Identity Crime Becomes Foundation for Ongoing Schemes Targeting Life Insurance, Healthcare, Vehicle Financing and Cargo

Fraud Involving Identity Crime Expected to Rise 49% in 2025

OAK BROOK, Ill., Sept. 2, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- The ease of managing everything from ordering food and clothing to banking and your social life online has resulted in opportunities for criminals to steal your identity by using a single personal detail or creating a spurious identity that is then used for fraudulent activity, according to the National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB), the nation's leading non-profit association dedicated to preventing insurance fraud and crime.

Synthetic identities are created from a mix of real and fake identifiers such as social security numbers, dates of birth, names, emails, addresses and/or phone numbers, which are generally derived from stolen or leaked data. Nearly a quarter of the insurance claims processed that had identity theft as a reason for referral to NICB involved a synthetically generated identity. Synthetic identity fraud is the fastest growing financial crime, evolving from traditional identity theft, in which criminals typically use only one personally identifiable element.

An analysis of thousands of questionable insurance claims that were submitted by policyholders to their insurance companies from 2022 through June 30, 2025, revealed a significant year-over-year increase in claims that included an identity crime. According to AARP, this type of crime resulted in $47 billion dollars in losses in 2024. NICB expects a 49% rise in fraud involving identity crime in 2025.

"Identity crimes have evolved from simply using a victim's name and address to get a credit card to the generation of synthetic identities, which are more challenging due to difficulties in tracing, identifying and resolving these cases," said Ian Laughlin, director, data sciences at NICB. "This complexity gives criminals much more time to run the schemes, collect money and get away with it. Ultimately, the cost of this fraud is directly passed along to the consumer."  

The NICB recommends consumers take extra steps to protect their personally identifiable information:

Lock your credit report: Contact Experian, Equifax or TransUnion to protect your credit report from being accessed by potential scammers; the lock can be lifted when needed for credit and financing needs and re-locked after. 

Leverage a password manager: Many platforms and apps provide an option allowing consumers to securely save passwords or generate unique and strong passwords for each account.

Create unique user IDs and passwords for every platform: Every online platform should have different user IDs and passwords to ensure security.

Carry your Social Security Card and passport only when necessary: Core personal documents should not be stored in your briefcase, purse or car. Instead, lock these documents in a safe deposit box.

Never reveal personal information on an unsecured site or to an unknown caller: Hackers and voice over internet protocols can be used to aid criminals in contacting your bank and changing passwords with the intent of stealing your money.

Consider deleting information from digital platforms: After entering personally identifiable information on any digital platform, consider if you need to ask that the information is deleted after use.

Utilize two-factor authentication protocols if available: Many banks and other institutions allow dual identity authentication protocols such as using a password plus a second item, such as verification through a physical address or a submission of a unique generated code, which can be sent to a secondary device, such as email or cell phone.

"Many consumers are one data breach away from increasing their risk of stolen identifiers that can help a criminal commit one of these crimes," Laughlin continued.

For tips on protecting all elements of your identity go to our identity theft page.

NICB develops proprietary threat assessments based on its own data as well as data from law enforcement, industry intelligence, AARP, Federal Trade Commission and Suparna.

If you suspect potential identity theft, call your insurance carrier and the NICB hotline at 1-800-TEL-NICB.

About the National Insurance Crime Bureau: Headquartered in Oak Brook, Ill., the National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB) is the nation's leading not-for-profit organization exclusively dedicated to combatting and preventing insurance crime through Intelligence, Analytics, and Operations; Education and Crime Prevention; and Strategy, Policy, and Advocacy. NICB is supported by more than 1,200 property and casualty insurance companies and self-insured organizations. To learn more, visit NICB.org.

SOURCE National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB)