Deepfakes, ATO now entrenched as top ID fraud trends

Fraud trends for 2023 reveal where fraudsters are focusing their efforts as well as what tools are on the rise to fight against attackers.

Non-regulated entities are becoming more susceptible to fraud attacks as companies in regulated industries work to meet certain security requirements in order to comply with regulatory frameworks, according to Sumsub‘s 2023 Identity Fraud Report.

Top fraud trends from Sumsub’s 2022 report persisted throughout 2023. The top fraud trends were and still are deepfake usage, complex fraud patterns, and advanced forgeries. These observations align with Onfido’s recently-released fraud report.

Spain was the country that saw the most deepfake attacks, and every country in Latin America saw a rise in fraud attacks, according to Sumsub.

Deepfake audio and video attacks are an emerging threat, with deepfake attacks increasing by 10x from 2022 to 2023. However, instances also varied widely between continental regions.

North America saw a 1,740 percent surge in deepfakes, compared to 1,530 percent in the APAC region, 780 percent in Europe, 450 percent in the MEA region and 410 percent in Latin America.

Account takeover attacks and first-party fraud were also prominent in 2023. Sumsub’s report says account takeovers have risen 155 percent this year, while a Forbes article notes that 22 percent of adults in the U.S. have been a victim of this type of fraud. According to data from Visa, first-party fraud now accounts for 75 percent of all chargebacks.

The crypto industry makes up 88 percent of all deepfake frauds and is associated with money muling. At the same time, Web3 shows promise in combating fraud by enhancing security.

Another tool with the potential to effectively combat fraud is behavior authentication, writes programmer Leon Adelstein in a Medium article. This type of biometric authentication algorithm learns typing rhythm, device interactions, and other idiosyncratic behaviors that can identify fraud. This authentication method has use cases in highly regulated industries like finance and healthcare, Adelstein argues.

Article Topics

biometric authentication  |  deepfake detection  |  financial services  |  fraud prevention  |  Onfido  |  Sumsub