‘Increase in very convincing AI-generated deepfakes’ causing rise in fraud expert hires in 2023

Digital ID verification company OCR Labs Global has recently revealed the results of a new research survey, ‘Fighting Identity Fraud in an Economic Downturn’.

In partnership with FINTRAIL, a global consultancy helping companies manage their exposure to financial crime, the survey shows that in 2022 FinTech worldwide experienced a rise in third-party fraud, with 60% of respondents citing identity theft, account takeover, and social engineering scams as the main types of fraud detected.

The survey received responses from over 50 global members of FINTRAIL’s FinTech FinCrime Exchange, a global network of fintechs, to collaborate on best practices in financial crime risk management. The research looked to understand the impact of fighting identity fraud in the current economy, as well as the challenges and opportunities for fintechs to manage fraud volumes in 2023.

Amongst the survey’s findings, 81% of respondents expect to see a rise in all types of fraud in 2023, and, to address this challenge, nearly nine out of ten (86%) fintechs are gearing up with fraud prevention and management headcount. To complement that, 42% are also looking into fraud prevention software, 40% into AI and Machine Learning solutions, and 38% into digital identity verification (IDV) software.

Russ Cohn, General Manager at OCR Labs Global, said: “Our research shows that the main challenge fintechs have with addressing this is the length of time spent reviewing cases.

“We are seeing an increase in very convincing AI-generated deepfakes. These synthetic media would fool almost any human, and our research shows that two in three fintechs planning to add new automated identity verification technology that can detect true human liveness.

“Investing in technology that keeps our customers safe is always our top priority. Fintechs that have sound business models and execution will grow, despite hard economic downturns. Unfortunately, growth and success attract fraudsters. That’s why we continue to hire and strengthen our trust and safety capabilities.”

Shay Oshinusi, Financial Crime Operations Unit Lead, Mettle, commented: “It’s important to be able to react quickly when fraud comes in. But being able to get the buy-in of all the relevant stakeholders in order to make that happen, and make that happen quickly, can be a challenge.

“We want to strike a really good balance between people versus tooling. The best solution isn’t always to only throw people at a problem – it’s about looking at how we can gain efficiency using fraud prevention software.”