A new report from global verification platform, Sumsub, has revealed that traditional scams such as document forgery continue to decline in Africa while synthetic identity fraud powered by AI and digital forgery tools gains ground.
Sumsub, in its Q1 2025 Identity Fraud Report, disclosed that the continent’s overall fraud rate dipped slightly to 3.42%, down from 3.50% in the same period last year. However, this modest drop masks a deeper shift in criminal tactics.
“Africa’s fraud landscape is undergoing a seismic shift. Enhanced verification tools have decimated traditional document forgery, but criminals are adapting with synthetic IDs and AI-powered scams,” said Sumsub’s VP of Sales for Africa, Hannes Bezuidenhout.
Despite the continental decline, Tanzania and Nigeria reported year-on-year increases in overall fraud rates, recording 4.89% and 4.44% respectively.
While traditional forgery is falling out of favour, synthetic identity fraud, which involves the use of AI-generated credentials and fabricated documents, is rapidly growing in certain markets.
According to the report, synthetic document fraud remains below 0.3% in South Africa but grew by a staggering 480% year-on-year.
In Tanzania, the fraud accounts for over 2% of all verification attempts, up 184%, while in Nigeria, there was a 192% increase, now representing 1.5% of verification attempts.
Sumsub noted that this rise is consistent with global trends, although Africa does not stand out from other regions in terms of total synthetic fraud volumes.
“The data proves that fraud prevention is now a race between innovation and adaptation. Businesses must invest in cutting-edge tools that secure their platforms while meeting regulatory standards,” he said.
With fraudsters increasingly leveraging synthetic identities, experts say the focus must shift from detecting fake documents to recognizing fabricated digital personas.