Attack vs. Defence: Document Fraud — Where Your Data Really Goes This Summer of Football
Fraud today doesn’t always look like fraud. It looks like perfectly designed websites, professional booking platforms or apps that feel familiar or even trustworthy.
This summer of football, whether it’s a last-minute hotel booking, or a late-night bet on the final, people will be transacting online at speed. And in those moments, the risk of sharing personal information with the wrong platform increases.
Because behind some of these experiences are fake ecosystems designed for one purpose: capturing your data.
In fact, across England and Wales, there were 4.15 million incidents of fraud in the past year, accounting for 45% of all crime.1
Increasingly, that fraud revolves around identity. When consumers upload a document, passport or driving licence, they’re not just proving who they are, they’re potentially handing over the raw material fraudsters need.
For organisations, this shifts document verification from a compliance step to a critical point of risk exposure that needs to be actively managed.
The attack: when convenience becomes risk
High-demand events don’t just drive excitement, they change behaviour.
Recent TransUnion research into online betting habits found that 62% of respondents typically bet on football, with 22% saying they are more likely to place a bet during this summer’s football season. ²
At the same time, many transactions are happening quickly, often on unfamiliar platforms. And while 60% of respondents said they value a secure betting experience, only 22% said choosing a trusted brand is their main priority when selecting an operator. 2
When speed and convenience take priority over trust, consumers are less likely to verify a site’s legitimacy, making them more susceptible to engaging with new or lesser-known platforms.
In the wrong place, that moment of verification becomes a point of exposure. Instead of accessing a service, consumers could be giving fraudsters direct access to their identity data.
For fraud teams, the challenge is ensuring controls operate consistently at scale, with an adequate control environment maintaining low inherent risk regardless of increased activity levels.
Why documents are such valuable targets
Unlike passwords, you can’t easily change your identity. That’s why documents have become central to modern fraud. And technology is accelerating the risk.
Fraudsters are now using AI to generate convincing fake IDs, tools to alter legitimate documents, and deepfake techniques to bypass verification.
As TransUnion’s research highlights, traditional checks are no longer enough because identity itself is being manipulated at scale.3
What happens after data is taken
Once information is compromised, it rarely stays in one place. It can be sold, shared or combined with other data breaches. Used on their own, consumers’ details are valuable. Combined with other information, they become something far more powerful: a new identity.
Fraudsters can stitch together real and fake data to create synthetic profiles they can use to open accounts, pass verification checks and build credibility over time.
Consumers may never even know it’s happening. TransUnion research shows that 7%2 of people report having knowingly experienced fraud after using an unknown betting site. This suggests as many 93%2 could be unaware they have been a victim of fraud, highlighting how difficult this type of fraud can be for consumers to detect.
The defence: small decisions that make a big difference
Legitimate platforms are increasingly investing in technologies such as real-time document verification and facial biometrics to detect manipulation and establish trust in real time. These aren’t just technical features; they’re signals a business is investing in protecting consumers.
The defence involves treating identity verification like a continuous, intelligence-led assessment, whilst encouraging consumers to practice vigilance when using new and unfamiliar sites.
Starting with where they transact. During high-demand periods, it’s easy to rush, but that’s exactly what fraudsters rely on. Sticking to recognised ticket sellers, established travel providers and trusted, well-reviewed platforms can be the first step in fraud defence.
The cost of getting it wrong
Fraud isn’t just inconvenient. For those affected, the impact can be significant: The median loss for UK consumers is £1,2053. But the financial cost is only part of the story. There’s also the time spent recovering accounts, stress and uncertainty, and loss of confidence in digital services.
For businesses, the picture looks similarly stark, with UK business leaders reporting in 2025 that fraud cost their companies the equivalent of 7.4% of annual revenue.⁴
Final whistle: identity is worth protecting
This summer of football is about moments: goals, celebrations, experiences shared. But it should also be about confidence. By enabling safer transactions, smarter data-sharing practices and stronger trust signals, organisations can help ensure consumers stay on the right side of the game.
For organisations, the difference increasingly comes down to how early risk can be identified, using behavioural signals, device intelligence and advanced analytics to detect what doesn’t look right.
Because when it comes to fraud, the strongest defence isn’t complicated.
Check out our latest guide — Verifying Digital Identities — for more details on how TransUnion uses Document Verification and Facial Biometrics (DVFB) to empower organisations to verify identities with confidence.
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