16% of mobile devices in developing markets now infected with malware

Mobile users already disadvantaged by an economic and digital divide have suffered the most from digital fraud throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. In emerging markets such as Brazil, Indonesia, South Africa and Thailand, 16 percent of mobile devices that processed a transaction were found to be infected with malware, according to Upstream.

Insights come from Secure-D processing 1 billion mobile transactions and service sign-ups for 35 mobile operators in 23 emerging markets covering nearly 840 million users.

The report reveals the scale of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mobile ad fraud and malware. 46,000 malicious apps were detected in circulation, with a global block rate of 95 percent. This translates as 16 percent of mobile devices carrying at least one infected app.

Globally, only 2.6 percent of devices are reported to be harboring high-risk apps. It is estimated that end-users in 23 markets avoided $1.3 billion in losses owing to fraudulent sign ups being blocked in 2020.

“One example of how malicious apps operate is the ‘Best QR Code Scanner’, an app removed from Google Play, that triggered 15,997 transaction attempts from a single user’s mobile in Brazil in just one month”, says Head of Secure-D at Upstream, Geoffrey Cleaves.

Emerging markets disproportionately impacted

Out of the countries covered, the highest infection rates were found by Secure-D in Indonesia, where over 99 percent of mobile transactions were flagged as fraudulent and subsequently blocked by the platform. Brazil followed with a block rate of 96 percent, with Thailand a close third at 92 percent.

Mobile users in these regions tend to rely mostly on their mobile devices for connecting with the online world. Due ..

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