RESTON, Va.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–#UAE—Fresh survey data from Regula, a global developer of identity verification (IDV) solutions, shows that identity fraud in the UAE has entered a new phase. Impersonation attacks—from simple spoofing to advanced biometric hacks and deepfakes—now affect more organizations than traditional threats like forged documents or synthetic identities.
The UAE’s New Fraud Reality
Traditional fraud methods remain, but are weaker:
- Document fraud (reported by 28% of UAE organizations): counterfeit and altered IDs still bypass onboarding checks, though less frequently than impersonation-based attacks.
- Synthetic identity fraud (27%): blending real and fabricated information remains a tactic for large-scale account creation, but with lower prevalence than in other regions.
- Social engineering (30%): human manipulation remains steady, often paired with forged or synthetic documents to bypass controls.
Impersonation attacks have taken the lead:
- Identity spoofing (36%): the most widespread fraud type in the UAE, where criminals use photos, replays, and screen images to impersonate legitimate users.
- Biometric fraud (34%): fake or stolen biometrics, including face morphing and masks, are actively used to outsmart verification systems.
- Deepfakes (35%): AI-generated video and audio are already mainstream, tricking remote onboarding processes and KYC checks.
“The key shift is that fraudsters are no longer breaking in through the back door—they’re walking straight through the front,” says Ihar Kliashchou, Chief Technology Officer at Regula. “The verification step itself has become the primary target. Criminals create fake but ‘clean’ identities that look legitimate from day one, making downstream fraud detection nearly powerless. Onboarding is now the battleground.”
The Defense Imperative
The UAE’s rapid digital adoption and heavy reliance on remote onboarding and biometric checks have reshaped its fraud landscape. While forged documents and synthetic identities still matter, the bigger risk comes from criminals exploiting digital channels with impersonation tools that are cheap, scalable, and hard to detect.
To protect customers and comply with regulatory expectations, UAE’s businesses need layered defenses that combine flexible identity workflow orchestration with the ability to adapt to business needs and evolving threats. By uniting multi-layered verification with a liveness-first strategy, businesses can build strong, lasting protection against increasingly sophisticated fraud.
Coming soon: Full report
The complete survey analysis will appear later this month in Identity Verification 2025: 5 Threats and 5 Opportunities. The report, based on a survey conducted among businesses in various industries across the US, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East, offers a comprehensive look at how identity fraud tactics are evolving and what enterprises are doing to protect digital trust.
In the meantime, explore our expert articles here:
- What are deepfakes?
- What vulnerabilities in IDV systems do deepfakes target, and how can you prevent such attacks effectively?
- What can presentation attacks look like?
- What is liveness detection, and why do you need it in your IDV workflow?
- What is risk-based authentication, and how does it help detect presentation attacks?
About Regula
Regula is a global developer of forensic devices and identity verification solutions. With our 30+ years of experience in forensic research and the most comprehensive library of document templates in the world, we create breakthrough technologies for document and biometric verification. Our hardware and software solutions allow over 1,000 organizations and 80 border control authorities globally to provide top-notch client service without compromising safety, security, or speed. Regula has been repeatedly named a Representative Vendor in the Gartner® Market Guide for Identity Verification.
Learn more at www.regulaforensics.com.
Contacts
Kristina – [email protected]
