Zambia tops Africa in fake account fraud risk, says report
By Ludia Ngwadzai
ALTHOUGH Zambia has one of the lowest rates of suspected digital fraud in Africa, new data shows fraudsters are increasingly targeting the country’s online account registration systems, raising concerns about identity theft and consumer protection.
The latest H1 2026 Fraud Trends Report by TransUnion puts Zambia’s overall suspected digital fraud rate at 1.1 per cent in 2025, among the lowest recorded across surveyed African markets.
That figure sits well below the global average of 3.8 per cent and compares favourably with regional peers South Africa, at 3.0 per cent, and Kenya, at 2.3 per cent.
The report shows Zambia recorded the highest fraud risk during account creation among all African countries studied, with 13.7 per cent of new account registration attempts suspected to be fraudulent.
It highlighted that criminals were increasingly focusing on the earliest stages of the digital customer journey, exploiting weaknesses in identity verification processes to create fake or compromised accounts.
While fraud losses in Zambia were lower than in many other countries, consumers continued to face a high volume of fraud attempts.
The study found that 68 per cent of Zambian consumers reported being targeted by digital fraud attempts between August and December 2025 but did not fall victim, one of the highest such rates in Africa.
A further 14 per cent reported both being targeted and falling victim, while only 18 per cent said they had not encountered any fraud attempts during the period.
Researchers identified smishing, fraudulent text messages designed to trick recipients into revealing personal information as the most commonly reported attack method in Zambia.
“The findings show that consumers are increasingly aware of fraud attempts, but criminals continue to adapt their tactics,” the report said.
Among Zambians who reported losing money to digital fraud during the past year, the median loss amounted to approximately K8, 198 (US$366).”
The report highlighted online marketplace scams, identity theft, account takeover attempts and social engineering schemes among the most common causes of fraud-related losses across the region.
“Fraudsters appear to be focusing their efforts on Zambia’s growing digital retail market, ” the report reads.
The retail industry recorded the highest industry-specific suspected fraud rate in Zambia at 2.8%, suggesting online shopping platforms remain attractive targets for cybercriminals seeking access to consumer information and payment credentials.
Nearly six in 10 respondents (59%) said the security of personal data was the most important factor when choosing an online company to do business with, the highest proportion among the African countries surveyed.
In addition, 95% of Zambian consumers said confidence that their personal information would not be compromised was a very important consideration when deciding where to transact online.
The report indicates while Zambia had made progress in limiting overall digital fraud, the rise in fraudulent account creation attempts demonstrates the need for continued investment in identity verification, consumer education and fraud prevention technology.
