New & improved AI gives you a picture of a genuinely looking ID in just a few clicks. Of any country you like, within minutes and just for a few bucks. Here’s how to prevent AI-powered identity fraud without having to go back to physical identity verification.
New ID at Your Service
Since last year, AI has been trying to take over the jobs of translators, copywriters, graphic designers, and other creative professions, generating texts that are almost indistinguishable from human-written ones, along with pictures that seem like photoshop perfection. It was only a matter of time before someone used the newly discovered AI skills for the wrong cause.
A very indistinctive website at first sight, VerifTools enables its users to generate authentic pictures of IDs and passports. Based on a real ID/passport template of your chosen country. Simply fill in your (fake) personal details, upload your handwritten signature and a photo (don’t even worry about improper background in the picture, VerifTools takes care of it) and bam, the proof of your new identity exists on paper! Become a US citizen overnight and apply for a job there. Or fake your details, cash in a quick loan, and then pretend it wasn’t you.
We’re no criminals here so we’ve just run out of options on what to do with a fake ID – but surely, those less sincere among us will come up with many more ways to (mis)use it.
VerifTools has a warning on its homepage that it takes no responsibility for what its users do with the generated IDs and advises people to respect their country’s laws and regulations. Sure. Is there any country that happily allows people to generate official documents on their own? We don’t think so.
Customer Onboarding & Verification
Who should be concerned about these malicious AI tools? Most of all companies need to verify their users’ identities online. A common requirement of customers, sped up by all the lockdowns we’ve been through the last few years. People don’t want to go to service providers in person. Sorting things out from the comfort of their own home is how it works today.
The process of customer onboarding is inevitably shifting towards digital, not just in finance (banks, insurance companies, loan providers, etc.). This is happening in many areas. The most susceptible to fraudulent ID use are service providers for whom it’s complicated to verify identities through official registers. They might soon find themselves torn between the necessity to allow digital onboarding and the need to personally check presented data.
The already sticky situation gets even more tricky when a foreign factor is at play. Verifying a foreigner’s identity can become a nightmare for telecommunication companies, HR departments, utility providers, and many others – bearing in mind they need to be careful about their conduct not being viewed as discriminating, especially not within the EU. A real minefield to navigate for many service providers.
That is why the ongoing shift to digital is a welcomed opportunity for shady companies like VerifTools – for which FakeItTools or FraudTools would be a much more apt name.
Protect Your Business from AI-Generated Fake IDs
As a service provider, you need to make sure that your verification process for new customers is secure enough, and that no fake ID ever passes through. There are two fool-proof ways to do so.
- Verify a new customer in person, requiring physical proof of identity. At least until AI teams up with 3D printers and they start issuing their IDs together. Most companies and institutions want to avoid the in-person identity check, for the sake of not making their clients shy away.
- This leaves us with another option – a unified ID verification system. As a service provider, you can connect to an official ID verification system based on secure methods of user authentication (it usually requires physical ID verification at the very beginning). Let’s talk more about this one.
Federated ID Approach
Many EU countries already employ an official ID verification system (such as SmartID in Estonia or BankID in the Czech Republic). Companies that use this system can rest assured that no fake ID passes through it – users’ identity is verified in person, but only once, at the very beginning.
This approach is known under various names – Federated Identity, One Identity, and the Federated Approach. Here’s how it works: A system is built, in which people have their identity verified just once, at their first contact with the system – for example when they open their first bank account at the age of 18. All the following customer verification is based on that. When this person applies for a mortgage loan (by another bank) at the age of 27, the mortgaging bank simply checks with the first bank whether the customer is really who they claim to be. The same applies to insurance and other financial services.
“In the Czech Republic, BankID now serves as a popular remote authentication method for citizens when dealing with authorities – such as the Tax Office and the Social Security Office. Interestingly enough, Czech BankID was not created by the state; it started as a private initiative of the five largest local banks that had decided it was high time to stop making people go to banks in person whenever they needed something. Over time, BankID spread to other Czech banks, and in the end, it was adopted by state authorities, too,” – explains Milan Hrdlička, Business Development Manager at Monet+, a Czech provider of customer authentication solutions and BankID implementation.
Monet+ knows a great deal about the federated ID approach. Of the five banks that teamed up to create a unified BankID, Monet+ was the system’s architect for three of them. To this day, they provide connection to BankID, implement the mechanism into their customer’s systems, and/or build entirely new authentication solutions from scratch (according to customer’s needs and requirements).
“At Monet+, we’re ready for all the scenarios. We can connect customers to an existing official ID system if there is one in their country. When there’s none, we supply a customized solution that verifies existing customers and makes onboarding to new products easier. It’s completely remote and effectively prevents identity fraud. Last but not least, should we have customers with a goal to build a unified federated identity verification system in their country, we would be keen to help! We have learned so much by building such a system in Czechia. Naturally, we know all about the upcoming EU Digital Wallet, which is based on the eIDAS 2.0 legislation, which we’re already developing connection solutions for,” – says Milan Hrdlička from Monet+.
In a world where generating a genuinely looking fake ID of any country takes just a few minutes, banks and other financial institutions (and any service provider who needs to verify their customers’ identity), need to implement secure solutions that will help prevent these types of fraud. ASAP.
With federated ID solutions, you secure your business against malintentions without degrading the customer experience – customers can still do anything from anywhere, exactly as they want to. “You can’t turn your back on digital for the sake of security. Even if your country’s not in the EU and the unified EU Digital Wallet doesn’t concern you yet. The demand of customers to do everything online is here to stay, and if you don’t provide this option, your competition will,” – is the final message from Monet+’s Milan Hrdlička.
About MONET+
Since 1996, Monet+ has been developing technologies that create a trusted digital world. Besides Digital ID, Monet+ deliverі solutions for electronic payments, enterprise ID, smart cities, and eGovernment. The team of digital experts has 25+ years of experience under their belt. With making robust, highly secure, and ready-to-use solutions.
Monet+ is the Czech market leader in digital identity and electronic payment transactions. The team is focusing on developing software solutions used by banks, technology providers, corporations, governments, and public sector institutions. For many years Monet+ has been a main partner in the delivery of uncompromising security and usability.
