Brazil presented a suspected digital fraud rate of 3.8%¹ in the first half of 2025, exceeding the 2.8% rate of the Latin American countries analyzed². According to the most recent Digital Fraud Trends Report from TransUnion, a global information and insights company operating as a DataTech firm, the country is among the three markets in the region with above-average rates in Latin America, alongside the Dominican Republic (8.6%) and Nicaragua (2.9%).
Despite the high rate, Brazil recorded a significant drop in the percentage of consumers who said they had been victims of fraud via email, online, phone call, or text message – from 40% when surveyed in the second half of 2024 to 27% when surveyed in the first half of 2025. However, 73% of Brazilian consumers in the first half of 2025 said they were unable to identify whether they had been victims of attempted scams/fraud, highlighting a worrying gap in fraud awareness.
“High rates of digital fraud in Brazil highlight a strategic challenge for businesses and consumers. Monitoring indicators is not enough; it is crucial to understand the behavioral patterns that underpin these crimes. Data reveals that fraudsters evolve rapidly, exploiting new technologies and changes in digital habits. In this scenario, investing in preventative intelligence solutions and digital education programs becomes indispensable to reduce risks, protect the customer experience, and preserve trust in online transactions,” explains Wallace Massola, Head of Fraud Prevention Solutions at TransUnion Brazil.
Vishing a scam carried out by telephone, in which fraudsters impersonate trustworthy people or companies to deceive the victim and extract confidential information, such as bank details, passwords, and personal documents – continues to be the most reported type of fraud among Brazilians who said they had been targeted (38%), but scams involving PIX (Brazil's instant payment system) are emerging as a new trend, occupying second place with 28%.
Although Brazil has a higher-than-average rate of suspected digital fraud, the Latin American scenario shows positive signs. According to the report, the rate of suspected digital fraud attempts has fallen in almost all Latin American countries.
However, even with companies' efforts, consumers remain exposed to fraudulent schemes, with 34% of Latin American respondents reporting having been targeted via email, online, phone calls, and text messages between February and May of this year. Vishing is the most reported attack vector in Latin American countries.
Billion-dollar losses
The second half 2025 update of TransUnion's Top Fraud Trends Report also indicates that corporate leaders in Canada, Hong Kong, India, the Philippines, the United Kingdom, and the U.S. stated that their companies lost the equivalent of 7.7% of their revenue due to fraud last year, a significant increase from the 6.5% recorded in 2024. This percentage equates to a loss of $534 billion, impacting the financial health and reputation of companies.
“Global losses from corporate fraud exceed billions of dollars, compromising not only the financial health of companies but also economic development. Resources that could be directed towards innovation, research, and expansion end up being drained by fraudulent schemes. To illustrate the magnitude of these global losses, the estimated amount would be comparable to approximately a quarter of Brazil's GDP. This comparison highlights the significant economic impact of fraud on the world stage,” emphasizes Massola.
Among the reported frauds, 24% of corporate leadership mentioned the use of scams or authorized frauds (which utilize social engineering) as the most common cause of fraud loss; that is, a scheme that aims to trick a person into providing valuable data, such as account access, money, or confidential information.
Impact on consumer relations
Nearly half, or 48%, of global consumers surveyed by TransUnion worldwide said they had been targeted by email, online, phone call, or text message fraud schemes between February and May 2025.
While 1.8% of all suspected types of digital fraud reported to TransUnion globally in the first half of 2025 were related to scams and fraud, account takeover (ATO) saw one of the fastest growth rates in terms of volume (21%) during the first half of 2025 compared to the same period in 2024.
The new study also shows that consumer accounts remain the preferred target for scam threats, leading organizations to strengthen their security strategies and individuals to be more vigilant about their data, integrating a second authentication factor as a preventative practice.
The report found that account creation is the most concerning step in the entire consumer journey globally. It is at this point that fraudsters use stolen data to open accounts across various sectors and commit all types of fraud. In the first half of this year alone, of all global attempts at digital account creation transactions, TransUnion found that 8.3% were suspicious, representing a 2.6% increase compared to the same period last year. Onboarding had the highest rate of transactions suspected of digital fraud in the consumer lifecycle across all sectors analyzed in the first half of 2025, except for financial services, insurance, and government, for which the greatest concern is during financial transactions. For these sectors, transactions such as purchases, withdrawals, and deposits had the highest rate of suspicious transactions.
Game fraud
TransUnion's new Digital Fraud Trends Report reveals that the e-sports/video game segment, which includes online and mobile games, had the highest percentage – 13.5% – of suspected digital fraud globally in the first half of 2025. This number represents a 28% increase in the suspicion rate compared to the same period in 2024. Scams and solicitations were the most frequently reported types of fraud by customers in this niche.
The segment that stands out in the study is gaming, such as online sports betting and poker. According to TransUnion's global intelligence network, 6.8% of digital gaming transactions between Brazilian consumers in the first half of 2025 were suspected of fraud, an increase of 1.3% when comparing the first half of 2024 with 2025. Abuse of promotions was the most frequently reported type of attempted fraud globally.
“The strategies used by fraudsters indicate a search for quick and high-value gains, exploiting digital loopholes and compromised personal data. This behavior reinforces the need for robust identity protection mechanisms and continuous monitoring, especially in segments such as online gaming, where rapid growth attracts criminals on a global scale,” Massola points out.
Methodology
All data in this report combines proprietary insights from TransUnion's global intelligence network, specially commissioned corporate research in Canada, Hong Kong, India, the Philippines, the UK, and the US, and consumer research in 18 countries and regions around the world. The corporate research was conducted from May 29 to June 6, 2025. The consumer research was conducted from May 5 to 25, 2025. The complete study can be found at this link: [ Link]
[1] TransUnion uses intelligence from billions of transactions originating from over 40,000 websites and applications. The rate or percentage of suspected digital fraud attempts reflects those that TransUnion clients determined met one of the following conditions: 1) real-time denial due to fraudulent indicators, 2) real-time denial due to corporate policy violations, 3) fraudulent after client investigation, or 4) a corporate policy violation after client investigation – compared to all transactions evaluated. National and regional analyses examined transactions where the consumer or suspected fraudster was located in a selected country or region when making a transaction. Global statistics represent all countries in the world, not just selected countries and regions.
[2] The Latin American data combines proprietary insights into digital fraud from TransUnion's global intelligence network in Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, and Puerto Rico; and consumer research in Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Dominican Republic, and Guatemala.
