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As ever more criminals abuse AI technologies to steal identities and create flawless fake identity documents that evade controls by the financial services sector, identity fraud is on ‘the cusp of acceleration’. That’s according to Cifas, the UK fraud prevention trade association, and the defence and security think-tank the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI). They’ve published a report, Who Do You Think You Are: Recommendations on the Future Response to Large-Scale Identity Fraud.
The paper calls for a government-funded identity repair service like those in the United States, Australia, and New Zealand. The authors call for law enforcement to do more against the criminal marketplaces where the tools to commit mass-scale identity fraud are sold; and ask for assurances that the UK Governmentโs new digital identity scheme holds identity providers accountable for counter-fraud controls and victim support.
Helena Wood, Director of Public Policy at Cifas and co-author of the report, said: โIdentity fraud victims suffer considerable administrative, financial, and also psychological harms following the fraudulent use of their identity. However, there is no support when repairing the damage that has been done. It is imperative that the Governmentโs Fraud Strategy treats this threat with the seriousness it deserves.โ
You can freely download the 13-page report from the RUSI website. It arose from an October roundtable, by RUSIโs Centre for Finance and Security and Cifas. Participants were drawn from financial institutions, regulatory technology companies, credit rating agencies and policymakers.
The event focused on articulating the nature of the threat and identifying policy, legislative, operational and technical interventions to inform the next UK fraud strategy. Discussions focused on responses to identity fraud for financial gain rather than other types of criminal behaviour, although participants also recognised the need to examine overlapping enablers; and noted that identity fraud is an enabler of transnational organised crime and hostile state activity.
Good practice
The discussion heard of good practice in publicโprivate data sharing to tackle identity fraud through the sharing of false or โfraudulently obtained genuineโ (FOG) identity document data, under Operation Amberhill led by the Metropolitan Police, whereby a central team collates and distributes data on false and FOG identities and shares it with public and private sector partners. The report asks that the authorities ‘revitalise’ Amberhill, and expand its remit to include digital false and FOG identity documentation.
