Kenya records Africa’s highest digital fraud losses, third‑party seller scams largest share
The findings suggest that fraud is increasingly becoming embedded in everyday digital interactions, with consumers often falling victim while using.
Online gaming-related transactions recorded the highest suspected digital fraud. (Photo: Magnific)
Third-party seller scams conducted through legitimate e-commerce platforms have emerged as the leading source of digital fraud losses among Kenyan consumers.
According to the latest fraud trends report by TransUnion, the country has also recorded the highest median financial loss from digital fraud among African countries surveyed.
The record highlights the growing sophistication of cybercriminals operating within the country’s rapidly expanding digital economy.
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Notably, 2.3 per cent of transaction attempts involving consumers in the country in 2025 were suspected of digital fraud.
While this was below the global average of 3.8 per cent, it was the second-highest rate among the African countries analysed, behind South Africa.
The findings indicate that despite a year-on-year decline in suspected digital fraud incidents, fraudsters are increasingly shifting towards trust-based scams that exploit familiar and credible online environments.
Among Kenyan consumers who reported losing money to digital fraud in the past year, nearly four in ten (39 per cent) attributed their losses to third-party seller scams on legitimate e-commerce websites.
This was followed by money mule scams at 30 per cent, account takeover incidents at 27 per cent, identity theft at 26 per cent and social engineering scams at 25 per cent.
Other prominent fraud schemes included phishing attacks at 24 per cent, vishing at 23 per cent, unemployment benefits fraud at 22 per cent, stolen credit card or fraudulent charges at 21 per cent and smishing attacks at 20 per cent.
Consumer losses linked to digital fraud remain substantial.
Among Kenyans who reported losing money through email, online, phone call or text message scams over the past year, the median loss stood at Sh108,132, the highest among all African markets assessed by the study.
The findings suggest that fraud is increasingly becoming embedded in everyday digital interactions, with consumers often falling victim while using trusted services and platforms.
“Kenya is emerging as one of Africa’s fastest-growing digital economies, and global experience shows that the markets that scale fastest are also the first to encounter sophisticated, identity-driven fraud at scale,” said Amritha Reddy, senior director of fraud product management at TransUnion Africa.
“As mobile device usage, real-time payments and high-frequency digital transactions continue to grow, fraudsters actively search for new opportunities.”
The report further notes that digital fraud risks are increasingly concentrated at key points of the consumer lifecycle.
Account creation recorded the highest suspected fraud rate at 4.5 per cent in 2025, followed by account login at 2.2 per cent and financial transactions at 0.9 per cent.
This trend signals a shift from traditional transaction-focused attacks to identity and access-related fraud, where criminals seek to establish or hijack digital identities before exploiting them.
Sector analysis shows online gaming-related transactions recorded the highest suspected digital fraud attempt rate among industries reviewed.
The gaming sector, which includes online sports betting and poker platforms, registered a fraud attempt rate of 15.6 per cent and a 97 per cent increase in suspected fraud volume compared to 2024.
Video gaming ranks second at 9.1 per cent with an 83 per cent rise in suspected fraud attempts, while government services came third at 6.3 per cent, reflecting a 24 per cent increase.
Insurance follows at 5.7 per cent, while logistics recorded a rate of 4.1 per cent.
TransUnion notes that fraud patterns in Kenya increasingly mirror those seen in more mature digital economies, where cybercriminals operate across multiple channels and leverage consumer trust to execute scams.
The report argues that fraud prevention efforts must now extend beyond compliance requirements and focus on safeguarding the entire consumer journey, especially during onboarding and account access stages where criminals are most active.
“Fraud tends to do the most damage in places where people already rely heavily on digital services, not just where those services are new,” Reddy said.
“In Kenya, mitigating fraud risks is now part of everyday digital activity.”
The report also found that Kenyan consumers place a high premium on security when conducting online transactions.
About 88 per cent of respondents cited confidence that their personal data is secure as the most important factor when choosing where to transact online, ahead of an easy payment process at 87 per cent and ease of login or authentication at 79 per cent.