FICO reveals growing appetite for identity fraud in APAC region

Synthetic identity fraud is based on the creation of new identities by blending elements from multiple individuals, making the uncovering of fraudulent transactions more complicated. Scammers take these new identities and apply for accounts to build validity for these new personas. 20% of banks said that the number of fraudulent applications for credit cards sits between five to 10% of all applications.

Products such as pre-paid credit cards, utility bills and personal loans have all been used as a starting point to build credibility and credit-worthiness in a process that can take the criminal many months, sometimes years.

The poll further revealed that half of banking respondents reported an increase of 25-50% in card testing. This is an activity where criminals test the fraud rules of the banks to check what limits and which purchase categories will result in the blocking of a card rather than an approval.

The survey was conducted by FICO on 37 executives from financial institutions across the region at the annual FICO Asia Pacific Fraud Forum in October 2017.