Search Results for: synthetic id

Organizations must stay ahead of fraudsters by leveraging technology, training, and collaboration to combat synthetic ID fraud.

We are squarely in the holiday shopping season. From the flurry of promotional emails to the endless shopping lists, there are many to-dos and even more opportunities for financial institutions at this time of year. The holiday shopping season is not just a peak period for consumer spending; it’s also a critical time for financial institutions to strategize, innovate, and drive value. According to the National Retail Federation, U.S. holiday retail sales are projected to approach $1 trillion in 2024, , and with an ever-evolving consumer behavior landscape, financial institutions need actionable strategies to stand out, secure loyalty, and drive growth during this period of heightened spending. Download our playbook: "How to prepare for the Holiday Shopping Season" Here’s how financial institutions can capitalize on the holiday shopping season, including key insights, actionable strategies, and data-backed trends. 1. Understand the holiday shopping landscape Key stats to consider: U.S. consumers spent $210 billion online during the 2022 holiday season, according to Adobe Analytics, marking a 3.5% increase from 2021. Experian data reveals that 31% of all holiday purchases in 2022 occurred in October, highlighting the extended shopping season. Cyber Week accounted for just 8% of total holiday spending, according to Experian’s Holiday Spending Trends and Insights Report, emphasizing the importance of a broad, season-long strategy. What this means for financial institutions: Timing is crucial. Your campaigns are already underway if you get an early start, and it’s critical to sustain them through December. Focus beyond Cyber Week. Develop long-term engagement strategies to capture spending throughout the season. 2. Leverage Gen Z’s growing spending power With an estimated $360 billion in disposable income, according to Bloomberg, Gen Z is a powerful force in the holiday market​. This generation values personalized, seamless experiences and is highly active online. Strategies to capture Gen Z: Offer digital-first solutions that enhance the holiday shopping journey, such as interactive portals or AI-powered customer support. Provide loyalty incentives tailored to this demographic, like cash-back rewards or exclusive access to services. Learn more about Gen Z in our State of Gen Z Report. To learn more about all generations' projected consumer spending, read new insights from Experian here, including 45% of Gen X and 52% of Boomers expect their spending to remain consistent with last year. 3. Optimize pre-holiday strategies Portfolio Review: Assess consumer behavior trends and adjust risk models to align with changing economic conditions. Identify opportunities to engage dormant accounts or offer tailored credit lines to existing customers. Actionable tactics: Expand offerings. Position your products and services with promotional campaigns targeting high-value segments. Personalize experiences. Use advanced analytics to segment clients and craft offers that resonate with their holiday needs or anticipate their possible post-holiday needs. 4. Ensure top-of-mind awareness During the holiday shopping season, competition to be the “top of wallet” is fierce. Experian’s data shows that 58% of high spenders shop evenly across the season, while 31% of average spenders do most of their shopping in December​. Strategies for success: Early engagement: Launch educational campaigns to empower credit education and identity protection during this period of increased transactions. Loyalty programs: Offer incentives, such as discounts or rewards, that encourage repeat engagement during the season. Omnichannel presence: Utilize digital, email, and event marketing to maintain visibility across platforms. 5. Combat fraud with multi-layered strategies The holiday shopping season sees an increase in fraud, with card testing being the number one attack vector in the U.S. according to Experian’s 2024 Identity and Fraud Study. Fraudulent activity such as identity theft and synthetic IDs can also escalate​. Fight tomorrow’s fraud today: Identity verification: Use advanced fraud detection tools, like Experian’s Ascend Fraud Sandbox, to validate accounts in real-time. Monitor dormant accounts: Watch these accounts with caution and assess for potential fraud risk. Strengthen cybersecurity: Implement multi-layered strategies, including behavioral analytics and artificial intelligence (AI), to reduce vulnerabilities. 6. Post-holiday follow-up: retain and manage risk Once the holiday rush is over, the focus shifts to managing potential payment stress and fostering long-term relationships. Post-holiday strategies: Debt monitoring: Keep an eye on debt-to-income and debt-to-limit ratios to identify clients at risk of defaulting. Customer support: Offer tailored assistance programs for clients showing signs of financial stress, preserving goodwill and loyalty. Fraud checks: Watch for first-party fraud and unusual return patterns, which can spike in January. 7. Anticipate consumer trends in the New Year The aftermath of the holidays often reveals deeper insights into consumer health: Rising credit balances: January often sees an uptick in outstanding balances, highlighting the need for proactive credit management. Shifts in spending behavior: According to McKinsey, consumers are increasingly cautious post-holiday, favoring savings and value-based spending. What this means for financial institutions: Align with clients’ needs for financial flexibility. The holiday shopping season is a time that demands precise planning and execution. Financial institutions can maximize their impact during this critical period by starting early, leveraging advanced analytics, and maintaining a strong focus on fraud prevention. And remember, success in the holiday season extends beyond December. Building strong relationships and managing risk ensures a smooth transition into the new year, setting the stage for continued growth. Ready to optimize your strategy? Contact us for tailored recommendations during the holiday season and beyond. Download the Holiday Shopping Season Playbook

Explore the essentials of identity authentication, its importance for financial institutions, and what effective solutions look like.

Identity fraud is a growing problem, but auto dealerships are not powerless. By investing in the right tools and practices, dealers can fight back.

  Auto dealerships may sell dreams of open roads and freedom, but unfortunately, they also attract a different kind of customer: the identity thief. With high-value transactions and access to sensitive personal information, auto dealerships are prime targets for various fraudulent schemes. So, buckle up as we explore the most common types of identity fraud impacting dealerships and how to keep your wheels safe. Four common fraud schemes dealers need to be aware of 1. Third-Party Identity Fraud (Stolen Identities): Hijacking the Identity Highway This method doesn't involve creating new identities; it steals existing ones. Thieves steal personal information, often through data breaches or phishing scams, and use it to apply for auto loans under the victim's name. The dealership unwittingly approves the loan, leaving the real person saddled with the debt and a ruined credit score. 2. Synthetic Identity (Fabricated Credentials): Frankenstein Fraud on the Fast Lane Think of synthetic identity fraud as identity theft with a twist. Criminals combine real and fake information, like stolen Social Security numbers and fabricated addresses, to create entirely new personas. These fabricated identities then build clean credit histories, allowing them to qualify for high-value loans like car financing. By the time the dealership realizes the fraud, the car, and the fake persona have vanished. 3. First Party: No Way Will I Pay This method doesn't involve creating new identities; rather it is when a person knowingly misrepresents their identity or gives false information for financial or material gain. Fraudsters often have no plans to pay for their vehicle. 4. Document Fraud: Paper Trails of Deception Fraudsters can also manufacture fake or altered documents like driver's licenses, proof of income and employment verification. These forged documents create a veneer of legitimacy, allowing them to bypass dealership verification checks and secure loans based on fabricated information. Four ways dealerships can keep their brakes on fraud 1. Robust verification: Implementing multi-factor authentication, cross-referencing information with reliable sources, and verifying documents with advanced technology can significantly reduce the risk of deception. Fraud Protect™ from Experian Automotive leverages license scanning and selfie capture to verify identity. Dealers can find the true person and verify the activity through device, behavior, and step-up services. 2. Employee vigilance: Training staff to identify suspicious behavior and report potential fraud attempts can create a strong internal defense system. Fraud Protect fits within your current systems and processes. The software integrates with your CRM and does not require heavy software training or any additional hardware simplifying employee usage. 3. Secure data: Investing in data security measures like encryption and access controls can significantly deter hackers and minimize the damage from data breaches. Fraud Protect leverages Experian’s world-class data to handle the customer relationship carefully and detect errors and discrepancies. 4. Partnerships: Collaborating with credit bureaus, law enforcement agencies and fraud prevention systems can provide valuable insights and resources for fighting fraud. Experian is the world’s leading information services company. Fraud Protect from Experian Automotive offers a unique partnership for dealers through seamless CRM integration. This simple process makes multiple levels of risk identification quick and efficient for busy buyers. By acknowledging the various forms of identity fraud and implementing proactive measures, dealerships can protect themselves and their consumers from the impact of identity fraud. Fraud Protect empowers dealers with our leading fraud, identity and verification capabilities, integrated within your unique workflows. Whether on your website, leveraged before test drives, initiating out-of-state & and remote closings, or before contracting, Fraud Protect quickly uncovers potential fraud. The entire process is a quick and painless way to address risk while establishing customer trust. Take the first step in protecting profits and preventing fraud by visiting our auto fraud prevention solutions webpage.

Effective online identity verification can help improve your customers' experiences while preventing fraud.

Learn how expanded data, AI-driven models, and increased automation can help you enhance your credit risk management strategies.

Learn what identity verification is and how online identity verification services and methods help organizations address fraud.

View our interactive e-book for the latest economic and consumer trends and learn how to set your portfolio up to succeed in any economic cycle.

By leveraging an array of tools and technologies, businesses can tailor their fraud prevention strategies to suit the specific needs of their customers.

What Is Identity Proofing? Identity proofing, authentication and management are becoming increasingly complex and essential aspects of running a successful enterprise. Organizations need to get identity right if they want to comply with regulatory requirements and combat fraud. It's also becoming table stakes for making your customers feel safe and recognized. 63 percent of consumers expect businesses to recognize them online, and 48 percent say they're more trusting of businesses when they demonstrate signs of security. Identify proofing is the process organizations use to collect, validate and verify information about someone. There are two goals — to confirm that the identity is real (i.e., it's not a synthetic identity) and to confirm that the person presenting the identity is its true owner. The identity proofing process also relates to and may overlap with other aspects of identity management. Identity proofing vs identity authentication Identity proofing generally takes place during the acquisition or origination stages of the customer lifecycle — before someone creates an account or signs up for a service. Identity authentication is the ongoing process of re-checking someone's identity or verifying that they have the authorization to make a request, such as when they're logging into an account or trying to make a large transaction. How does identity proofing work? Identity proofing typically involves three steps: resolution, validation, and verification. Resolution: The goal of the first step is to accurately identify the single, unique individual that the identity represents. Resolution is relatively easy when detailed identity information is provided. In the real world, collecting detailed data conflicts with the need to provide a good customer experience. Resolution still has to occur, but organizations have to resolve identities with the minimum amount of information. Validation: The validation step involves verifying that the person's information and documentation are legitimate, accurate and up to date. It potentially involves requesting additional evidence based on the level of assurance you need. Verification: The final step confirms that the claimed identity actually belongs to the person submitting the information. It may involve comparing physical documents or biometric data and liveness tests, such as a comparison of the driver's license to a selfie that the person uploads. Different levels of identity proofing may require various combinations of these steps, with higher-risk scenarios calling for additional checks such as biometric or address verification. Service providers can implement a range of methods based on their specific needs, including document verification, database validation, or knowledge-based authentication. Building an effective identity proofing strategy By requiring identity proofing before account opening, organizations can help detect and deter identity fraud and other crimes. You can use different online identity verification methods to implement an effective digital identity proofing and management system. These may include: Document verification plus biometric data: The consumer uploads a copy of an identification document, such as a driver's license, and takes a selfie or records a live video of their face. Database validations: The proofing solution verifies the shared identifying information, such as a name, date of birth, address and Social Security number against trusted databases, including credit bureau and government agency data. Knowledge-based authentication (KBA): The consumer answers knowledge-based questions, such as account information, to confirm their identity. It can be a helpful additional step, but they offer a low level of assurance, partially because data breaches have exposed many people's personal information. In part, the processes you'll use may depend on business policies, associated risks and industry regulations, such as know your customer (KYC) and anti-money laundering (AML) requirements. But organizations also have to balance security and ease of use. Each additional check or requirement you add to the identity proofing flow can help detect and prevent fraud, but the added friction they bring to your onboarding process can also leave customers frustrated — and even lead to customers abandoning the process altogether. Finding the right amount of friction can require a layered, risk-based approach. And running different checks during identity proofing can help you gauge the risk involved. For example, comparing information about a device, such as its location and IP address, to the information on an application. Or sending a one-time password (OTP) to a mobile device and checking whether the phone number is registered to the applicant's name. With the proper systems in place, you can use high-risk signals to dynamically adjust the proofing flow and require additional identity documents and checks. At the same time, if you already have a high level of assurance about the person's identity, you can allow them to quickly move through a low-friction flow. Experian goes beyond identity proofing Experian builds on its decades of experience with identity management and access to multidimensional data sources to help organizations onboard, authenticate and manage customer identities. Our identity proofing solutions are compliant with National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and enable agencies to confidently verify user identities prior to or during account opening, biometric enrollment or while signing up for services. Learn more   This article includes content created by an AI language model and is intended to provide general information.

Experian recently announced Experian Identity and published an advertorial in American Banker outlining the integrated approach to identity that recognizes the full breadth of the company’s authoritative data solutions that help businesses better connect with their consumers in more personalized, meaningful and secure ways. The efforts address the rapidly changing definition and landscape of identity and take on the importance and needs for identity which span across the entire customer journey. From marketing to a specific consumer’s needs, to facilitating a friction-right customer experience, to protecting personal information. As such, there’s a gap for single-partner providers to help businesses navigate this change, while also putting the needs of the consumer first. “Identity data sets are constantly growing with inputs from new interactions. Many future sources of data have yet to be even conceived or developed,” said Kathleen Peters, Chief Innovation Officer, Experian Decision Analytics. “Staying ahead of the identity market curve is vital, and it requires building and continually evolving an enterprise-scale identity solution that interconnects with your own unique data and systems to create attribute-rich profiles of your customers that work across any identity application. That’s Experian Identity.” Experian Identity underscores the need businesses have to respond to increasing identity needs with interconnected, scalable technology, products and services that optimize the consumer experience.       While the integrated approach announcement is new, the capability is not. Experian has been trusted for decades to secure individuals’ identity around the most important decisions in their lives – think purchasing a car or home, being identified at the doctor’s office, and more. As such, consumers remain at the center of every action. Experian Identity offers identity resolution, verification, authentication and protection, and fraud management solutions that include first- and third-party fraud, account takeover, credit card verification, identity resolution and restoration, risk-based authentication, synthetic identity protection and more. Additionally, we’ve included a special blog post introducing Experian’s identity capabilities from Kathleen Peters on the Experian Global News Blog and additional coverage. Stay tuned for more updates. Experian Global News Blog - Making Identities Personal: Experian Helps Businesses Build Consumer Trust American Banker – Making Identities Personal: Building Trust and Differentiating Your Brand Experian White Paper - Making Identities Personal For more information about Experian Identity, visit www.experian.com/identity-solutions.

Dive into the ways artificial intelligence and digital identity interact and the benefits a clear identity strategy can have for the entire user journey.

According to Experian data analysis and a recent study on unemployment insurance fraud, at least 25% of new claims are a result of identity theft.

The sharp uptick in fraud made it clear that banks, credit unions, and fintechs need to invest in a strategy that utilizes identity layers.