Jumio detects opportunity to slash fraud rates with student identity verification

Consumers around the world are awakening to the dangers of AI-powered fraud, and as the demographic most familiar with AI tools, students are the most concerned, according to new data from Jumio.

The 2025 Online Identity Study shows a high acceptance level for biometrics among students than other demographics, but also accompanying concerns around how their data will be used. Overall, 69 percent of consumers surveyed recognize that fraud using AI is now a greater threat to personal security than traditional attack methods.

Students are more likely to have used generative AI to create or manipulate an image than full or part-time workers, and 70 percent say they’ve seen a deepfake in the past six months. This exposure is apparently also giving them false confidence, as 62 percent say they are confidant they can identify a deepfake.

Student’s exposure to real cases of online fraud continues to grow as well, with 41 percent saying they know someone who has been a victim.

The study also shows students are more likely than any other demographic (38 percent) to prefer biometrics as an authentication method for online accounts over passwords. For full and part-time workers, a preference for biometrics was shared by 37 and 33 percent, respectively.

If student’s banks were to use biometric identity verification instead of passwords, 42 percent of students would trust it more, according to Jumio’s figures. Nearly one in four is concerned, however, about the misuse of their identity data following online identity verification.

Jumio’s Chief Product and Technology Officer Bala Kumar says the data shows an opportunity for colleges and universities to meet the heightened expectations of their students “with privacy-first identity intelligence.”

Kumar has argued that post-secondary educational institutions need to treat student identity verification the way banks approach customer onboarding, as fraud threatens the federal student aid program. That threat has led to the requirement of live identity verification for federal student aid applications.

“As digital identity verification becomes more sophisticated, so must our commitment to privacy,” says Joe Kaufmann, global head of privacy at Jumio. “Enterprises that want to earn and keep the trust of students must adopt technologies that prioritize data protection by design and ensure ethical use of AI from the start.”

The study also delves into consumer opinions about who bears responsibility for stopping AI-driven fraud and the level of worry about these fraud tactics.

Article Topics

AI fraud  |  biometric liveness detection  |  biometrics  |  digital identity  |  fraud prevention  |  identity verification  |  Jumio  |  students