Fraudsters seek new ways to exploit private information. Cybercrime and fraud prevention is an evolving field based on varied tactics used by fraudsters. In order to be prepared to mitigate fraud risks, you must understand the current fraud trends. The initial segment of this series focused on fraud trends that have been identified for 2023 and beyond. Broadly, these trends include: • Automation • Account Takeover • Adoption of new digital payment methods • Balancing fraud and consumer friction • Rise of synthetic identities • Escalating cost of fraud • Targeted attacks • Strong need for real-time assessment • Need for multi-layered fraud assessment. • Account security In the initial segment we evaluated areas of automation and machine learning fraud. Subsequent sessions looked at account takeover and digital payments. This session will be segregated into two parts: • Fraud trends for the future - Understanding synthetic identities. • Fraud trends for the future – Tools and techniques to mitigated synthetic identity fraud Synthetic identity fraud is a type of financial crime where a fraudster creates a fake identity using a combination of real and fake personal information. The fake identity is used to apply for credit, open bank accounts, or make purchases etc. This fraud is difficult to detect because the fraudster is using a combination of real and fake information. It becomes harder for institutions to catch the fraud and it may be more difficult for law enforcement to track the fraudsters. Field of Study: Information Technology