AI-powered digital identity verification solution provider, Shufti Pro, revealed new data in its Global ID Fraud Report 2021 which shows insights from ample research of 11 months of verification. The report highlights the changing fraudulent activities and advanced manipulation techniques that the company faced in 2021. Experts from Shufti Pro have also made fraud predictions that will threaten the corporate sector in 2022.
The ceaseless increase in ID and financial fraud with each passing year put the retailers and customers in unwanted situations. Shufti Pro captured around 33% of tampered identity documents solely in 2021. Sudan, Kenya, Cameroon, and Ethiopia were the primary targets of bad actors with biometric fraud attempts surpassing 50% in 2021. MRZ manipulation, counterfeit documents, and imitated security features are some of the reasons that caused an increase in fraud.
COVID-19 pandemic resulted as a big reason to further push the increase in fraudulent activities. The report found that the fraud rate recorded in 2020 was approximately 21%, while in 2021, even though the physical restrictions began to lift, the overall scam rate was increased by a whopping 3%. COVID-19 pandemic and the recurring lockdowns favored the fraudsters and they fully targeted the businesses and customers in the holiday season. Impersonation fraud, synthetic ID scam, account takeover, and chargebacks were some of the most encountered fraud attempts this holiday season.
“We are surprised to see the remarkable turn of fraudsters from simple manipulation of identity documents to tech-driven tampering to dodge identity verification,” said Victor Fredung, the CEO of Shufti Pro. “As we move on to 2022, I would advise businesses in every industry to employ robust mechanisms to combat identity thieves and financial criminals.”
The key takeaways from the report include:
- Around 30% of the phishing emails sent every day are opened by victims and 12% of them click on the malicious link given. Considering the growing trends of fraud, it is observed that phishing attacks will be greatly used by fraudsters to carry out illegal activities
- Millions were laundered through virtual assets in 2021 and considering the fraud cases it is predicted that crypto and NFT-based criminal activities will increase significantly in the coming years
- The trends in remote working will provide fraudsters an edge to easily target companies that are employing remote working, especially during a pandemic
