ALPHARETTA, Ga. — Synthetic identity fraud makes up 85% of all fraud right now according to the FTC.
It caused $20 billion in losses in 2020, and experts said the most at risk could be your kids.
"A synthetic identity is when someone makes up a fake name, date of birth and social and uses that fake individual to get credit or apply for different kinds of financial products from banks, lenders and financial institutions," explained Naftali Harris, CEO and co-founder of SentiLink, an identity verification company. "Contrasting with I.D. theft, where you steal a real person's identity, with synthetic fraud you make up a fake person."