Veriff 2025 Identity Fraud Report: Online Fraud is Up by 21 Percent

Impersonation fraud accounts for 82% of fraud attempts as AI and deepfakes drive more sophisticated attacks

Veriff, a global identity verification and authentication provider, today released the Veriff Identity Fraud Report 2025. This annual investigation into the state of online fraud draws from analysis of customer data and field research over the last 12 months.

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The findings show that fraud is a problem that refuses to go away. According to the report, one in every 20 verification attempts encountered in 2024 was fraudulent. Consistent with this finding, online fraud has increased 21% in 2024 remaining at similar level as in 2023 (20%). With U.S. business leaders reporting a loss of up to 9 cents of every dollar they earn to fraud, the financial impact of fraud will only continue to grow in 2025. As businesses expand their digital footprint, fraud tactics will evolve, becoming increasingly refined to evade detection.

Impersonation attacks still dominate

Impersonation fraud accounted for over 82% of all fraudulent attempts, a number compounded by deepfakes. As deepfakes continue to evolve, so will the sophistication of fraud attacks. Adversary-in-the-middle attacks, for example, are traditionally more complex, making them less common. Still, this year’s data shines a light on their increased usage – adversary-in-the-middle attacks increased by 46% compared to 2023 –  further proving that fraudster sophistication is rising.

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Fraud targets e-commerce platforms

E-commerce took the brunt of fraud attacks, with a fraud rate 18x the global average. Financial services remain one of the most targeted industries by fraudulent attacks. However, e-commerce was the only industry with more authorized fraud than financial services in 2024. Rewards for fraudsters are arguably as great in e-commerce as in financial services, with millions of dollars changing hands between merchants and customers every day.

Account takeover and multi-accounting fraud 

The report also highlights two other notable types of fraud: account takeover, where cybercriminals take ownership of online accounts using stolen passwords and usernames, and multi-accounting, which is the practice of opening multiple accounts to take advantage of promotions or playing bonuses. Both fraud methods surged in 2024, with account takeover cases increasing by 13% compared to 2023 and multi-accounting seeing a 10% year-on-year increase.

“Fraud continues to evolve at a rapid pace, with technological advances like AI and deepfakes making fraud attempts more ubiquitous across industries,” said Ira Bonder, Senior Fraud Group Manager for Veriff.  “The best process for combatting fraud is exposure to the many different types of fraudulent attacks. Veriff prevents thousands of fraud attempts every day, empowering our team and technology with the insights required to identify fraud while streamlining the valid user experience.”