The use of “synthetic identities” is the fastest-growing fraud type globally, accounting for more than one in 10 cases, LexisNexis Risk Solutions says.

Analysis of more than 116 billion online transactions found 11% of frauds used a fake identity, which can take months to establish and reflects a shift away from opportunism to long-term planning.

“Fraudsters stitch together new identities from various stolen identity attributes and use them to commit a variety of crimes,” the data analytics group says.

“With no victim to immediately raise the alarm and high potential returns, synthetic fraud is proving attractive to fraudsters globally.”

The study found an 8% rise in overall fraud rates, driven by attacks targeting the gaming and gambling and ecommerce sectors.

Customers defrauding organisations is still the leading source of fraud, accounting for 38% of cases.

LexisNexis VP of fraud and identity Stephen Topliss says cybercriminal networks are scaling automation, shifting tactics and probing for weaknesses, and organisations must be able to determine intent and distinguish between humans, bots and agents.

“Increasingly, attackers rely on advanced bots and AI-driven tools to mimic human behaviour and test defences with unprecedented speed and accuracy,” he said.

“We continue to see increasing collaboration between organisations with global digital intelligence, advanced analytics and strong cross-industry partnerships. Organisations that share risk intelligence are best positioned to protect consumers and build trust.”

AI agents present a new form of digital interaction – and a new challenge for fraud detection.

LexisNexis says malicious bots can mimic genuine human actions, such as moving a cursor around a login screen, with a “high degree of plausibility to fool the latest behavioural fraud detection tools”.