Synthetic identity fraud

Synthetic identity fraud consists of building an identity that does not exist, by combining real elements, often taken from data breaches, with invented ones. It differs from identity theft on one decisive point: there is no victim to dispute anything. Nobody reports a transaction they did not make, since the person does not exist. The profile can therefore be maintained for a long time, by properly repaying small commitments, before being exploited all at once. Controls that check the internal consistency of an application let it through: that application is consistent. Detecting it relies on cross-referencing sources and on history.