Opening an account from your phone at 11 p.m. is now commonplace: a video call or guided onboarding lets you complete registration in minutes. Behind that experience, however, two forces coexist: users demanding minimal friction and malicious actors leveraging automation and synthetic content to try to bypass controls. That is the context described in the Fraud Intelligence Report 2025.
A measurable scale shift
The Fraud Intelligence Report 2025 reveals a landscape where identity fraud has evolved from a handcrafted threat to an industrial-scale operation. According to the report, cybercrime will reach an annual economic impact of 10.5 trillion dollars this year, driven by automated techniques, deepfakes, and injection attacks capable of imitating legitimate users with unprecedented precision.
We are no longer talking about isolated scams but about criminal networks operating with the same structure as a tech company. The Fraud-as-a-Service model enables large-scale attacks, cost reduction, and the use of generative AI tools to create synthetic identities or manipulate verification videos.
In response to this evolution, the concept of Identity‑First Security is emerging as a strategic answer. This approach, described in the report, places identity at the core of all security decisions: every digital interaction is continuously and contextually validated, not just at login.
Data that reflects the scale of change
- 20% increase in fraud attempts during onboarding processes in 2023 (TransUnion).
- 47% of financial fraud in Europe involves identity theft (Allianz Trade & BCG).
- 43% of biometric breaches stem from presentation and injection attacks (IBM Cybersecurity Report).
Identity as defense
In today’s digital economy, systems do not fail because of technical errors—they collapse due to loss of trust. That’s why the Fraud Intelligence Report 2025 calls for a shift in perspective: stop thinking about protecting systems and start protecting identities.
The Identity‑First Security approach does exactly that. Instead of building walls around networks, it puts the individual—their verified identity—at the center of security. Each digital interaction is validated continuously, contextually, and transparently, balancing fraud prevention with user experience.
The report shows this transition is already underway. Leading organizations are combining continuous biometrics, real‑time anomaly detection, and adaptive risk intelligence to anticipate attacks, not just react to them. Technology thus becomes a tool for trust, not control.
The new frontier: offensive vs. defensive intelligence
The same techniques fueling fraud—artificial intelligence, automation, and synthetic content generation—have also become its strongest countermeasure.
The report outlines a new dynamic: offensive AI vs. defensive AI.
While attackers use generative models to create deepfakes, synthetic identities, or forged documents, defenders rely on models that detect visual inconsistencies, impossible‑to‑replicate micro‑behaviors, and anomalous network patterns.
Fraud has become industrialized—but so has the response. Automation, continuous learning, and cross‑sector collaboration are now the keys to effective protection.
This is more than a technical recipe; it is a strategic roadmap: anticipate, adapt, and maintain user trust as the most valuable asset.
Three layers of defense
To tackle this new reality, Facephi proposes a layered defense model based on the Identity‑First approach, addressing fraud from its origin to its operational stage.
Level 1 – Who you are
- Protection against: identity impersonation attempts (deepfakes, injection attacks, among others).
- When: during registration or platform access.
- How: through certified biometric verification and data integrity analysis.
Level 2 – How you act
- Protection against: account takeover (ATO), remote access trojans (RAT), man‑in‑the‑middle (MITM) attacks, among others.
- When: after registration, continuously (throughout each app interaction).
- How: by monitoring behavioral signals that form the user’s behavioral profile—typing speed, interaction patterns, location, common devices, and up to 3,000 distinct signals.
Level 3 – With whom you interact
- Protection against: social engineering scams (when someone impersonates a known contact to trigger a transaction) or authorized fraud, such as mule accounts.
- When: during transaction execution.
- How: through graph analysis and transactional pattern detection.
Beyond defense: shaping the future of digital trust
Identity fraud is not an isolated event—it’s a process that evolves alongside technology. The difference between suffering it and anticipating it lies in the ability to learn faster than the attacker.
The Fraud Intelligence Report 2025 goes beyond the numbers: it maps out threats and solutions for a digital future where trust is built, not assumed.
Download the full report and discover how organizations are redefining the fight against fraud in the era of digital identity.