2024 Global Economic Crimes Survey Reveals Cybercrime Surge and Shifts in Fraud Landscape Post-COVID

The 2024 Global Economic Crimes Survey (GECS) reflects the two-year period following the COVID-19 pandemic, a time marked by widespread adaptation to new operational norms. This “new normal” has seen businesses increasingly adopt hybrid work models that blend remote and in-person collaboration, optimize supply chains, adapt to evolving consumer preferences through omnichannel strategies, and refine digital, resilience, and risk management practices.

As operational practices have transformed from the pre-pandemic era through to the current post-pandemic landscape, the nature of economic crime has evolved, necessitating continuous updates to risk management strategies. Notably, cybercrime, which ranked low in Uganda’s 2020 GECS (based on pre-pandemic years 2018 and 2019), has risen significantly in prominence, now positioned as the second most frequent economic crime after customer fraud.

Globally, cybercrime has become the most prevalent economic crime, with a reported incident rate of 44%. It was also considered the most disruptive by 40% of survey respondents. Similarly, the PwC Eastern Africa 2024 CEO Survey reported cybercrime as a growing concern, with 28% of CEOs identifying it as a threat, up from 22% in 2023. Eastern African CEOs also identified macroeconomic volatility as the primary concern for the coming year, recognizing that market uncertainties, financial pressures, and the potential for fraud create a challenging environment for risk management.

In Uganda, customer fraud was reported as the most common form of economic crime, with an incident rate of 40%, closely followed by cybercrime at 37%. The increasing integration of technology appears to be contributing to the shift, with a rise in cybercrime incidents as traditional forms of economic crime, such as asset misappropriation and procurement fraud, have diminished in frequency. Risk management teams and counter-fraud professionals are encouraged to enhance their capabilities in response to these emerging challenges.

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