Sumsub’s Fraud Exposure Survey 2025 finds fraud in APAC is shifting towards identity takeovers, with 84% of attacks targeting social media and government portals.
Fraud across the Asia-Pacific is changing fast. According to Sumsub’s latest Fraud Exposure Survey 2025, attackers are no longer focused on quick financial wins. Instead, they are going after identities, with 84% of fraud cases in the region now involving control of social media and government portal accounts.
This shift reflects what Sumsub calls a “Sophistication Shift” in its Fraud Exposure Survey. Rather than high-volume scams, fraudsters are launching fewer but far more carefully planned attacks. Powered by AI, deepfakes, and professional fraud-as-a-service tools, these schemes aim for long-term access and control, causing more serious damage to individuals, businesses, and digital trust overall.
Governments in APAC are starting to respond. In Singapore, the Protection from Scams Act, introduced in 2025, allows authorities to temporarily freeze accounts linked to scam activity. The focus is moving towards stopping fraud as it happens, rather than trying to recover losses after the fact.
For businesses, the message is clear: strong fraud prevention is no longer optional if they want to protect their reputation and keep customer trust.
The survey, conducted in August 2025, gathered insights from over 300 companies and more than 1,200 consumers worldwide, including respondents from Hong Kong, Singapore, Indonesia, and the Philippines.
More than half of APAC consumers experienced fraud in 2025, with phishing and weak passwords still the main ways attackers get in. Over half also reported encountering, or possibly encountering, deepfakes online, showing how realistic synthetic media has become.
For consumers, the most common outcomes were social media account takeovers, stolen funds, and being tricked into sending money. A smaller but worrying share also reported compromised government accounts. Unsurprisingly, 89% said they would choose providers with strong anti-fraud protections.
Businesses are under similar pressure. Nearly 70% of APAC companies faced fraud last year, with synthetic identity fraud, chargeback abuse, and deepfake-enabled verification bypasses among the most common threats. Identity theft remains the leading third-party attack, often followed by account takeovers and bot-driven activity.
“This is no longer a fight against isolated incidents; it’s a battle for digital trust. Businesses that fail to adapt, especially the 44% relying on manual reviews, risk losing credibility and long-term resilience. In 2026 and beyond, the leaders will be those who embrace multi-layered, intelligence-driven defences and make trust the foundation of every interaction throughout the customer lifecycle,” said Penny Chai, Vice President, APAC at Sumsub.
As fraud becomes more organised and more intelligent, trust is turning into a competitive advantage. With most businesses expecting AI-driven fraud to rise further, the survey suggests that those who invest early in smarter, layered defences will be best placed to stay ahead and keep users on their side.
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