Data and analytics firm LexisNexis Risk Solutions said mobile web browsers account for the single largest amount of fraud losses, followed by branded and third-party mobile apps.

“This shows that fraudsters are targeting them, often through click flooding and botnet attacks,” according to the survey of 360 businesses across Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Singapore

A botnet is a number of Internet-connected devices, each of which runs one or more bots, or software running automated tasks.

The survey, conducted between June and August this year, also found that 31% of fraud losses can be attributed to identity theft.

The cost of fraud for surveyed industries in Malaysia, namely retail, e-commerce and financial services, is 3.57 times the lost transaction value.

“This means that for every fraudulent transaction, the cost to Malaysian businesses is actually 3.57 times the amount of the lost transaction value. This translates to fraud costs amounting to 1.93% of annual revenues overall.”

The rate is the second highest among the four countries surveyed. It is 2.03% in the Philippines, 1.66% in Indonesia and 1.57% in Singapore.

“The growth of mobile commerce in all four countries is enhancing the risk of fraud, as fraudsters are increasingly targeting mobile apps at a global level through click flooding and botnet attacks,” the company said.