TransUnion on Oct. 26 released a report that warns U.S. lenders face large losses from synthetic identities and account-takeover schemes. The firm said criminals are using breached personal data and artificial intelligence to assemble convincing fake profiles and to produce forged documents that can pass onboarding and verification checks.
What the report found
TransUnion said its “Fraud in the Age of Continuous Trust” report shows lenders and other consumer-facing organizations remain vulnerable across the entire customer lifecycle. Two of the report’s headline findings are:
- $2.4 billion in fraud exposure from synthetic identities, as estimated by TransUnion.
- 81% of suspected digital fraud in its network during the first half of 2026 occurred during account logins and financial transactions.
The report highlights two related trends. First, attackers can combine authentic identity fragments obtained in data breaches with generative tools to build synthetic IDs that clear standard verification checks. Second, impersonation and social-engineering scams—where fraudsters trick real customers into authorizing transactions or sharing one-time passcodes—make account logins and transactions particularly high-risk moments.
How fraudsters exploit trust
TransUnion’s analysis describes several common techniques. Impersonation schemes typically begin with a message or call that appears to come from a familiar brand—banks, insurers or healthcare providers—prompting victims to confirm personal details or reset credentials. Following those instructions can allow an attacker to take over an account or redirect payments.
The report also notes that attackers can reuse fabricated identities across multiple services to open lines of credit, enroll in programs, or facilitate further fraud. Data breaches supply the real elements—names, Social Security numbers, dates of birth—that make synthetic identities more believable to automated checks.
Industry readiness and reported losses
TransUnion surveyed fraud and risk decision-makers across large consumer-facing organizations and found that scams and authorized fraud were the top-cited source of business fraud losses, selected by 29% of respondents in an eight-market survey. The firm emphasized that verifying identity at onboarding does not guarantee trust for future interactions, creating a need for continuous authentication and monitoring throughout the customer relationship.
Those findings come as lenders and fintechs increasingly rely on digital onboarding and remote verification. TransUnion’s report argues that attackers are exploiting that shift, combining traditional stolen data with modern tools to evade defenses and persist across accounts and products.
What this means for consumers and lenders
- Consumers may face unauthorized account activity and new-account fraud when synthetic identities or impersonation tactics succeed.
- Lenders and service providers that rely only on one-time identity checks at onboarding risk exposure during later transactions and logins.
- Organizations should consider layered, ongoing fraud-detection measures that monitor behavior through the customer lifecycle, the report suggests.
TransUnion’s report adds to a growing body of industry research documenting the rising sophistication of identity fraud. The company’s figures and survey results underscore why lenders, payment firms and regulators are focusing more on continuous authentication, device intelligence and transaction-level fraud controls.
TransUnion published the report on Oct. 26, 2026.
