Fraud in Q1 2022: What you need to know

It’s great to see more of these stories getting attention as they show that fraud has a serious impact on people’s lives, risking their finances, relationships, prospects and more. 

In our Q1 2022 fraud analysis, we saw that fraudulent activity has continued increasing from last year. Last year’s Q1 fraud report highlighted that 9.17% of all verifications were fraudulent, while during the first three months of 2022 net fraud rate was 10.05%.

Some key takeaways from the first three months of the year:

• The met fraud rate of Q1 2022 was 10.05%, compared to 5.88% for the previous period
• Out of the sectors we analyzed, crypto remained the most fraud-prone industry, with a net fraud rate of 8.05%, followed by fintech (4.19%) and mobility (4%)
• Crypto also saw highest growth (6.16%) increase in fraudulent activity compared to the previous quarter
• Fraudulent activity has increased in the U.S. & Europe, with net fraud rates 5.90% and 4.45% respectively
• Top 5 most fraudulent countries in Q1 were Uzbekistan (31.25%), the U.S. (27.15%) the Philippines (25.11%), Thailand (24.47%) and Ukraine (22.46%)

The most prevalent type of fraud continues to be identity fraud, where a person tries to appear or to pass off as someone other than themselves. If you’re looking for a real life example, take a look at the above mentioned Tinder Swindler, where a con man had at least three women (that we know of) falling for his trap as they used the popular dating platform. 

Across all industries globally, identity fraud made up 52% of all fraudulent activity in Q1 2022 and increased 10.03% in the U.S. compared to Q4 2021. In crypto, identity fraud made up 43% and in fintech 63% of all fraud incidents. 

We have also seen a spike in recurring fraud, making up more than 40% of all fraud so far this year, compared to the 26% the previous period. 

The most commonly used documents continue to be passports and ID cards, acting as nearly 30% (depending on the industry) of fraudulent verifications.

If you’re interested in taking a more in-depth look at fraud trends from 2021, as well as have a better understanding of the global state of fraud, download Veriff’s 2021 Identity Fraud Report here and take a look at some of the documentaries we mentioned in the beginning!