Strategies for Stopping Identity Fraud in the Year 2024
In the digital age, identity theft has become a growing concern for individuals and businesses alike. From Massachusetts to Melbourne, cases of identity fraud have been making headlines, with one unknown man using a stolen identity for 40 years, and a syndicate in Melbourne using stolen personal data to open 70 accounts at various banking institutions.
Identity theft can take many forms, from the traditional methods of physical theft, phishing, and cold calling, to the more sophisticated hacking, inside jobs, and social media scavenging. In 2023, the most affected industries were online media, professional services, healthcare, transportation, and video games.
The latest trends in identity fraud, according to Sumsub's Identity Fraud Report, highlight several key developments. There has been a significant surge in fraud within the crypto industry, with a 48% increase in 2024 over 2023, accounting for 2.2% of all verification attempts on global crypto platforms.
Another concerning trend is the rise of AI-enabled scams and synthetic identities. Reports of generative AI (genAI) enabled scams surged by 456% between May 2024 and April 2025 compared to the prior year. Synthetic identity fraud leads to significant financial losses, with the Boston Fed reporting approximately $35 billion in 2023.
Deepfake fraud cases have also dramatically increased, quadrupling between 2023 and 2024, representing about 7% of all fraud attempts in 2024. Deepfakes are increasingly used to impersonate individuals convincingly in fraud schemes.
Account takeover and multi-accounting fraud have also grown, with a 13% increase in account takeover fraud in 2024 from the previous year, and multi-accounting rising by 10%.
To protect yourself and your business, it's crucial to take steps to secure your personal and financial information. Businesses should use a firewall, secure VPN, and updated software to protect against hackers. They should also encrypt sensitive data before transmitting or storing it, check the vendors they work with to ensure they know how to protect sensitive data, limit access to key personnel, and shred old business records.
Individuals can also take steps to protect themselves. Setting customer identification rules can help prevent identity theft, such as requesting ID when customers pay by card, rechecking user IDs for changes in payment data or user profile, using multi-factor authentication, using liveness detection, not collecting unnecessary data, and establishing fraud alerts and inspections.
Signs of identity theft include receiving bills from unfamiliar companies, notification of approval or rejection for credit cards not ordered, confirmation emails for accounts never created, unsolicited confirmation emails for purchases not made, a sudden drop in credit rating, fraud alerts from online services, suspicious login attempts to online accounts, and receiving unauthorized credit card charges or bank statements.
In the face of these evolving threats, it's essential to stay vigilant and proactive. Adopting new technology such as antivirus software, encrypted backups, or DDoS appliances can help prevent identity theft. Establishing data protection policies is also crucial, including developing a protocol for data breaches, appointing an information security officer, setting deadlines for record keeping, and getting rid of excess sensitive data.
In a world where our personal and financial information is more accessible than ever, it's important to remember that vigilance is key. By understanding the latest trends in identity theft and taking steps to protect ourselves and our businesses, we can help ensure our safety in the digital age.
Key points:
- Identity theft is a growing concern, with traditional and sophisticated methods being used.
- The latest trends in identity fraud include a surge in crypto fraud, AI-enabled scams, synthetic identities, deepfake fraud, and account takeover and multi-accounting fraud.
- To protect yourself and your business, it's crucial to secure personal and financial information, use technology, and establish data protection policies.
- Signs of identity theft include bills from unfamiliar companies, credit card approvals or rejections for cards not ordered, confirmation emails for accounts never created, unsolicited confirmation emails for purchases not made, a sudden drop in credit rating, fraud alerts from online services, suspicious login attempts, and unauthorized credit card charges or bank statements.
- By understanding these trends and taking steps to protect ourselves, we can help ensure our safety in the digital age.
Cybersecurity measures are essential for individuals and businesses to protect against the growing concerns of identity theft, as traditional tactics like phishing and cold calling have evolved into more sophisticated methods such as hacking, inside jobs, and social media scavenging. The latest trends in identity fraud, as reported by Sumsub's Identity Fraud Report, indicate a surge in crypto industry fraud (up 48% in 2024), rising AI-enabled scams and synthetic identities use (456% increase between May 2024 and April 2025), growth in deepfake fraud cases (quadrupling between 2023 and 2024), and an increase in account takeover and multi-accounting fraud (13% and 10% respectively in 2024). Therefore, adopting new technology like antivirus software, encrypted backups, or DDoS appliances, and establishing data protection policies are crucial for maintaining security in this digital age.
