Nineteen per cent of adults have admitted they would consider providing incorrect details to get a preferential rate on a financial product finds TransUnion, the global information and insights company.
These new findings come as TransUnion reveals that firms are still facing a battle against first-party fraud as 43 per cent of respondents didn’t feel their income was keeping up with inflation. Younger age demographics, including Gen Z and Millennial consumers, admitted they were more likely to falsify information. Forty-four per cent of 18–24-year-olds indicate that they would consider giving incorrect personal details. Meanwhile, 38 per cent of 25-34-year-olds say the same.
While seven per cent of adults remain unsure if they would provide false information, 74 per cent said they would be unlikely to give false information.
Chad Reimers, general manager of fraud and identity at TransUnion
Chad Reimers, general manager of fraud and identity at TransUnion in the UK says: “First-party fraud is a perennial issue for organisations and that’s why it is essential to have effective data and technology solutions in place to facilitate trust between consumers and providers.
“TruValidate from TransUnion delivers an accurate and comprehensive view of each consumer by linking proprietary data, personal data, digital attributes and device identifiers, meaning you can protect your business by identifying anomalies and misrepresentation while still offering a personalised, friction-right experience for customers to help achieve safe, smart top-line growth.”
Alternatives to first-party fraud
Consumers may lack awareness of alternative, legal ways to get better deals. This can include taking more time to shop around, accessing pre-approved deals for financial products, or crucially, checking your credit score and taking simple steps to improve it.
In fact, 86 per cent of people who used a credit monitoring service in the past say that it ended up helping them with their finances in at least one way.
This includes identifying actions which can eliminate the need to consider giving false information. They are:
improve credit scores (31 per cent)
check for fraudulent credit applications using their ID (27 per cent)
identifying opportunities to refinance their current loans or obtain a lower rate on a credit card (19 per cent)
What information is false
In terms of what types of false information are seen as most acceptable by consumers to give to financial providers, one in six (16 per cent) say they have no problem with opening an account with a different email address to access a preferential rate or offer for new customers.
Meanwhile, 11 per cent don’t see an issue with putting yourself as a named driver on a vehicle for someone else, even though you don’t drive it. A similar proportion (nine per cent) think the same about receiving money from a third party into your bank account and forwarding on to someone else in exchange for commission. Just seven per cent say they think it is acceptable to exaggerate or downplay your income in an application.
However, it is important for consumers to remember that even changing a small detail or two can technically count as committing fraud, which comes with big legal and financial risks to the individual but also drives up the costs of doing business to organisations, leading to increased prices of goods and services.
The post Combatting First-Party Fraud: TransUnion Reveals Younger Generations are Committing More Fraud appeared first on The Fintech Times.
