Highest in Asia: Pakistan facing mounting exposure to cyber-enabled financial fraud: report

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan is facing mounting exposure to cyber-enabled financial fraud, with estimated scam losses equivalent to 2.5 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), highlighting growing risks to digital financial services as fraudsters exploit online platforms, telecommunications networks, and payment systems.

This was noted in the “Bangkok Blueprint in Action”, released by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank Group (WBG) managements, a high-level framework developed in coordination with the Bank of Thailand that aims to help countries prevent, detect, and address the growing threat of cyber-enabled fraud in digital financial services.

Pakistan’s estimated economic losses from fraud are significantly higher than the global average of 0.45 percent of GDP, underscoring the scale of the challenge confronting the country’s digital economy.

The report noted that Asia suffers the highest fraud losses globally led by Pakistan with 2.5 percent of GDP, followed by Malaysia with 2.1 percent India with 1.3 percent.

The paper, prepared by researchers associated with the Bank of Thailand and the Puey Ungphakorn Institute for Economic Research, draws lessons from anti-fraud measures in Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand. It identifies coordinated intelligence-sharing, rapid intervention and stronger consumer protection as key measures to combat increasingly sophisticated financial scams.

The report warns that cyber-enabled fraud has evolved beyond unauthorised access to bank accounts, with criminals increasingly manipulating customers into authorising transactions themselves through deception, impersonation and social engineering.

It identifies the growing use of artificial intelligence, deepfakes and automated fraud services as factors lowering the barriers to sophisticated scams, while instant payment systems allow stolen funds to move rapidly across multiple accounts and jurisdictions.

It further stated that digital finance has expanded access, innovation, and efficiency, but it has also enabled fraud to occur at greater speed, scale, and sophistication.

Cyber-enabled fraud is increasingly linked to transnational organised crime and is ranked by INTERPOL as among the most threatening crimes globally, alongside drug trafficking and money laundering.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2026