Global rates of economic crime and fraud remain on the rise over the last few years and, in fact, in the last 2 years almost half of the companies reported having suffered some type of fraud.
Among the frauds most reported by companies, according to PwC, those related to cybercrime are among the most numerous. New forms of payment and the popularization of neobanks and telematic and digital transactions are revolutionizing the world as we know it. While it is true that they make life easier for millions of customers every day, they are also giving way to new forms of crime and fraud that cybercriminals are carrying out.
Among the most popular frauds today, the creation of synthetic identities is among the favorites of cybercriminals, and it is estimated that losses from this type of fraud in 2021 range around 80% of total credit card fraud.
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But what is a synthetic identity?
A synthetic identity refers to an identity created by fraudsters, which is composed of mixing attributes of real people with fictitious attributes to carry out fraudulent practices.
The use of these real attributes brings the advantage that the fraudster reinforces that synthetic identity allowing him to successfully pass certain filters and, thus, use it to deceive a company or financial entity, acquire new driver’s licenses and/or passports.
Identity thieves look for their victims among those who are least likely or able to regularly monitor their financial accounts.
What types of identity theft are carried out with this technique?
1. Financial identity theft:
This is the most common of all, as, it is the simplest. It occurs any time someone uses a victim’s information to profit from fraudulent financial transactions. Such as: logging into your bank account and transferring money, adding your name to the victim’s bank account, submitting fraudulent tax documentation, applying for loans and credit in the victim’s name, and making purchases with a credit card that does not belong to you.
Cybercriminals usually make a series of simultaneous large purchases, and once approved, stop using the identity to apply for credit and abandon repayment of the debt on these large purchases or loans.
2. Criminal identity theft:
Occurs when someone assumes an identity in order to avoid legal consequences. It usually occurs when a person provides false information to the police at the time of arrest, as criminals possess official government-issued documents fraudulently obtained through a synthetic identity or have acquired a fake ID card.
Las consecuencias de este tipo de robo pueden durar años, pues es difícil probar ante la policía la inocencia de la víctima mientras que no se encuentre al verdadero culpable. Además, muchas víctimas descubren por casualidad el uso de su identidad para estas prácticas, ya que el robo puede pasar desapercibido hasta que no se haga una verificación de antecedentes penales.
3. Medical identity theft:
This type of theft usually occurs when the criminal receives medical treatment that was intended for the victim. This type of theft is high risk in countries with private healthcare systems. The problem comes when the victim requests medical care and the treatment he or she needs is denied because the thief has already acquired it on another occasion.
4. Child identity theft:
It is very common to steal social security or ID numbers of minors to open bank accounts and, with them, take out loans, acquire new driver’s licenses and passports.
Children are an easy target for fraudsters due to the current trend of children surfing the web at a young age and unwittingly sharing all kinds of data. These data leaks are easiest in gaming chat rooms and social networks.
In carrying out these thefts from children, criminals get a time window, sometimes years, since this scam is not detected until these children open a bank account for the first time or contract their first telephone line. Because children often have no debt or credit, their identities are very valuable to those looking for a “clean” source of credit.
How do I know if I am a victim?
There are several signs that can serve as alerts. Among them:
- Receive text messages or emails with authentication codes for accounts you don’t know.
- You receive collection notices or calls for a debt that does not correspond to you.
- Invoices for products or services that you have not performed appear on your card statements.
- Statements from an unfamiliar credit card appear on your statements.
- There are errors on a credit report.
- A store credit card you did not apply for shows up in your mailbox.
- You are turned down for credit when you have good credit.
- You stop receiving monthly statements from your bank.
- You are denied a tax refund.
- You find a medical record you don’t recognize.
Voice biometrics: the secure method of avoiding synthetic identities
Companies that require telephone customer identification are at risk of fraud attacks and identity theft because there is sometimes insufficient security. In addition, security questions or passwords are becoming obsolete due to their unreliability, which is why biometric solutions for customer identification are becoming essential.
By applying voiceprint biometric authentication, such as Recordia, an extra layer of security will be achieved without relying on insecure passwords or other access methods, greatly reducing the risk of being a victim of this type of attack. The voiceprint is unique to each person, so it is impossible for it to be replicated, creating a fully effective, secure, and seamless method of identity authentication.
Recordia, through its background verification screen, verifies that the fingerprint matches the customer’s voice. In case of a mismatch, alerts will display a warning of possible fraud or impersonation.
Find out more about voiceprint identity authentication and how Recordia helps you avoid this type of fraud by clicking here.