The modern smartphone has ceased to be merely a communication tool, becoming a command centre for finances and the main shopping terminal. According to the latest BIK Anti-Fraud Report, as many as 82% of users in Poland treat the phone as their primary e-commerce tool. However, where capital and consumer attention flow, cybercriminals also follow. The data paints a worrying picture: the dynamic growth of m-commerce goes hand in hand with users’ striking carelessness when it comes to security.
The scale of the phenomenon is unprecedented. The e-commerce sector in Poland is expected to reach a value of PLN 192 billion by 2028, half of which will be mobile transactions. This market optimism is clouded by the fact that as many as 61% of shoppers perceive a real risk of data theft. Criminals are looking less and less for vulnerabilities in code and more often for psychology. Phishing attacks, carried out via SMS (40% of indications) and instant messaging (22%), take advantage of shopping impulsiveness. The promise of a ‘bargain of a lifetime’ in a push notification is becoming a digital lock for Poles’ savings.
The most striking finding of the BIK report, however, is not the technical sophistication of the fraudsters, but the low security culture on the consumer side. In an era of biometrics and advanced algorithms, one in six respondents do not use a screen lock at all. The lack of digital hygiene also manifests itself in the approach to software updates – only 47% of users use automatic security patches, which are a critical barrier against new strains of malware.
The result of this loophole is the financial losses generated by fake online shops, which already account for 43% of all fraud damages. This is twice as high as the media-publicised ‘fake investments’. For the business sector, this sends a clear signal: lack of trust is becoming a barrier to growth. With 17% of Poles declaring that they abandon online shopping due to concerns about payment security, the fight against cybercrime is no longer the domain of IT, but is becoming a key element of sales strategy.
In the age of instant payments, passive avoidance of suspicious links is not enough. The future of m-commerce belongs to proactive protection systems, such as BIK Alerts or darknet monitoring, which reduce incident response times to an absolute minimum. Without consumer education and systemic anti-fraud solutions, the smartphone, instead of being a window to the global marketplace, will remain an unprotected wallet on display.
