent purchases (3 out of 5 attempts are successful), and product resale (with up to 50% discount). Frauds in Pix involve mining (when data is easily obtained), contact via BOT (low-cost operation), and transfer and movement (with high liquidity).
Another point of concern is the increase in frauds via Pix. The research shows that the incidence doubled between 2023 and 2024, rising from 1.7% to 3.2% of registered unique keys. Given the immediate liquidity and low operational cost of the scam, Pix has become a focus for fraudsters, and effective prevention requires new layers of intelligence.
In response to this scenario, Koin's anti-fraud system emerges as a strategic alternative, offering a fraud rate of only 0.09%, 98% transaction approval, and 99.9% uptime.With proprietary technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning, the solution offers segmentation-based personalization, behavioral analyses, geolocation, invisible validations to the customer, and on-demand authentication, producing an agile, calibrated, and high-performance decision engine. The result is an improvement of up to 15 percentage points in conversion and a reduction of up to 5 times in fraud-related costs, according to clients who adopted the platform.
Fraud, conversion, and profitability: the portrait of digital commerce in Latin America
The analysis conducted by Koin and GMattos also provides an in-depth overview of the impact of online fraud in Latin America, revealing direct connections between scam attempts, checkout conversion rates, and the profitability of operations.
The Latin American region shows strong growth in online sales, with Brazil leading the market (55% of the total), followed by Mexico (17%) and Colombia (9%). Although this growth creates opportunities, it also highlights vulnerabilities: Latin America is the region with the highest chargeback rate in the world, exceeding the global average of 3.0%.
Furthermore, according to the study, every 5 percentage points of improvement in conversion represent a potential gain of up to 50% in EBITDA in operations with thin margins. Reducing the total cost of fraud by half can lead to an increase of over 30% in companies' operating results.
Main findings of the study
Latin America Panorama
- 55% of the region's online sales are in Brazil
- Brazil, Mexico, and Colombia account for more than 80% of e-commerce
- Latin America has the highest global chargeback rate: over 3.0%
Conversion vs. Loss
- Conversion rate in Latin American e-commerce: 70%
- In physical retail, this rate exceeds 95%
- For every 5 percentage points improvement in conversion, EBITDA can grow by up to 50%
- Reducing fraud costs by half can increase EBITDA by more than 30%
The study"The Impact of Online Fraud in Latin America"can be fully accessedhere.
