Think about checking your checking account and discovering it empty, or seeing social media posts you by no means wrote.
This scary situation is actual. It’s referred to as identification theft, and it is getting worse every year. Criminals maintain discovering extra modern methods to steal your private data, typically utilizing new tips like pretend movies (deepfakes) or difficult emails.
Id menace detection software program helps struggle in opposition to this rising menace. These instruments can spot threats early and shield you earlier than any actual hurt occurs.
That can assist you keep secure, I’ve collected some important identification theft statistics displaying simply how superior these scams have turn into.
Id theft statistics at a look
Right here’s an outline of all of the statistics we cowl on this article.
| Perception | Key statistic | Particulars |
| Value of cybercrime | Anticipated to rise to $10.5 trillion yearly in 2025. | AI is driving this rise in identification theft with deepfakes and complex phishing assaults. |
| Artificial identification fraud | Can account for as much as $23 billion in losses within the U.S. alone by 2030. | The price of creating hyper-realistic artificial identities is turning into cheaper. |
| Doc fraud | 40.8% of doc frauds goal nationwide ID playing cards. | Most paperwork are flagged both for visible authenticity or information validation points. |
| Id fraud timing | Spike between 3 a.m. and 6 a.m. UTC. | Fraudsters reap the benefits of enterprise downtime. |
| Submit-quantum period | 61% of IT safety professionals are getting ready for the post-quantum period. | Their organizations are transitioning into post-quantum cryptography (PQC) requirements over the subsequent 5 years. |
| Deepfakes | 46% of companies reported a rise in deepfakes and generative AI scams. | Specialists counsel on the lookout for queues in language and context for deepfake identification. |
| Account takeover scams | Elevated by 250% in 2024. | Malicious hackers are more and more taking management of victims’ social and e-commerce accounts. |
| Office-related fraud | 32.52% of scams contain worker impersonation. | Attackers are more and more concentrating on private information for unauthorized entry. |
| Id frauds’ main goal | Gaming trade is the first goal of those assaults. | Sector-wise, monetary establishments have been a major goal. |
| Refined Impersonation | 1 in 20 identification verification makes an attempt in 2024 concerned impersonation. | Impersonation has turn into the most typical kind of identification fraud |
High 10 stats on identification theft in 2025
Beneath are some statistics and insights on identification theft that showcase simply how far identification theft has come. These aren’t simply numbers to gloss over; they mirror actual threats with actual penalties.
1. The price of cybercrime is predicted to rise to $10.5 trillion yearly by 2025.
That’s up from $3 trillion in 2015. If annual cybercrime have been a rustic, it will have the third-largest gross home product (GDP) on the earth, proper behind the U.S. and China.
Many behind the losses are identification thieves who use victims’ private data to steal advantages like Supplemental Vitamin Help Program (SNAP) help, small enterprise loans, and different sources.
AI is driving this rise in identification theft, with deepfakes and complex phishing assaults powered by generative AI. World Financial Discussion board highlights the surge in fraud within the U.S. in the course of the pandemic, pushed by the elevated digitization of presidency providers. Between 2018 and 2022, annual federal losses on account of fraud ranged from $233 billion to $521 billion.
Entrust studies deepfakes now account for 40% of biometric frauds.
2. Artificial identification fraud may attain $23 billion in U.S. losses by 2030.
Artificial identification fraud happens when scammers create pretend identities utilizing a mix of actual and fabricated data. They may steal an actual Social Safety quantity, typically from a toddler or somebody with no credit score, and add pretend particulars like a made-up title or birthday. Then, they use this pretend identification to get bank cards, loans, or authorities advantages. As a result of the identification doesn’t belong to an actual particular person, it’s robust to catch.
Daniel Flowe, Head of Digital Id at LSEG Threat Intelligence, expresses his views relating to the rising artificial identification fraud problem. He says, “2025 will see artificial identification fraud escape and turn into a considerable — and rising — problem. The instruments and applied sciences that fraudsters can leverage to create hyper-realistic artificial identities have gotten cheaper and extra available. On the similar time, unhealthy actors have gotten more and more expert.”
Corporations have to implement sturdy vendor administration programs, safe fee strategies, real-time account verification, and steady transaction monitoring.
3. Throughout all doc fraud, 40.8% goal nationwide ID playing cards.
In 2024, the identification fraud charges throughout the Americas, APAC, and EMEA areas have been 6.2%, 6.8%, and three.4%, respectively. A few of the most focused paperwork embody the Indian tax ID, the Pakistan nationwide ID card, the Bangladesh nationwide ID card, and the French passport.
Most paperwork are flagged both for visible authenticity (47%) or information validation points (36%), indicating an more and more refined vary of assaults.
4. Frauds occur 24/7 however spike between 3 a.m. and 6 a.m. UTC.
Whereas fraud happens 24 hours a day, 7 days every week, fraudsters exploit what companies and prospects assume to be enterprise downtime.
Supply: Entrust
Companies could profit from deploying and implementing their fraud prevention techniques 24/7, with particular consideration paid in the course of the “downtime” interval.
Timing-based fraud occurs when criminals strike throughout susceptible moments. These moments may be past downtime, akin to month-end closings, payroll runs, vendor funds, holidays, or when your defenses are weakest.
Past relying solely on 24/7 monitoring, companies want smarter, behavior-based defenses that may spot exercise that doesn’t match the usual person patterns. Including layers of authentication, approvals, and velocity guidelines offers you a greater assemble to guard in opposition to such fraud.
5. 61% of IT and IT safety practitioners are getting ready for the post-quantum period.
As quantum computing continues to mature, the expertise is getting near the cryptographically related quantum computer systems (CRQCs). These programs are able to breaking encryption, which we depend on to maintain information secure and safe.
Recognizing this danger, the Nationwide Institute of Requirements and Know-how (NIST) issued its first post-quantum cryptography (PQC) requirements in August 2024. These requirements embody directions for incorporating them into merchandise and encryption programs.
Entrust’s State of Zero Belief and Encryption Research studies that 61% of IT and IT safety practitioners of their organizations are planning emigrate to PQC inside the subsequent 5 years.
6. 46% of companies reported a year-over-year improve in deepfakes and generative AI fraud.
Deepfakes aren’t simple to detect and struggle. Though 46% of organizations report a rise in deepfake frauds, 50% really feel that they’re at a constant degree YoY.
In keeping with Genuine ID’s analysis, 76% of enterprise homeowners are assured of their means to detect deepfakes. Nevertheless, 47% of staff are equally assured in a enterprise’s deepfake detection functionality.
Blair Cohen, President and Founding father of AuthenticID, expresses his ideas on Deepfakes: “Regardless of the sophistication of deepfake expertise, refined clues in language and context can generally betray their authenticity. Because the battle in opposition to misinformation intensifies, the hunt for efficient safeguards and shopper schooling in opposition to deepfakes stays crucial.”
7. Account takeover scams elevated by 250% in 2024.
Roughly 40% of victims in these scams reported experiencing identification theft. A typical sufferer loses round $180 in these scams. Malicious hackers take management of the goal’s social media, banking, electronic mail, and even e-commerce accounts to propagate into extra important programs.
Scammers usually get hold of a variety of knowledge from these accounts, together with private and conversational information. Some consultants predict that these techniques will overshadow different strategies, akin to ransomware, in 2025.
8. 32.52% of workplace-related fraud entails impersonation of an worker.
Past impersonating an worker, 18.7% contain misrepresented or pretend worker functions for a place. 30.89% of incidents happen on account of worker account takeover, and 19.51% of identification frauds end result from bodily or mental property theft.
Phishing is the most typical methodology used to trick individuals in these scams. 76.86% of frauds contain phishing. That is evident, as 90% of cyber threats are pushed by social engineering.
On common, there are 34 annual makes an attempt concentrating on private information or person accounts for unauthorized entry.
9. 18.59% of identification frauds goal the gaming trade, whereas 5.74% goal retail.
Fraud charges are the best within the gaming and worker background screening industries, at 18.59% and 10.62%, respectively. Sector-wise, monetary establishments have constantly been the goal for unhealthy actors.
With regards to defending in opposition to identification theft dangers in monetary establishments, there are combined opinions amongst prospects. For instance, 49% of shoppers are assured about their establishment’s safety in defending their identities. Nevertheless, 51% of shoppers are nonetheless uncertain or uncertain.
Garry W.G. Clement, Chief Anti-Cash Laundering Officer at Versa Financial institution, says, “Id fraud with all the present expertise and the power to make use of the darkish internet to create pretend identities will proceed to escalate and require material consultants and acceptable coaching and expertise to thwart assaults.”
10. 1 in 20 identification verification makes an attempt in 2024 concerned somebody pretending to be another person.
These are makes an attempt from people who find themselves impersonating another person. In keeping with Veriff’s information, 82% of fraud assaults in 2024 have been impersonation makes an attempt, making it the most typical kind of fraud.
With expertise, direct impersonation has advanced into a licensed fraud rip-off. In a licensed fraud, a nasty actor tips a real person into performing an identification verification session. In 2024, these licensed fraud circumstances accounted for roughly 1.79% of all verification makes an attempt.
E-commerce had the best licensed fraud fee in 2024, reaching 1.62%. That is 18 occasions greater than the worldwide common for the sort of fraud.
Easy methods to stop identification theft
Listed below are a couple of fast ideas that individuals and companies use to guard themselves in opposition to identification fraud:
- Set workflows to establish and cease fraud early. Consider onboarding like your entrance door and cease the fraudster earlier than they enter. It’s finest to confirm identification via know your buyer (KYC) and anti-money laundering (AML) checks. These are necessary for regulated industries; it’s finest to accommodate them in unregulated sectors too.
- Preserve checking for fraud constantly. Fraudsters don’t cease after onboarding. Shield the entire buyer journey with biometric checks throughout delicate actions akin to high-value transactions. Arrange a system to match new facial scans with the unique onboarding information to substantiate identification.
- Deal with biometric authentication information with care. Retailer biometric information on the person’s gadget or your individual server, based mostly on what works finest. The secret’s giving your system flexibility whereas sustaining management over danger administration and information deletion.
- Undertake a zero-trust safety mannequin. Belief nobody by default and at all times confirm identification and entry. Use robust identification and entry administration (IAM) and phishing-resistant multi-factor authentication (MFA) to ensure fraudsters aren’t impersonating a real person. Add public key infrastructure (PKI) to safe and confirm digital communications.
- Use AI to struggle AI-driven fraud. Superior AI fashions detect extra fraud than primary, generalized programs. For instance, micro-models educated on 1000’s of fraud patterns can catch extra pretend paperwork.
Managing sophistication in identification fraud with simplicity
Id theft is now not only a danger; it’s a relentless, evolving danger rising in dimension and scale via AI and deepfakes. You should shield your self and the group proactively in opposition to this digital menace.
Options like identification and entry administration (IAM) software program assist set up the right controls with approvals, authentication, and privileges to guard in opposition to such threats.
Discover the main IAM software program and take higher management of various identities in your online business.
