New data from fraud prevention service Cifas has highlighted a “worrying trend” of people selling their own identities; more than 118,000 cases where identity fraud was suspected were recorded between January and June 2025. In response, Fraser Mitchell, Chief Product Officer at compliance experts SmartSearch said: “The UK’s Online Safety Act, mandating robust age verification, is a crucial step for online protection, yet it critically exposes the growing sophistication of fraudulent identities.
“As Cifas has highlighted, we’re now seeing legitimate credentials being sold or manipulated by criminals, while AI-enabled synthetic identities and convincing fake documents are bypassing traditional verification methods with alarming accuracy.
This is no longer just about teenagers accessing restricted sites – it’s about people unknowingly enabling serious financial crime, from identity theft and account takeovers to large-scale fraud, money laundering, and even terrorist financing.
What we constantly observe is a significant appetite for creating and using fake documents to bypass controls. From fake passports to driver’s licences with seemingly accurate details, including coded date of birth data in the Driver Number, these documents often pass visual inspection. But unless you’re using a specialist provider with the technology and expertise to detect these nuances, they’re incredibly difficult to spot.
Basic checks are no longer enough. In today’s landscape, where criminals are agile and constantly evolving their methods, having such a robust system isn’t just about meeting compliance; it’s fundamental to fighting financial crime, protecting reputations, and building lasting trust with every interaction .
We echo Cifas’ call for collaboration and intelligence sharing but urge that this must be underpinned by technology capable of staying ahead of fraudsters. Without it, the risks to both people and businesses will only continue to escalate.”
