We may be living in the era of Artificial Intelligence, facial recognition and iris scanning, however, it is still easy and common for criminals to forge a travel document. Though it can require high-level skills, the “rewards” make it a particular draw for criminals as it often serves as the foundation upon which other severe threats are built: human trafficking, drug smuggling and of course terrorism.
Just last week, police arrested in Pafos airport, Cyprus, two people, on separate occasions, alleged of forgery and impersonation. According to the Police, a woman holding a French passport was arrested, as officials in the Departures were trained enough to spot the differences on the photo of the document and the woman who claimed to be the holder. She later confessed she is not the passport owner nor even French. In another case, a woman travelling to Italy presented a French identity card but officials at the airport had the proper training and proper systems to identify that the ID card had been forged.
More than 100 million travel documents were reported lost or stolen in 2020 and around 5,8 million Americans reported ID theft in 2021. According to Frontex Risk Analysis, passports represented 47% of the fraudulent documents detected at the European Union's external borders. European Union passports are worth $3,800 in 2023 on the Dark Web while the average price of the European Union National ID has increased from $120 to $160 over the last year or so, and a fake US Green Card is now $160, instead of the $150 that it was in 2022.
As stopping the networks involved and seizing their output can disrupt a range of other crimes, it is a no-brainer why Governments from all around the world expect regulated entities and sectors, such as financial institutions, FX companies, gaming, auditors and lawyers to screen their partners against financial crime offences and make sure their ID/travel documents are thoroughly checked and verified.
So what can one do to protect themselves or their business from such fraudulent activity? First of all, ID cards and Passports should be kept in a safe place while any expired document should be destroyed. People take expired documentation for granted, but your old IDs could be fished out of your garbage and used against you. Businesses, on the other hand, need to do more work on this aspect: trained staff, AML Manuals and strong Compliance programs should be in place so that employees who deal with customers and partners can detect and prevent fraud. During the last few years, technology has advanced immensely in the field of ID and Passport Verification; it takes only seconds to check a copy of a travel document and realize whether there is any chance of it being forged. Advanced KYC / ID &Passport Verification systems check not only MRZ lines but also the whole template of these documents, the fonts, the distance between the letters and numbers and of course security features. Such systems only need a selfie of the document holder to be able to verify if they are indeed the person on the photo of the document.
Even though at an individual level we are getting better at protecting our personal information, business-wise most companies have just recently started to realize the importance of document validation and are investing in proper training for their employees as well in quality systems that can detect fraud so they can build a proper defence for their business.
At Infocredit Group, experts in AML Compliance matters, we can assist professionals mitigate such risks by implementing specific steps in their AML procedures and providing the right tools and systems to eventually create a safer world for all of us. For information regarding our ID/Passport Verification tools, please contact us at +357 22398240 or [email protected]
Catch them if you can! ID & Passport theft in the AI era
We may be living in the era of Artificial Intelligence, facial recognition and iris scanning, however, it is still easy and common for criminals to forge a travel document. Though it can require high-level skills, the “rewards” make it a particular draw for criminals as it often serves as the foundation upon which other severe threats are built: human trafficking, drug smuggling and of course terrorism.
Just last week, police arrested in Pafos airport, Cyprus, two people, on separate occasions, alleged of forgery and impersonation. According to the Police, a woman holding a French passport was arrested, as officials in the Departures were trained enough to spot the differences on the photo of the document and the woman who claimed to be the holder. She later confessed she is not the passport owner nor even French. In another case, a woman travelling to Italy presented a French identity card but officials at the airport had the proper training and proper systems to identify that the ID card had been forged.
More than 100 million travel documents were reported lost or stolen in 2020 and around 5,8 million Americans reported ID theft in 2021. According to Frontex Risk Analysis, passports represented 47% of the fraudulent documents detected at the European Union's external borders. European Union passports are worth $3,800 in 2023 on the Dark Web while the average price of the European Union National ID has increased from $120 to $160 over the last year or so, and a fake US Green Card is now $160, instead of the $150 that it was in 2022.
As stopping the networks involved and seizing their output can disrupt a range of other crimes, it is a no-brainer why Governments from all around the world expect regulated entities and sectors, such as financial institutions, FX companies, gaming, auditors and lawyers to screen their partners against financial crime offences and make sure their ID/travel documents are thoroughly checked and verified.
So what can one do to protect themselves or their business from such fraudulent activity? First of all, ID cards and Passports should be kept in a safe place while any expired document should be destroyed. People take expired documentation for granted, but your old IDs could be fished out of your garbage and used against you. Businesses, on the other hand, need to do more work on this aspect: trained staff, AML Manuals and strong Compliance programs should be in place so that employees who deal with customers and partners can detect and prevent fraud. During the last few years, technology has advanced immensely in the field of ID and Passport Verification; it takes only seconds to check a copy of a travel document and realize whether there is any chance of it being forged. Advanced KYC / ID &Passport Verification systems check not only MRZ lines but also the whole template of these documents, the fonts, the distance between the letters and numbers and of course security features. Such systems only need a selfie of the document holder to be able to verify if they are indeed the person on the photo of the document.
Even though at an individual level we are getting better at protecting our personal information, business-wise most companies have just recently started to realize the importance of document validation and are investing in proper training for their employees as well in quality systems that can detect fraud so they can build a proper defence for their business.
At Infocredit Group, experts in AML Compliance matters, we can assist professionals mitigate such risks by implementing specific steps in their AML procedures and providing the right tools and systems to eventually create a safer world for all of us. For information regarding our ID/Passport Verification tools, please contact us at +357 22398240 or [email protected]