Botswana’s Financial Services Industry Hit Hardest by Cybercrime in 2023

A recent study by TransUnion has revealed that Botswana’s financial services industry was hit the hardest by cybercrime in 2023. The report found that the rate of suspected digital fraud attempts for financial services transactions where the consumer was located in Botswana increased by a staggering 196% year-over-year to 9.7%.

Suspected Digital Fraud Across Industries

Globally, nearly one in seven (13.5%) newly created accounts are suspected to be created via digital fraud.
Financial services, retail, travel and leisure, and video gaming were among the industries that saw the highest percentage of digital account creation transactions suspected to be digital fraud in 2023.

Highest Rate of Suspected Digital Fraud by Industry

Financial Services: 9.7% year-over-year growth rate
Retail: 8.7% globally, surpassing gaming as the industry seeing the highest rate of suspected digital fraud
Telecommunications: 4.5% year-over-year increase in suspected digital fraud

Insights from TransUnion CEO

“This early-phase new account digital fraud may represent a paradigm shift of sorts among fraudsters globally,” said Kabelo Ramaselwana, CEO at TransUnion Botswana. “In lieu of using traditional tactics to gain access to and ultimately compromise existing accounts, they are increasingly choosing to create new accounts that they can control themselves.”

Study Methodology

The study’s findings are based on proprietary insights from TransUnion’s global intelligence network, which includes data from:

Botswana
Brazil
Canada
Chile
Colombia
Dominican Republic
Hong Kong
India
Kenya
Mexico
Namibia
Philippines
Puerto Rico
Rwanda
South Africa
Spain
United Kingdom
United States
Zambia