Think about checking your checking account and discovering it empty, or seeing social media posts you by no means wrote.
This scary state of affairs is actual. It’s referred to as id theft, and it is getting worse annually. Criminals hold discovering extra progressive methods to steal your private info, typically utilizing new tips like pretend movies (deepfakes) or difficult emails.
Identification risk detection software program helps battle in opposition to this rising risk. These instruments can spot threats early and shield you earlier than any actual hurt occurs.
That can assist you keep protected, I’ve collected some essential id theft statistics displaying simply how superior these scams have change into.
Identification theft statistics at a look
Right here’s an outline of all of the statistics we cowl on this article.
| Perception | Key statistic | Particulars |
| Price of cybercrime | Anticipated to rise to $10.5 trillion yearly in 2025. | AI is driving this rise in id theft with deepfakes and complex phishing assaults. |
| Artificial id 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 knowledge validation points. |
| Identification fraud timing | Spike between 3 a.m. and 6 a.m. UTC. | Fraudsters make the most of enterprise downtime. |
| Submit-quantum period | 61% of IT safety professionals are making 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. | Consultants recommend 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 knowledge for unauthorized entry. |
| Identification frauds’ major goal | Gaming trade is the first goal of those assaults. | Sector-wise, monetary establishments have been a major goal. |
| Refined Impersonation | 1 in 20 id verification makes an attempt in 2024 concerned impersonation. | Impersonation has change into the most typical sort of id fraud |
Prime 10 stats on id theft in 2025
Beneath are some statistics and insights on id theft that showcase simply how far id theft has come. These aren’t simply numbers to gloss over; they replicate actual threats with actual penalties.
1. The price of cybercrime is anticipated 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 could have the third-largest gross home product (GDP) on the planet, proper behind the U.S. and China.
Many behind the losses are id thieves who use victims’ private info to steal advantages like Supplemental Vitamin Help Program (SNAP) help, small enterprise loans, and different sources.
AI is driving this rise in id 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 as a consequence of fraud ranged from $233 billion to $521 billion.
Entrust reviews deepfakes now account for 40% of biometric frauds.
2. Artificial id fraud may attain $23 billion in U.S. losses by 2030.
Artificial id fraud happens when scammers create pretend identities utilizing a mix of actual and fabricated info. They may steal an actual Social Safety quantity, typically from a baby or somebody with no credit score, and add pretend particulars like a made-up title or birthday. Then, they use this pretend id to get bank cards, loans, or authorities advantages. As a result of the id doesn’t belong to an actual particular person, it’s robust to catch.
Daniel Flowe, Head of Digital Identification at LSEG Danger Intelligence, expresses his views relating to the rising artificial id fraud problem. He says, “2025 will see artificial id fraud escape and change 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 identical time, dangerous actors have gotten more and more expert.”
Corporations must implement strong vendor administration techniques, 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 id fraud charges throughout the Americas, APAC, and EMEA areas have been 6.2%, 6.8%, and three.4%, respectively. Among the most focused paperwork embrace 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 knowledge 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 per week, fraudsters exploit what companies and clients assume to be enterprise downtime.
Supply: Entrust
Companies might 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 weak moments. These moments might be past downtime, resembling 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 consumer patterns. Including layers of authentication, approvals, and velocity guidelines provides you with a greater assemble to guard in opposition to such fraud.
5. 61% of IT and IT safety practitioners are making 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 techniques are able to breaking encryption, which we depend on to maintain knowledge protected and safe.
Recognizing this threat, the Nationwide Institute of Requirements and Know-how (NIST) issued its first post-quantum cryptography (PQC) requirements in August 2024. These requirements embrace directions for incorporating them into merchandise and encryption techniques.
Entrust’s State of Zero Belief and Encryption Examine reviews that 61% of IT and IT safety practitioners of their organizations are planning emigrate to PQC throughout 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 battle. Though 46% of organizations report a rise in deepfake frauds, 50% really feel that they’re at a constant degree YoY.
In accordance with Genuine ID’s analysis, 76% of enterprise house owners are assured of their potential 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, delicate 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 training in opposition to deepfakes stays crucial.”
7. Account takeover scams elevated by 250% in 2024.
Roughly 40% of victims in these scams reported experiencing id 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 essential techniques.
Scammers sometimes receive a variety of data from these accounts, together with private and conversational knowledge. Some specialists predict that these techniques will overshadow different strategies, resembling 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 as a consequence of worker account takeover, and 19.51% of id frauds consequence from bodily or mental property theft.
Phishing is the most typical methodology used to trick folks 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 knowledge or consumer accounts for unauthorized entry.
9. 18.59% of id frauds goal the gaming trade, whereas 5.74% goal retail.
Fraud charges are the very best within the gaming and worker background screening industries, at 18.59% and 10.62%, respectively. Sector-wise, monetary establishments have persistently been the goal for dangerous actors.
In relation to defending in opposition to id theft dangers in monetary establishments, there are blended opinions amongst clients. 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, “Identification 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 specialists and applicable coaching and expertise to thwart assaults.”
10. 1 in 20 id 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 accordance with Veriff’s knowledge, 82% of fraud assaults in 2024 have been impersonation makes an attempt, making it the most typical sort of fraud.
With expertise, direct impersonation has developed into a licensed fraud rip-off. In a licensed fraud, a foul actor tips a real consumer into performing an id verification session. In 2024, these approved fraud instances accounted for about 1.79% of all verification makes an attempt.
E-commerce had the very best approved fraud charge in 2024, reaching 1.62%. That is 18 instances greater than the worldwide common for such a fraud.
How you can forestall id theft
Listed below are a couple of fast suggestions that individuals and companies use to guard themselves in opposition to id fraud:
- Set workflows to determine and cease fraud early. Consider onboarding like your entrance door and cease the fraudster earlier than they enter. It’s greatest to confirm id by way of know your buyer (KYC) and anti-money laundering (AML) checks. These are necessary for regulated industries; it’s greatest to accommodate them in unregulated sectors too.
- Hold checking for fraud persistently. Fraudsters don’t cease after onboarding. Shield the entire buyer journey with biometric checks throughout delicate actions resembling high-value transactions. Arrange a system to match new facial scans with the unique onboarding knowledge to verify id.
- Deal with biometric authentication knowledge with care. Retailer biometric knowledge on the consumer’s machine or your personal server, based mostly on what works greatest. The hot button is giving your system flexibility whereas sustaining management over threat administration and knowledge deletion.
- Undertake a zero-trust safety mannequin. Belief nobody by default and all the time confirm id and entry. Use sturdy id and entry administration (IAM) and phishing-resistant multi-factor authentication (MFA) to verify fraudsters aren’t impersonating a real consumer. Add public key infrastructure (PKI) to safe and confirm digital communications.
- Use AI to battle AI-driven fraud. Superior AI fashions detect extra fraud than primary, generalized techniques. For instance, micro-models skilled on hundreds of fraud patterns can catch extra pretend paperwork.
Managing sophistication in id fraud with simplicity
Identification theft is now not only a threat; it’s a relentless, evolving threat rising in measurement and scale by way of AI and deepfakes. You should shield your self and the group proactively in opposition to this digital risk.
Options like id and entry administration (IAM) software program assist set up the correct 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 enterprise.
