Onfido, IDValidation team up to tackle synthetic identity fraud

Synthetic identity fraud is estimated to be the fastest-growing financial crime in the US, and costs businesses billions of dollars every year. It is been estimated by the Federal Trade Commission that there are over 10 million more profiles in the system than there are consumers in the US, according to Onfido’s blog. This type of fraud involves fraudsters fabricating one element of an identity – typically a Social Security Number (SSN) – and using it to access goods and services, or open bank accounts and other lines of credit.

IDValidation’s consent-based SSN verification (CBSV) product scans official government source records to ensure that an SSN is valid. It provides instant, online validation of personal identifying information including name, date of birth and SSN to give businesses assurance that a user’s details are valid.

Onfido’s AI-based identity verification technology is then able to connect this validated identity to a real, living human. By asking users to provide an image of an identity document and a short selfie video, Onfido ensures that the person presenting the identity is its legitimate owner, and is physically present – preventing spoofing attempts, like users submitting photos of photos.