Kenya Records Highest Digital Fraud Rate in Africa, Led by Gaming Scams
Kenyan consumers who lost money to digital fraud in the past year reported a median loss of KSh 108,132, the highest among African countries surveyed by TransUnion.
This stats highlighted how scams are becoming more costly as the country’s digital economy expands.
Nearly four in ten Kenyan consumers who reported losing money to digital fraud said the loss resulted from third-party seller scams operating on legitimate e-commerce platforms, making it the most reported source of fraud losses. The policy of pay before delivery playing a key role in this.
Rather than luring consumers to obviously fraudulent websites, criminals are inserting themselves into trusted marketplaces where users are already comfortable transacting.
Gaming and Betting Transaction Scams!
Across sectors, online gaming and betting platforms recorded the highest suspected digital fraud attempt rate, with 15.6%.
15.6% of attempted transactions in the sector were flagged as potentiall fraudulent in 2025. The volume of suspected fraud attempts in the sector also surged by 97% from the previous year.
Video gaming ranked second with a fraud attempt rate of 9.1%, accompanied by an 83% increase in suspected fraud volume.
Digital Fraud in Government Offices!
Government services recorded a fraud rate of 6.3% and a 24% rise in suspected fraud attempts. Some of the notable cases were the 2026 forensic audit that revealed that billions of shillings were diverted into unauthorized, non-Treasury-approved commercial bank accounts instead of the consolidated government fund.In specific instances, over Ksh 127 million was illegally routed from the official M-Pesa Paybill number to private financial entities
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Insurance posted a rate of 5.7% despite a 19% decline in fraud volume. Other sectors recorded lower fraud rates but substantial shifts in activity. They included logistics with 4.1%, retail with 3.3%, online dating and community forums with 2.2%, and financial services with 2.2%.
Scams are growing on a daily basis as tech savvy and jobless Gen Zs try to survive the current hardened economy in the country.
