Every move in fraud prevention inspires a countermove by fraudsters, experts in auto finance security say.
On the plus side, the growth of synthetic identity fraud in auto lending has leveled off in 2019 after years of steep increases, according to TransUnion, of Chicago, a leading credit bureau. Factors include better technology available to auto lenders, the use of artificial intelligence, and data-sharing among lenders, experts say.
As a result, lenders and their high-tech vendors are learning to assess an application as soon as it's received, so as to assign a likelihood that the application could include identity theft or other types of fraud.
"When a lender makes a call to us, we respond in less than one-tenth of a second. We run our analysis instantly," said Frank McKenna, chief strategist for PointPredictive, of San Diego.