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Research Identifies Two Never Before Seen Attack Patterns With Worst Case Involving 22,000+ AI-Generated Variations of a Single U.S. Passport
TEL AVIV, Israel, March 12, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- AU10TIX, a global technology leader in identity verification and management, today released its Q4 Global Identity Fraud Report. Drawing insights from millions of transactions processed across 249 countries from October to December 2023, the report uncovers significant trends in large-scale organized identity fraud. This special edition of AU10TIX's recurring report goes beyond Q4 to reveal for the first time an eight-month-long coordinated identity fraud "mega-attack." Between May and December 2023, organized criminals executed 22,080 fraudulent onboarding attempts using AI-generated variations of a single passport.
AU10TIX researchers have subsequently identified two never before seen distinct patterns of "mega" identity fraud attacks, which they have categorized as 'sudden burst' and 'slow burn.' The sudden burst is represented by the mega-attack involving 22,080 attacks, half of which took place over a short duration of 2-3 weeks. The slow burn refers to the average mega-attack, which involves around 2000 AI-generated IDs being used 5-6 times per day over a long duration, usually 12 months. The company detected more than ten slow burn attacks in 2023.
Payments and cryptocurrency were the most targeted sectors in these mega-attacks, but in a surprising development, attacks targeting the social media sector increased by more than 21%. Data suggests that this trend might be tied to organized crime groups attempting to establish social credibility for fake accounts, which will later be used for money laundering and terrorism financing activities.
"We detected these mega-attacks by cross-referencing anonymized ID data against AU10TIX's consortium of 60+ top-tier organizations, demonstrating the power of collective expertise in identifying complex fraud patterns that may evade individual entities," said Dan Yerushalmi, CEO of AU10TIX. "Sophisticated AI and deep-fake technology are helping organized crime groups escalate their attack numbers exponentially, but we will continue working to make the world a safer and more secure place."
Key Q4 Trends
BitCoin Value Surge Led to Increased Cryptocurrency Sector Attacks
In Q3, AU10TIX reported a shift in attacks from the cryptocurrency sector to the payments industry, likely in response to the EU's Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) regulations, which requires stringent Know-Your-Customer (KYC), Know-Your-Business (KYB) and Anti-Money Laundering (AML) screening for trading platforms. Although this trend continued in Q4, it was impacted by the rising value of Bitcoin throughout the quarter, which attracted both legitimate traders and scammers. As a result, the percentage of global attacks targeting the cryptocurrency sector rose from 23% to 32%. Still, it remained far below the 47% spike of Q2.