New Account Fraud Levels in the UK Lowest of All Developed Countries, up to 41% in Other Regions

New data from Jumio, the leading AI-powered trusted identity as a service provider, reveals that the UK has the lowest levels of new account fraud compared to other developed countries in 2019, most strikingly compared to Italy where levels are 41% higher. Levels of new account fraud also rose more minimally in the UK compared to other developed countries year over year when compared to 2018 rates — Germany saw an 81% rise, while Canada saw a 44% increase and the U.S. saw a 34% increase. The UK saw the lowest increase at only 14%.

However, while the UK has the lowest level of full-year new account fraud rates, it saw a spike in new account fraud over the Black Friday/Cyber Monday weekend, coming in at 11% higher than average 2019 fraud levels. This is a stark contrast to the rest of the world, whereby globally, fraud rates were 19% lower during the holiday shopping weekend compared to average 2019 fraud levels.

Interestingly, this year’s Jumio’s Holiday New Account Fraud Report also shows that in the UK, new account fraud rates in the gaming and gambling sector are significantly lower than in other regions. Globally, fraud rates for online gaming in 2019 (for the full year) were 2.5%; in the UK, the average new account fraud rate was just 1%. It is suspected that this decline is the direct result of tougher new identity verification rules introduced by the UK Gambling Commission earlier this year.

In the third edition of Jumio’s report, fraud is defined as an attempt by an individual to create a new online account by manipulating a government-issued ID. Jumio compared global ID fraud patterns from millions of ID verification transactions between 2014 and 2019 across various industries, focusing on the period between Black Friday and Cyber Monday, including Thanksgiving Day and the Tuesday after Cyber Monday. Jumio also analysed new account fraud levels across regions, countries, industries and time period.

Often, the first step in identity theft starts by creating a new account online. Identity theft is the deliberate use of someone else’s identity (e.g., name, address, bank accounts) to get money and credit and make purchases. But, identity theft is also being used to perpetrate online fraud, steal property, falsify educational and other credentials, access healthcare and launder money.

“As cybercriminals perfect and fine-tune their impersonation efforts, it’s getting more difficult for modern enterprises to distinguish between high-risk from low-risk users — and this is only going to accelerate thanks to large-scale data breaches, the evolution of the dark web and the looming threat of identity theft,” said Philipp Pointner, Jumio’s chief product officer.

“All too often, companies rely on traditional methods of identity verification which are not well equipped to detect sophisticated methods of new account fraud. While the UK has witnessed new account fraud levels decrease in some sectors due to tougher regulations, all organisations still need to be vigilant and ensure they have the best security in place, particularly during periods such as Black Friday and Cyber Monday, whereby new account fraud attempts clearly increase. ”

Jumio is the global leader in online identity verification, processing nearly 300,000 verifications per day and more than 200 million identities issued by over 200 countries and territories from real-time web and mobile transactions to-date. The 2019 Holiday New Account Fraud Report draws on this experience to determine if the spike in seasonal fraud, normally associated with retail and e-commerce, is also evident in non-retail sectors.

Download the Jumio 2019 Holiday New Account Fraud Report here for additional learnings and insights.