Perspectives
Industry leading research from the Armidale team.
We publish evidence based research on consumer scams, retail fraud and digital risk across APAC, drawing on our own multi-market consumer surveys and on work produced with partners.
What Coordination Is Worth: How Shared Defence Reduced Fraud Loss in Two Markets
27.6%
fall in Singapore scam cases in 2025, the first annual decline on record
Written for CROSEC. Card fraud inside Australia's coordinated framework fell against a larger exposure base, while scam losses outside any equivalent framework rose. Retail sits outside both arrangements.
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The Industrialisation of Return Fraud: How Generative AI Turned an Opportunistic Nuisance into a Shadow Economy
15%
of all retail returns are now estimated to be fraudulent or abusive
Written for CROSEC. Generative AI removed the skill that used to separate the opportunistic customer from the organised syndicate, and return and claims fraud has industrialised as a result.
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Peak Season 2025 in Australia: The Rising Ticket Size of Card-Not-Present Fraud
A$145
average value per card-not-present fraud transaction in 2024, up 9 per cent on 2023
Written for CROSEC. Fraud value is growing faster than fraud volume through Australia's peak trading period, which makes the governance question one of value at risk, not case count.
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The Hidden Inflation Driver: How Rising Retail Fraud Is Quietly Lifting Prices in Australia
0.08pp
added to headline CPI each year by the retail fraud burden alone
Written for CROSEC. Retail fraud is rarely counted in the inflation conversation, yet the year-on-year growth in the fraud burden carried by Australian retailers adds a measurable amount to headline CPI on its own.
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ASEAN Consumer Scam Report 2025: Victims Rising, Defences Under Strain
45%
of ASEAN consumers report having been scammed, up from 31 per cent
Written with GSMA, drawing on our own multi-market consumer surveys. Reporting is split across banks, police and platforms, so no single institution sees the whole case, which slows recovery and weakens deterrence.
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India Consumer Scam Report 2025: More Reporting, Less Trust in Outcomes
65%
of Indian scam victims lost money, yet only 14 per cent do not report
Written with GSMA, drawing on our own survey of Indian adults. Reporting is active but fragmented across platforms, banks, police and operators. Confidence in the outcome, not willingness to report, is the gap that matters.
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Beyond the Tipping Point: Tracking the High-Speed Growth of Digital Retail Fraud in Australia
A$785m
in card-not-present fraud in FY2024, 92 per cent of all card fraud
Written for CROSEC. Once refund abuse, account takeover and scam-driven transactions are counted alongside card fraud, the burden on Australian retailers runs to between three and four billion dollars a year.
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Consumer Attitudes Toward Fraud and Opportunities for Mobile Network Operators in SEA
78%
of Indonesian consumers are concerned about SIM-swap fraud, the highest of five markets
Consumer research across South East Asia on how fraud is experienced and who customers hold responsible, and where that leaves mobile network operators. Published under ThinkHowe, the name the team worked under at the time.
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