Tuesday, October 17, 2023
Based on curated metadata from millions of transactions processed in 249 countries between April and June 2023, the report found a 44 percent uptick in organized ID fraud in North America. Researchers suggest the upsurge may be driven by current economic and inflationary pressures that embolden professional ID fraud syndicates.
Additional hot zones include Asia-Pacific region, where over 4 percent of transactions were flagged as ID fraud, and anti-fraud defenses have been historically weaker than other regions, such as South America, which has experienced 2 percent of fraudulent transactions, a lower percentage that researchers attribute to robust anti-fraud measures and the common practice of verifying IDs against government databases.
Dan Yerushalmi, CEO of AU10TIX, advised businesses in affected areas to remain vigilant to these sophisticated threats and take additional steps to protect their customers.
“This data reveals which markets fraudsters consider the most vulnerable with the most potentially lucrative return,” he said. “We hope that by sharing our analysis on a regular basis, we can contribute to the global reduction of identity fraud and make the world a better place."
The report identified permanent residency cards trending among criminals throughout the second quarter of 2023, as these cards are relatively easy to forge and generally face less scrutiny during the verification process. AU10TIX representatives noted that findings are based on metadata from all types of identified anomalies, including visual ID data and conflicts based on non-ID data.
In addition, AU10TIX's Serial Fraud Monitor detected higher rates of organized criminal activity, using a proprietary method to differentiate between sophisticated and amateurish fraud attempts, researchers noted. Criminals are blending Gen AI with malware, they added, to launch advanced, automated and autonomous attacks.
“AU10TIX fraud detection tools, most notably Serial Fraud Monitor, detected an upswing in professional organized attacks utilizing various attack modes across geopolitical regions and industries, most notably in the United States and in the vulnerable crypto trading and payments verticals,” researchers wrote, noting that payments, cryptocurrencies and trading are frequent targets.
“Among the sectors scrutinized, cryptocurrency and trading are the most highly targeted, making up 47% of the attacks detected by AU10TIX in Q2,” researchers noted. “These industries attract professional fraudsters due to their perceived high-profit prospects and inherent anonymity.”
Researchers listed payments as the second most targeted industry, with 32 percent of fraudulent activity, followed by commerce at 12 percent. Banking accounted for only 2 percent, they added, speculating that financial institutions invest heavily in protective measures.
Citing a study by Gartner, titled, Emerging Tech: Top 4 Security Risks of Gen AI, published in August 2023, researchers claimed that fraudsters are deploying generative AI, large language models (LLMs) and chat interfaces to launch attacks that mimic legitimate sources, making it increasingly difficult to separate reality from fiction. 
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