Identity Theft: How Fraudsters Will Operate in 2026

Identity theft is nothing new. Ever since people have relied on documents to prove who they are, others have tried to misuse them. What used to be a manual, almost artisanal fraud, altered documents, forged signatures, has now taken on an entirely different scale.

At the beginning of 2026, identity theft looks radically different. Driven by the widespread use of digital services, generative AI, and fully remote customer journeys, it has become more frequent, more sophisticated, and above all, more industrialized. What was once opportunistic fraud has evolved into structured, organized, and sometimes nearly industrial-scale operations.

Identity Theft in 2025: A Fully Industrialized Phenomenon

For many years, identity theft relied on isolated opportunities: a lost wallet, a weak password, or a poorly verified email. Today, attacks are part of structured chains that resemble true “value chains” of fraud.

Several factors define this industrialization:

• The shift from isolated attacks to organized networks capable of targeting thousands of victims simultaneously.
• The use of automated tools to test credentials, fill out forms, open accounts, or simulate human behavior.
• The emergence of “Fraud-as-a-Service” platforms offering ready-to-use kits: phishing templates, attack scripts, and databases of stolen accounts.

Fraudsters closely follow digital usage trends. Their operations rely on raw material: personal data. And this data is everywhere. Their preferred hunting grounds include:

• Social media, a goldmine of personal information (birth dates, career paths, contacts, habits) useful for building credible profiles or preparing targeted attacks.
• E-commerce and online service platforms, where customer accounts contain identity data, addresses, and payment information.
• Public online services, where impersonation can be used to divert benefits, reimbursements, or rights.
• Messaging channels (email, SMS, instant messaging), which remain primary vectors for phishing, smishing, and vishing attacks.

Data breaches play a crucial role in this ecosystem. Compromised customer databases, hacked HR systems, and stolen accounts continuously feed the fraudsters’ resources. By combining multiple data leaks, criminals can reconstruct highly detailed identities—or even create synthetic identities that appear more credible than real ones.

The Main Identity Theft Techniques

Fraud methods have evolved specifically to bypass traditional security measures.

Psychological Manipulation: Phishing, Smishing, and Vishing

The weakest link is often human behavior. Through SMS (smishing) or phone calls (vishing), attackers create a sense of urgency or fear to trick victims into sharing credentials or approving fraudulent actions.

By 2026, these messages are nearly indistinguishable from legitimate communications: no spelling errors, perfectly personalized, and often generated using AI.

Theft and Reuse of Identity Documents

Stealing identity documents—whether physical or digital—remains a classic technique. ID cards, passports, or driver’s licenses are scanned, altered, and reused to register on platforms or trigger administrative processes. Fraudsters may:

• Reuse genuine documents while modifying photos or certain fields.
• Combine elements from different sources to create falsified documents that are difficult to detect without advanced automated checks.

These documents are then used in remote onboarding processes, particularly where controls remain superficial or rely on simple visual inspection.

De la présentation à l’injection : l’ère du deepfake From Presentation to Injection: The Deepfake Era

This is where the threat becomes highly technical. During online identity verification, several types of attacks now coexist:

• Presentation attacks, using photos, videos, or masks in front of a camera.
• Injection attacks, where a manipulated video stream is fed directly into the system using virtual cameras or emulators.
• Deepfakes, capable of generating animated faces that match expected movements.

These techniques specifically target biometric verification systems and remote onboarding workflows.

How Organizations Can Prepare Today

With identity theft now systemic, the question is no longer if an organization will be targeted, but when and how. The response requires a combination of technology, governance, and awareness.

Relying on Certified Technologies

The first step is to ensure that onboarding, identity verification, and authentication solutions rely on technologies that have been independently evaluated and certified. This includes solutions that:

• Are certified against recognized standards (ISO, CEN),
• Detect presentation attacks (PAD),
• Detect injection attacks and deepfakes (IAD),
• Operate effectively in both web and mobile environments,
• Are audited by independent bodies.

Structuring Fraud Prevention at the Organizational Level

Technology alone is not enough. Organizations need clear governance:

• Identify the most critical user journeys (account opening, data changes, high-value contract signing).
• Define control policies aligned with risk levels (alert thresholds, manual reviews, journey segmentation).
• Involve compliance, legal, security, and business teams in defining rules.

Raising Awareness and Evolving Practices

Even the best technology can be bypassed if teams and users are not aware of fraud signals. Organizations should:

• Train employees to recognize subtle fraud indicators (unusual behavior, inconsistencies, suspicious requests).
• Educate customers and users on best practices, such as never sharing sensitive codes or documents.

Conclusion : 

In 2026, identity theft is no longer a secondary risk, it’s a strategic challenge directly impacting trust, compliance, and operational performance. Fraudsters have scaled up. Organizations must do the same. Those who take the issue seriously today, by combining certified technologies, robust processes, and a culture of vigilance, will be far better prepared to face a type of fraud that has fully entered the industrial age.

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