Cifas reveals ‘staggering’ identity fraud rates for UK, Entrust examines global trends

The UK recorded a “staggering” 421,000 fraud cases last year, among which nearly 60 percent are related to identity fraud, according to an annual report released by fraud prevention service Cifas.

The non-profit organization revealed that the National Fraud Database (NFD) recorded approximately 250,000 identity fraud filings in 2024, a five percent increase year-on-year. The vast majority of cases were committed through online channels (86 percent).

In its Fraudscape 2025 report, Cifas also notes that criminals are investing more time in false identities and fictitious profiles with the help of generative AI.

“Our data highlights the relentless rise in fraud and the ever-evolving tactics used by criminals to exploit victims,” says Mike Haley, Cifas CEO. “Identity fraud, account takeovers, and false applications continue to climb, exposing vulnerabilities across multiple sectors.”

The rise of identity fraud is predominantly linked to impersonations targeting the telecommunication sector which rose 73 percent. A vast majority of these (87 percent or 16,000 cases) are related to mobile phones: Fraudsters have been calling victims offering upgrades and discounts on mobile handsets using impersonations and account takeover.

Other products involved in identity fraud are personal store cards (up 35 percent), personal bank accounts (up 12 percent), personal credit cards (up 8 percent) and motor insurance (up 8 percent). Most victims are people over 61 years of age, according to the report.

Other types of fraud covered in the report include facility or account takeovers, which surged 76 percent in 2024, false applications which increased 10 percent, and misuse of facility which rose only 1 percent. Cifas’ report, however, did bring some good news – cases of money mulling and insider threat fraud have declined 9 percent and 20 percent respectively over the past year.

The organization’s data is based on fraud risk data filed by Cifas members to the National Fraud Database (NFD) and Insider Threat Database (ITD). Cifas notes that the crimes are estimated to cost the UK economy £219 billion (US$285 billion) each year.

Fraud attempts rising globally: Entrust

Identity fraud is not only rising in the UK but also around the globe and across industries. Nearly 70 percent of companies are reporting increased fraud attempts, according to a survey from e-signature platform Docusign and digital identity startup Onfido, acquired by Entrust.

Organizations with over 5,000 employees are losing $13 million on average because of identity fraud. The larger the organization, the higher the loss: Among organizations with over 10,000 employees, 20 percent have an annual direct and indirect identity fraud cost of over $50 million, says the research.

The online survey was conducted among business and IT decision-makers across various industries and locations. Around half of the respondents said that fraud is more common when users rely on just a username and password compared to any other authentication method. In comparison, only 21 percent of organizations reported fraud attempts against facial biometric liveness detection.

Approximately three-quarters of organizations said that they plan to invest in identity verification solutions in the future while those businesses that have already invested in them reported savings of $8 million on average.

Article Topics

Cifas  |  digital identity  |  DocuSign  |  Entrust  |  financial services  |  generative AI  |  KYC  |  market report  |  Onfido  |  synthetic identity fraud