[Identity Fraud Report] As Fraud Tech becomes Cheaper, Identity Fraud Spikes across Africa
Driven by greater accessibility of ever-cheaper fraud technology, Fraud-as-a-Service is becoming a growing threat to African businesses, with identity fraud across the continent increasing at an alarming rate. The average Year-on-Year fraud rate growth in Africa has reached 167%, with Niger, Angola, and South Africa leading the continent with identity fraud rate growth exceeding 300%.
Sumsub, a global full-cycle verification platform, today released its fourth annual Identity Fraud Report1. The report provides a detailed analysis of identity fraud dynamics worldwide based on millions of verification checks and over 3,000,000 fraud attempts analyzed between 2023-2024*. The report also includes Sumsub’s Fraud Exposure Survey 2024, featuring responses from 200+ risk professionals and over 1,000 end users.
Identity Fraud Main Trends and Statistics for 2024
Sumsub’s report key findings include:
● The top-5 identity fraud types in 2024 are: forged documents (50% of all fraud attempts), chargebacks (15%), account takeovers (12%), deepfakes (7%) and fraudulent networks (4%).
● In Africa, Nigeria shows the highest average fraud rate in 2024 of 5.91% among all verifications, having doubled from last year, followed by Algeria, Tanzania, Madagascar and Chad.
● Uganda, Niger, Cameroon, Kenya and Comoros rank among the top African countries with the highest percentage of fraud in 2024, with Kenya more than doubling its fraud incidence over the past 3 years.
● There’s been a significant 4x increase in the number of deepfakes detected globally across all industries YoY.
● Top-5 sectors most affected by identity fraud in 2024 are dating (8.9% fraud rate), online media(7.7%), banking & insurance (2.7%), video gaming (2.3%), and crypto (2.2%).
● If we look at the industrial trends, the top-5 industries with the highest identity fraud growth rates in 2023-2024 are dating (265%), online media (180%), banking & insurance (162%), fintech (156%) and edtech (144%).
● The analysis of an average fraudster economy demonstrates that, with as little as $1,000 at their disposal, a fraudster group can potentially inflict losses of up to $2.5M a month.
● Account takeover (ATO) attacks have become one of the most damaging forms of fraud. From 2023 to 2024, ATO cases surged by 250% year-over-year, a staggering growth compared to a 155% increase in 2022-2023.
● Sumsub Fraud Exposure Survey 2024 revealed that businesses lost approximately $300,000 per fraud event in 2024, and nearly half of companies (45%) and end users (44%) worldwide reported being victims of identity fraud at least once.
"In today’s digital world, identity fraud poses a serious threat to individuals and companies. In 2024, 67% of firms reported a fraud increase," says Andrew Sever, co-founder and CEO of Sumsub. "The Sumsub Annual Identity Fraud Report has become a go-to resource for industry leaders, with previous editions cited by the UNODC, Statista, Microsoft, and major media outlets. This year, we’ve expanded our research with insights from end-users and risk professionals, providing a detailed look at current fraud dynamics, future predictions, and actionable tips for businesses. As a full-cycle verification platform, we’re committed to sharing these insights to help the community unite against fraud."
How Cheap It Is to Commit Fraud: the Economy of a Fraudster Disclosed
Economics of fraud have shifted dramatically, making it easier and cheaper to execute large-scale operations with minimal investment. The rise of "fraud as a service" (FaaS) models allows fraudsters to outsource key aspects of their operations to specialized providers.
On average, a single fraudster can commit around 100 fraudulent activities annually, as supported by industry reports like the Verizon Data Breach Investigations Report. According to Sumsub's Fraud Exposure Survey, businesses lost approximately $300,000 per fraud event in 2024. The fraudster economics, explained in the report, highlights that an average potential annual income could be ~$29,988,000, or a potential ~$2.5M gain in one month – with as little as a $1,000 monthly investment.
To learn more and download the full Sumsub 2024 Identity Fraud Report for free, please go to
https://sumsub.com/fraud-report-2024/
Nomsa Mdhluli
Tishala Communications
+ +27 71 628 6231
email us here
1 http://sumsub.com/fraud-report-2024/
2 https://www.verizon.com/business/en-gb/resources/reports/dbir/
3 https://sumsub.com/about/
