Research by Synectics Solutions has found that credit card fraud has the highest repeat-offending rate among major financial products, with 23% of criminals returning to it.
This figure represents a 35% increase in the last five years, with repeat offenders spreading their activity across multiple organisations and targeting 50% more institutions, with a 10% increase in the last year alone. Based on analysis of National SIRA data, this information reflects a need for cross-organisation data sharing to detect and disrupt offenders before they reach other institutions.
How repeat offenders operate
Offender journey insights show a career progression pattern among repeat offenders, starting with current accounts and using them as testing grounds for false applications. The next step is to apply for credit cards, where higher limits and transactional flexibility offer more rewards. The cycle usually ends with them transitioning into savings accounts or other investment products to launder or store fraudulent proceeds.
Credit cards are not only the top financial product targeted by repeat fraudsters, but they are also the second most common starting point, reflecting their dual role as both entry-level and mid-stage fraud products. Additionally, the most common tactic practised by repeat offenders is false identity, driven by a rise of synthetic and partially synthetic IDs.
Synectics’ report also shows a rise in fractional deviation fraud, a subcategory of ID fraud, which implies genuine identities being hijacked by altering small details, often using information taken from public sources such as Companies House. This, together with the fact that 50% of all false identity reports are linked to individuals who have already submitted at least one other false identity, suggests fraudsters created organised and repeatable schemes designed to evade detection.
As synthetic IDs become more dominant with the rise of AI, traditional checks are not enough, the company concludes. Fraud detection strategies need to evolve, with onboarding checks remaining crucial and cross-institution intelligence sharing being key. The company believes that only by pooling information together can banks, lenders, and FIs uncover hidden tracks and patterns.
