Veriff Fraud Index 2024 - key findings

The internet has transformed how we shop, consume, and do business, expanding opportunity and fuelling innovation. But the digital economy has a dark side – the growing scourge of online fraud.

We surveyed 1,000 individuals across the US and Europe, gathering diverse viewpoints across age groups, nationalities, and genders.

The responses expose the reality of digital dangers. However, they also highlight changing attitudes to technology – with more and more consumers seeing the benefits of biometrics-based security tools, such as facial recognition.

The key findings from the survey are:

1. Fraud is on the rise

In the modern digital marketplace, a significant proportion of users have been directly affected by online fraud. 

Our survey showed that nearly half (47.8%) of users had encountered some form of the crime in the 12 months from January 2023. 

The results tally with the Veriff Identity Fraud Report 2024, which showed a 20% rise in overall fraud between 2022 and 2023.

2. Fraud matters to consumers

Against this backdrop of growing criminality, it comes as no surprise that consumers pay careful attention to a company’s track record before handing over their business. Still, the overwhelming nature of the result is noteworthy: more than 75% of our respondents said they consider a company’s record on fraud prevention before signing up to a service.

This points to an obvious conclusion – if your company offers robust fraud prevention measures, you have a key advantage over competitors that do not.

In fact, our survey shows that consumers are willing to make the (often minor) sacrifices required in time and effort to achieve cutting-edge security, with 64.1% indicating acceptance of a longer sign-up process involving the use of an ID document and a selfie if it means they and their personal information will be kept safe from fraudsters.

This theme grows in importance depending on the sector in question. For financial services, almost three-quarters (73.3%) said it was important that providers have security measures in place, such as asking users to verify their identities with an ID and a selfie.

3. Consumers value safety over convenience

And if consumers are prepared to tolerate more friction in the sign-in process if it gives them greater protection from fraud, what form do they want this friction to take? Passwords have long dominated the online security space, but it’s increasingly clear they aren’t enough to defend consumers against sophisticated and unscrupulous fraudsters. 

Stolen password credentials were involved in 61% of company data breaches in 2022, according to Verizon’s 2022 Data Breach Investigations Report, cited in a recent Cyber Magazine article.

It’s no surprise, then, that customers are looking elsewhere to bolster their security. Our survey found that 38.5% of respondents viewed facial recognition/biometrics as the most secure method of logging into an online service. Impressively, this was higher than the combined result for two long standing approaches: one-time codes (20.5%) and passwords (14.1%).

Most respondents (60.5%) also expressed comfort with using facial recognition to access their accounts online; similarly, over half (51.6%) would be happy using IDs and selfies to confirm their identities.

4. How Veriff can help?

Veriff can support your brand in identity verification, KYC regulatory compliance, and more, using cutting-edge biometrics and automated technology to ensure only the right people have access to your platform. Our approach can be tailored to your needs, ensuring you meet security demands while respecting customer data extraction and use needs.