Fraud spikes during periods of uncertainty and instability, and “the COVID-19 pandemic was no exception to this,” according to an update from Onfido.
Onfido noted that the years 2020 to 2021 “saw all-time highs in the number of fraudulent attempts.” However as the world has reopened, “the question becomes — what’s next?”
Onfido also asks, How do businesses “continue to deal with the online threats that go hand-in-hand with digitization?”
According to Onfido:
“Today we’re seeing a unique convergence of technological advancement, online services and instantaneous digital access across the business landscape which has created a breeding ground for fraud. Increasingly, fraud is becoming a numbers game. Fraudsters are attacking at scale, favoring quantity over quality, hoping to find cracks in business defenses. Fraud is happening everywhere, 24/7, and businesses that take a reactive approach are leaving their front door wide open for fraud.”
As mentioned in the report from Onfido, fraudsters and/or bad actors are “attacking at scale, favoring quantity over quality, hoping to find cracks in business defenses.” Fraud is “happening everywhere, 24/7, and businesses that take a reactive approach are leaving their front door wide open for fraud.” To help businesses be more proactive in their fight against fraud, a recent report from Onfido examines “how fraudsters behave, the techniques they’re using, and what sort of attack patterns have emerged over the last year.” From the times “they’re most active, to the most frequently targeted documents, to the mobile manufacturers they use most, this report dissects fraudulent activity and trends to help arm businesses for the year ahead.”
As noted in the update, Onfido further claims that it “processes millions of identity verification checks every year and catches thousands of fraudulent attempts, giving us a unique insight into what methods fraudsters are adopting.”
The data referenced in this report “was mostly taken from 1 October 2021 to 1 October 2022 and is reflective of Onfido’s clients and the verification space, and therefore might not always mirror wider market trends.”
The report added:
“When we compare 2022 to the previous two years, much of the world has returned to ‘business as usual’ following the outbreak of COVID-19. This return to relative normalcy has seen fraud rates drop slightly. The higher fraud rates we saw in 2020 and 2021 were directly tied to the COVID pandemic — turbulence always creates opportunity for fraud, and increased digital activity as a result of the pandemic created plenty of opportunity.”
The report concluded:
“Looking to the future, I think we can expect to see NFC playing a much larger role in identity verification. NFC verification is incredibly fast, accurate and adds another layer of security. Deepfakes are also on the horizon, and while we can’t know when exactly they might become mainstream (today they are still a rare occurrence) the technology is out there.”