Democratization of Fraud Tech: $1,000 Can Cause $2.5M in Monthly Business Losses, Sumsub Report Reveals

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Nov 19, 2024, 04:00 ET

Rise of Fraud-as-a-Service, deepfakes surging 4x and more 2024 digital fraud trends uncovered in 4th annual Identity Fraud Report by Sumsub

MIAMI, Nov. 19, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Sumsub, a global full-cycle verification platform, today released its fourth annual Identity Fraud Report. The report provides a detailed analysis of identity fraud dynamics worldwide based on millions of verification checks and over 3,000,000 fraud attempts analyzed between 2023 and 2024*. The report also includes Sumsub's Fraud Exposure Survey 2024, featuring responses from 200+ risk professionals and over 1,000 end users.

Identity Fraud Main Trends and Statistics for 2024

Sumsub report reveals that the democratization of fraud is the main trend in 2024.

Key findings from Sumsub's report include:

The top-5 identity fraud types in 2024 are: forged documents (50% of all fraud attempts), chargebacks (15%), account takeovers (12%), deepfakes (7%) and fraudulent networks (4%).
The report found a significant 4x increase in deepfakes detected worldwide from 2023 to 2024
The top-5 sectors most affected by identity fraud in 2024 are dating (8.9% fraud rate), online media (7.7%), banking & insurance (2.7%), video gaming (2.3%), and crypto (2.2%).
The top-5 industries with the highest identity fraud growth rates in 2023-2024 are dating (265%), online media (180%), banking & insurance (162%), fintech (156%) and edtech (144%).
The analysis of an average fraudster economy demonstrates that, with as little as $1,000 at their disposal, a fraudster group can inflict losses of up to $2.5M a month.
The global average identity fraud rate more than doubled over three years, growing from 1.1% of all verifications in 2021 to 2.6% in 2024.
Three-quarters (76%) of fraud occurs during ongoing account use, highlighting the need for continuous checks apart from KYC.
Account takeover (ATO) attacks have become one of the most damaging forms of fraud. ATO cases surged by 250% YoY, a staggering rise compared to a 155% increase in 2022-2023.
The Sumsub Fraud Exposure Survey 2024 revealed that, on average, businesses lost approximately $300,000 per fraud event in 2024, and nearly half of companies (45%) and end users (44%) worldwide reported being victims of identity fraud at least once.

"In today's digital world, identity fraud poses a serious threat to individuals and companies. In 2024, 67% of firms reported a fraud increase," says Andrew Sever, co-founder and CEO of Sumsub. "The Sumsub Annual Identity Fraud Report has become a go-to resource for industry leaders, with previous editions cited by the UNODC, Statista, Microsoft, and major media outlets. This year, we've expanded our research with insights from end-users and risk professionals, providing a detailed look at current fraud dynamics, future predictions, and actionable tips for businesses. As a full-cycle verification platform, we're committed to sharing these insights to help the community unite against fraud."

Identity Fraud Landscape: Regional Insights

The report provides a closer look at identity fraud trends of 2024 to see regional differences and make comparisons between countries:

In Europe, the majority of respondents (56%) reported having fallen victim to identity fraud.
Africa reveals the highest identity fraud rate growth YoY (167%) among all regions.
In the US & Canada, 67% of all respondents believe deepfakes have already or will impact the elections in the future.
The country with the highest overall identity fraud rate in 2024 is Indonesia (6.02%).
Argentina experienced the highest increase in identity fraud rate YoY of 509%.
While seven APAC countries are among the top 10 jurisdictions with the highest rates of applicants involved in fraud networks, Oman is the overall global leader.
South Korea experienced the largest growth in deepfake attacks YoY (735%).

AI and Deepfakes: from Commodity to Commonplace

In 2024, deepfakes—manipulated images, videos, or voices used to impersonate individuals—have become commonplace, with their share among all detected fraud reaching 7% in 2024. Alarmingly, AI and deepfakes are changing the misinformation landscape, with recent AI-generated images of Disney World underwater, or deepfakes of Donald Trump and Kamala Harris impacting electoral campaigns.

According to Sumsub's Fraud Exposure Survey, 81% of all respondents expressed concerns surrounding the impact of deepfakes on election integrity. At the same time, global consumers reported the lowest level of trust in online media at 48 out of 100 points. Sumsub data indicates that in 2024, deepfakes continue to grow globally, showing higher growth rates in the developing markets: the Middle East (643%), Africa (393%), and LATAM & Caribbean (255%).

"In 2025, fraudsters will increasingly rely on AI not just for deepfakes–which are, basically, just a tip of the iceberg–but for a broader range of deceptive tools, such as AI-generated identity documents, real-life videos, synthetic voices, and AI-driven chatbots that impersonate real users. These innovations will make fraud harder to detect and more versatile," explains Pavel Goldman-Kalaydin, Head of AI/ML at Sumsub. "To fight AI-powered fraud, businesses need to deploy advanced multi-layered solutions that can analyze and detect fraud across multiple vectors, ensuring that identity fraud is tackled not just at the visual or biometric level, but across all touchpoints."

How Cheap It Is to Commit Fraud: the Economy of a Fraudster Disclosed

The economics of fraud have shifted dramatically, making it easier and cheaper to execute large-scale operations with minimal investment. The rise of "fraud as a service" (FaaS) models allows fraudsters to outsource key aspects of their operations to specialized providers.

On average, a single fraudster can commit around 100 fraudulent activities annually, as supported by industry reports like the Verizon Data Breach Investigations Report. The fraudster economics, explained in the report, highlights that an average potential annual income could be ~$29,988,000, or a potential ~$2.5M gain in one month – with as little as a $1,000 monthly investment.

To learn more and download the full Sumsub 2024 Identity Fraud Report, please go to https://sumsub.com/fraud-report-2024/

* Note on Sumsub's research methodology

The Sumsub 2024 Identity Fraud Report compares data from 2023 and 2024. In certain cases, 2021-2022 data is also taken into account to observe trends. The report is based on aggregated and anonymized verification statistics on millions of users from 28 industries worldwide, with 3,000,000+ fraud attempts studied. All graphs and infographics are based on internal statistics compiled from the data of consenting customers.

To delve deeper into the state of identity fraud, Sumsub conducted a Fraud Exposure Survey in August 2024, gathering insights from both consumers and companies. The survey included 1,000+ end-users as well as 200+ fraud and risk professionals from companies of various sectors, including banking, crypto, payments, e-commerce, trading, and iGaming.

About Sumsub

Sumsub is a full-cycle verification and ongoing monitoring platform that secures the whole user journey. With Sumsub's customizable KYC, KYB, Transaction Monitoring, Fraud Prevention and Travel Rule solutions, you can orchestrate your verification process, welcome more customers worldwide, meet compliance requirements, reduce costs, and protect your business.

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