While many corporations need to contend with identity fraud, a new version of this problem has arisen recently: synthetic identity fraud.
This involves hackers making up new identities instead of impersonating a real person, although they will often stitch together IDs using information from actual people (Social Security numbers or email addresses, for example).
This type of fraud can be hard to spot, as there are no identity thefts to notify businesses of fraudulent applications made in their name.
One recent study found that synthetic identity fraud cost financial institutions $20 billion in 2020, with the average fraudster stealing $81,000 to $97,000 before the fraud was uncovered.