Smile ID, formerly known as Smile Identity, has achieved a significant milestone by surpassing 100 million identity verifications across Africa. Concurrently, the company has unveiled its inaugural report on Digital Identity Fraud in Africa for 2024, offering a comprehensive analysis of fraudster tactics, patterns, and industry-specific trends. This landmark achievement underscores Smile ID’s position as the foremost authority in identity verification on the continent.
The report, based on anonymised data from extensive verification checks, reveals a concerning surge in identity fraud incidents over the past four years, with a notable increase in recent quarters. Smile ID’s analysis emphasises the critical need for digital businesses, particularly in the financial sector, to fortify their defenses against increasingly sophisticated identity fraud tactics that have adversely impacted African companies.
The report serves as a valuable resource for understanding and mitigating the risks of financial fraud resulting from identity theft. It highlights a shift in fraud from new account creation to the exploitation of existing accounts, signaling the necessity for businesses to implement continuous risk monitoring and robust multi-factor authentication processes.
Mark Straub, the CEO of Smile ID, emphasises the report’s significance in the evolving African digital landscape: “As the digital landscape in Africa evolves, so must our approaches to secure it. This report is a pivotal resource for businesses seeking to understand and mitigate the risks of financial fraud stemming from identity theft.”
The analysis delves into various critical topics, including widespread fraud linked to National IDs, regional fraud trends, industry-specific insights, a guide for businesses to create anti-fraud systems, the growing threat of artificial intelligence to identity verification, and future developments in fraud prevention.
Key takeaways from the report include a consistent increase in fraud rates across Africa over the last four years, a continual rise in Document and Biometric fraud rates, a growing focus on biometric fraud, and the concentration of 80% of ID fraud attacks on national identity documents.
Smile ID’s Digital Identity Fraud Report emerges as a vital tool for combating fraud across Africa. The company, known for its role as a KYC compliance and ID verification partner for numerous African fintechs and businesses, has strengthened its capabilities through strategic acquisitions, including Inclusive Innovations, the parent company of Appruve, a Ghanaian developer of identity verification software.
Smile ID’s commitment to combating fraud is evidenced by its integration of new datasets and continuous analysis of fraud data from global money networks, mobile money financial statements, and blocklist data from various banks and fintechs.
