In Singapore, payment remains a significant issue for both consumers and businesses. A global survey commissioned by payment platform Adyen, which polled more than 13,000 businesses and 38,000 consumers worldwide, underscores these rising concerns in the city-state.

The survey reveals that nearly half of respondents in Singapore have experienced being a victim of payment fraud (49%). Additionally, one in three consumers (33%) feel more unsafe shopping today than they did ten years ago, because of payment fraud, a figure that’s higher than the global average of 25%.

This heightened concern has led many consumers to favor businesses with robust security measures. Notably, 29% of respondents prefer to shop at stores with higher security measures, while 21% say they like it when retailers ask them to provide their identity through second-factor authentication (2FA) as it gives them confidence that there is efficient fraud protection in place.

Results of the business survey echo these findings. 52% of the businesses surveyed in Singapore reported an increase in fraud attempts at their organisation in the past year. Many businesses recognize that fraudulent attacks tend to rise during peak shopping periods, with 60% agreeing that fraud increases during these times.

In response to these threats, 66% of businesses are considering partnering with a technology or payments provider that offers a chargeback liability guarantee to mitigate risks. Furthermore, 62% of businesses are using artificial intelligence (AI) to help prevent fraudulent transactions in their stores.

Top types of payment fraud in Singapore in 2025

The Adyen Index: Retail Report 2024 also highlights the most common types of payment fraud in Singapore observed from the company payment platform, emphasizing phishing, refund fraud, card testing and friendly fraud as the most prevalent payment fraud tactics in the city-state as of January 2025.

Phishing

Phishing is one of the most common scam tactics in Singapore. This type of social engineering attack aims to trick targets into revealing personal information, such as passwords and credit card numbers.

These attacks are becoming increasingly sophisticated, with fraudster now using the Personal Identifiable Information (PII) harvested from successful attacks to create synthetic identities. Synthetic identities are virtual identities that combine both made-up and legitimate PII, and which can be used to deceive retailers of inventory and money. These attacks are much harder to detect and prevent because they blend real and fake data.

In 2024, phishing scams were the third most concerning type of scam in Singapore. Victims lost a total of S$59.4 million (US$44.5 million) due to these scams, according to Singapore Police.

Refund fraud / policy abuse

Refund fraud, also referred to as policy abuse, is another popular payment fraud method in Singapore. Refund fraud occurs when a fraudster becomes well-acquainted with a business’s policies and take advantage of things like returns, refunds or promotions.

Such fraud instances are not only attempted by professional fraudsters but can also be attempted by everyday consumers who wish to exploit benefits such as cost savings.

Because refund fraud can be difficult to detect, the scheme is becoming increasingly common. According to a 2024 Statista survey, refund fraud was the most common type of e-commerce fraud by merchants worldwide, experienced by just under half of online merchants worldwide.

Card testing

Card testing is another prevalent issue in Singapore. Card testing fraud refers to a type of payment fraud where stolen cards are tested to determine if they’re active. If they are, they can be sold on the dark web for a much higher price than untested ones.

Friendly fraud / first-party fraud

Finally, the last payment fraud type highlighted in the Adyen report is friendly fraud. Friendly fraud, also known as also known as first-party fraud, occurs when a consumer makes an online shopping purchase with their own credit card, and then requests a chargeback from the issuing bank after receiving the purchased goods or services.

According to a 2020 report by FIS Global, friendly fraud accounts for as much as 70% of all credit card fraud, costing the industry over US$132 billion a year.

Other findings

Beyond payment fraud concerns, the Adyen Index: Retail Report 2024 offers insights into global and local trends trends impacting businesses around the world.

One key finding is the rise of mobile payments. In fact, 31% of Singaporean consumers don’t even bother carrying wallets anymore, relying instead solely on the ability to tap their phone to pay. Over the past year, 48% of Singaporean consumers used mobile wallets while shopping, with adoption being the highest among Millennials (56%) and lower among Baby Boomers (32%).

QR code payments are also on the rise, growing in popularity by 31% in Singapore year-on-year, higher than the global average of 11%.

The report also highlights the rise of social commerce, with 51% of Singaporeans shopping via social media in the past year, and 34% expressing interest in purchasing products they discover on these platforms. Business activity further reflects this shift, with 81% of retailers in the city-state reporting revenue growth after enabling social commerce.

Featured image credit: edited from Freepik