In 2023, there was a notable increase in scams and financial fraud, with Singapore, Thailand, and India particularly impacted, according to Google’s 2023 Bad Apps Report. Aman Dayal, head of trust & safety operations for Asia-Pacific at Google Play, highlighted the rise, attributing it to the high smartphone penetration rate in the Asia-Pacific region, exceeding 90%.
Scammers often exploit the trust placed in authority figures by posing as government officials or bank representatives. The region’s digital literacy gap, especially among older mobile users, contributes to the challenge of combatting online threats. Surprisingly, the age group between 25 and 34 in Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam was identified as particularly vulnerable to scams in a recent Google survey.
To address these issues, Google rolled out enhanced features like Google Play Protect and real-time scanning in countries affected by the surge in scams. The goal is to protect users from malicious apps that attempt to carry out fraud. Specifically, in Thailand, phishing apps impersonating legitimate banks have led to significant financial losses in 2023, as reported by the Bank of Thailand.
At an online media roundtable, Annabelle Chow from Annabelle Psychology emphasized that the impact of scams is not just financial but also emotional. Victims often struggle with feelings of denial, sadness, and anger, but societal stigma in the Asia-Pacific region hinders open discussion about these experiences.
Increasing empathy and encouraging open dialogue about scams can help victims cope and also aid tech platforms in enhancing security measures. Mr. Dayal mentioned that in 2023 alone, Google prevented millions of policy-violating apps from being published and banned hundreds of thousands of malicious developer accounts, reaffirming Google’s commitment to thwarting bad actors through advanced technologies like machine learning.