It’s no secret that digital criminals are becoming more sophisticated. So are the fraud defenses deployed by merchants, payment service providers and financial institutions. But some criminals are going a step further – essentially pretending to be legitimate consumers. It even comes down to the use of consumers’ phone numbers and children’s Social Security numbers.
And that’s causing a problem that goes beyond more traditional forms of ID fraud.
In a new PYMNTS discussion, Yinglian Xie, CEO and co-founder at DataVisor, a fraud detection services provider, takes a look at the growth and tactics of synthetic ID fraud. That type of digital crime involves criminals using existing (and stolen) data to cobble together new (synthetic) IDs from disparate sources, building a whole new profile behind which thieves can hide – and perpetrate.
As Xie explained, the fight against that type of fraud is taking on more importance as the global economy becomes ever more digital, and as more participants increasingly serve customers from around the world – a broader base of consumers that criminals can use to break through fraud defenses.