Nearly one in four (24%) Americans have been victimized by fraud or identity theft “while using gig economy platforms, like delivery and ride-sharing apps,” according to an update from TransUnion.
That is more than double the rate they “experienced elsewhere, with only 10% reporting victimization outside gig platforms,” the TransUnion report noted.
These findings and more are “part of a comprehensive study from TransUnion (NYSE: TRU) on the attitudes, behaviors and experiences of Americans participating in the gig economy as workers, consumers or both.”
The full findings are “available in the 2023 U.S. Gig Economy Report.”
Their findings highlighted “the diversity of the gig economy communities.” While participants may have different reasons for “choosing gig work and services, everyone comes with the same expectation of having a positive experience.”
Tracey Lazos, Senior Director of TransUnion‘s Gig Economy business, said:
“The gig economy provides extraordinary convenience and flexibility for consumers and workers, and it all hinges on trust,” said Tracey Lazos, senior director of TransUnion’s gig economy business. “It is imperative for platforms to provide robust protections that can validate identity without adding unnecessary friction.”
When asked which security steps they “expect platforms to leverage, consumers and workers showed similar preferences for measures such as one-time passcodes and biometric identity verifications, like facial recognition and fingerprint scanning.”
As noted in the update, the need for robust security measures “was underscored by responses to questions about why people stop doing gig work.”
While the most common reasons were financially related; for example, not making enough money or finding full-time employment, “more than a quarter of workers (26%) cited safety concerns.” That number was elevated “among Baby Boomers, at 35%.”
Of Americans who indicated “that they are currently engaged in the gig economy, 37% use gig platforms solely as a source of income, while 39% act only as consumers of gig services, and the remaining 23% participate as both workers and consumers.”
While low-income earners (less than $50,000 per year) had the highest representation among workers, more than half (58%) of high-income earners (more than $100,000 per year) who participated “in the gig economy did so as workers.”
What’s more, nearly one-third (29%) of that group “cited gig work as their primary source of income.”