Early Warning Services Unveils Synthetic ID Fraud Tool

Early Warning Services has launched Verify Identity, a synthetic identity fraud detection solution for qualifying financial services organizations (FSOs), mobile network providers, corporations and government entities, the FinTech said in a news release Tuesday (May 3).

The company, which is owned by seven of the biggest banks in the U.S., said the service combines predictive scoring with rules-based solutions to determine customer legitimacy while complying with industry regulations.

“Early Warning is fighting back against synthetic identity fraud with the introduction of Verify Identity,” said Robin Love, vice president of product management at Early Warning.

“Verify Identity includes our predictive ID Confidence Score with an additional synthetic indicator, making this solution uniquely different from others in the marketplace. Verify Identity will challenge the growing issue of data breaches and identity fraud by introducing this unparalleled synthetic identity detection feature,” Love said.

As PYMNTS has reported, synthetic identity fraud involves hackers fabricating new identities rather than impersonating an actual person, although some scammers will create IDs using some real info, such as email addresses or social security numbers.

Read more: Synthetic Identity Fraud Costs Businesses Billions Each Year, Data Shows

This type of fraud can be difficult to spot, as there are no identity thefts to let businesses know fraudulent applications are being made in their name.

One recent study showed synthetic identity fraud cost financial institutions $20 billion in 2020, with the average fraudster making off with $81,000 to $97,000 before the fraud was detected.

Another report found that online lenders lose $6 billion annually to synthetic identity fraud, leading the Federal Reserve to call it the fastest-growing financial crime.

Verify Identity detects synthetic identities and works to keep them from entering the customer’s system by first determining the applicant’s likelihood of presenting their true identity credentials.

In addition, government entities can confirm if an applicant’s name, social security number and date of birth match a legitimate record with the Social Security Administration.

Working in real-time, Verify Identity sends this information to key industry segment customers — FSOs, mobile network providers, corporations and government entities — to guard against identity fraud while moving “legitimate applicants through a low-friction experience.”