In only a few years, synthetic identity fraud – the act of creating a fake identity to access credit – has moved  from a second-tier concern to a top-of-mind threat for America’s financial institutions. According to a study from ID:A Labs, the synthetic fraud rate has increased more than 100 percent since 2010. Difficult to separate from legitimate new-to-credit consumers and without a specific victim to confirm a crime – synthetic fraud carries a low-risk, high-reward proposition for criminals and often sits unidentified in lender’s credit losses.

With many leading U.S. lenders reporting synthetic fraud to now be more common, and more harmful, than traditional identity theft, regulators have jumped into the fray in an attempt to control the problem. How did we get here? What does the near-term hold for enterprises attempting to keep synthetics at bay? What are the long-term prospects for a crime now in the government’s cross hairs?

This session will illustrate the methods and impact of synthetic identity fraud focused on both traditional financial institutions and major FinTech organizations, and how criminals are weaponizing fake identities to commit financial crimes. Kevin and panelists will dive into the trends and drivers of synthetic fraud, examine the factors behind its recent explosion, and outline both short- and long-term best practices and solutions for financial institutions to evolve their strategies to account for this rapidly emerging threat.