Mobile Threats Rise 49% Across Asia-Pacific, 108% in Bangladesh: Kaspersky

September 9, 2026: Across eight APAC markets, the average number of mobile threat detections per affected user rose 49% year-on-year in Q1 2026, increasing from 4.9 to 7.3. The rise was recorded across all eight markets, even as the overall number of users encountering mobile threats declined, indicating more persistent targeting of individual users.

Thailand recorded the sharpest concentration in Southeast Asia, with detections more than doubling to 2,494 while affected users declined, pushing detections per user from 3.0 to 11.9. Sri Lanka recorded 922 detections, up 132% year-on-year, with detections per user rising from 5.5 to 17.4. Detections increased 28% in the Philippines to 2,011 and 108% in Bangladesh to 1,859. China recorded 6,797 detections, nearly double the same period in 2025. China and Bangladesh were the only markets where both detections and affected users increased. India and Indonesia remained the region’s largest markets by volume, with 18,187 and 15,163 detections respectively.

Researchers observed growing mobile scam activity using fake promotions, phishing pages, malicious advertising, fraudulent surveys and other social engineering techniques to steal credentials and personal information. Phishing links remain a common tool, distributed through messaging apps, social media, fake job offers, cryptocurrency giveaways and digital promotions. Compromised messaging accounts are increasingly used to spread malicious links that appear to come from trusted contacts, while credentials for messaging platforms and government service portals are particularly valuable to attackers.

Threats are also becoming more sophisticated, with some malicious content requiring little or no user interaction and multi-stage attack chains making attacks harder to detect. Malware such as Rewardsteal and Thamera remains active in India, while AI is making scams more convincing through AI-written messages, cloned voices and deepfake content.

“Across APAC, mobile threats are becoming increasingly sophisticated, with cybercriminals combining stealthy attack techniques, persistent malware and AI-powered deception to target consumers. As scams become more convincing and harder to spot, staying protected requires security that can detect threats proactively, even before users realise they are under attack,” said Choon Hong Chee, Head of Consumer Channel for APAC at Kaspersky.

Kaspersky advises users to verify apps and links before engaging, be cautious of reward offers, review app permissions, enable multi-factor authentication, keep software updated and use trusted mobile cybersecurity solutions.