AppGate: Phishing Drove 73.2% of Global Fraud Incidents in 2025

By
Gerald Baldino
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360 Fraud Protection by AppGate has released Fraud Beat 2026: The Industrialization of Digital Fraud — From Social Exposure to Cash-Out, outlining the continued evolution of fraud into a coordinated, scalable operating model.

The report revealed that phishing accounted for 73.2 percent of global fraud incidents in 2025. It also highlights how fraud campaigns folllow a structured lifecycle, beginning with external exposure and social engineering, progresses through credential compromise and account takeover, and ending in increasingly efficient cash-out scenarios.

Drawing on intelligence from AppGate’s Guardian Fusion Center, the Anti-Phishing Working Group (APWG), Verizon’s Data Breach Investigations Report, Microsoft’s Digital Defense Report, Juniper Research, and Alloy, the report shows how social-first scams, impersonation attacks and automation are reshaping the fraud landscape.

Key findings include:

  • Phishing in Latin America increased by as much as 228 percent year-over-year across the region’s 10 most-targeted countries, fueled by widespread brand impersonation. (AppGate Guardian Fusion Center)
  • Unauthorized trademark abuse in Asia-Pacific grew 53 percent year-over-year, the fastest-growing attack vector in the region. (AppGate Guardian Fusion Center)
  • Social platforms have become the primary fraud funnel, with scams and impersonation representing 86 percent of confirmed social threats. Financial institutions accounted for 35.5 percent of targeted attacks. (APWG Q4 2025)
  • Wire-transfer business email compromise (BEC) surged 136 percent QoQ during the fourth quarter of 2025, with an average requested amount of $50,297. (APWG)
  • Every $1 in direct fraud loss creates $5.16 in total impact for lending institutions when recovery, chargebacks, churn and operational costs are included. (Alloy)
  • Global fraud detection and prevention spending is projected to grow 85 percent, from $21 billion in 2025 to $39 billion by 2030, as organizations invest in continuous risk assessment and AI-driven decisioning. (Juniper Research)

Download the report here.