Looking Ahead: The Top Five Fraud Trends for 2026

Synthetic identities continue to grow in scale, sophistication and impact — making them our number one fraud trend for 2026.

Synthetic identity fraud occurs when criminals combine real and fabricated information to create a new, convincing identity. Because these identities contain some legitimate data, they’re able to pass many traditional checks and blend into genuine customer profiles.

The typical pattern is slow and deliberate:

• Fraudsters apply for low-value products, such as mobile phone contracts, insurance policies or small loans
• Over time, they build up a positive credit history, cultivating trust with banks, phone companies or other businesses
• Once limits increase and larger products become available, the fraudster reaches a tipping point — defaulting on repayments and “busting out,” leaving businesses with significant losses

This threat is already front of mind across the fraud market. According to our research, 98% of UK fraud leaders expressed concerned about the impact of synthetic identities on their portfolios — a statistic that highlights just how critical and pressing this issue has become.

Did you know?
Our research shows that as many as 5 million UK consumers may actually be synthetic identity creations.²

Throughout Q4 2025, TransUnion has campaigned to raise awareness of synthetic identities. You can explore this further by reading the Synthetic Identity Fraud Guide.

Artificial intelligence (AI) remains one of the most talked about technologies — and with good reason. While AI continues to enrich our lives and strengthen fraud detection, it’s also being actively exploited by criminals.

AI-driven scams

Fraudsters are increasingly using large language models (LLMs) to generate scam emails, texts and social media posts. These messages are:

• Localised for the victim
• Free from spelling or grammatical errors
• Highly believable

This makes phishing, smishing and scam campaigns far harder for consumers to spot. As a result, consumer education remains crucial — especially around recognising pressure tactics, false urgency and offers that seem too good to be true.

Voice and video cloning

AI-powered voice and video cloning hit headlines in 2024, particularly following high-profile cases involving executive impersonation. One of the most notable examples saw an employee at engineering firm transfer £20 million during a deepfake video scam³.

This threat doesn’t stop with organisations. Individuals are also increasingly targeted, often via cloned voices of family members or bank agents urging them to make immediate transfers to another account because their own account has been compromised or a relative is facing an emergency.

AI vs. identity verification

AI is also being used to:

• Create or alter documents
• Forge credentials
• Inject deepfakes into facial biometric or selfie checks

This makes robust document verification and biometric assurance essential. Certifications such as iBeta, alongside continuous algorithm improvement, are key weapons in staying ahead.

Did you know?
AU10TIX - a global leader in identity management and fraud intelligence – forecasts Presentation Spoofing to increase 100% in 2026: This includes any attempt to deceive a biometric or document verification system by presenting a fake or manipulated input (like a photo, mask, or deepfake) instead of a live, genuine person or authentic document.⁴

TransUnion Document Verification and Facial Biometrics solution is built to combat this type of threat and is iBeta certified, with continuously updated algorithms designed to detect inject or presentation attacks, deepfakes, and usage of masks, other images on a screen.