Africa’s fast-growing digital economy has made the continent a major target for identity fraud, according to the Identity Fraud Report 2025–2026 released by Sumsub, a global digital identity verification company.
Sumsub said the rise of mobile money, fintech platforms and e-government services has expanded financial inclusion but also created new opportunities for fraudsters. While basic scams are declining due to stronger verification controls, attackers are turning to advanced methods, including deepfake-enabled liveness bypasses, synthetic identity networks and coordinated post-KYC abuse.
Pavel Goldman-Kalaydin, head of artificial intelligence and machine learning at Sumsub, said AI is reshaping both attacks and defenses. Criminals now use deepfakes, synthetic documents and autonomous fraud agents, while security teams rely on behavior modeling, real-time anomaly detection and adaptive systems.
“The next frontier is verification of AI agents themselves — confirming not just who you are, but who acts on your behalf,” Goldman-Kalaydin said.
The report predicts a defining shift in global fraud trends in 2026. Attacks are expected to become more automated, complex and damaging, even if the overall number of incidents declines. Fraudsters are expected to adopt advanced AI, including autonomous systems capable of testing defenses, creating synthetic identities and imitating real user behavior at scale.
“Identity verification is entering a new phase — one where automation, AI and data fusion converge,” said Sumsub Chief Technology Officer Vyacheslav Zholudev. He added that the biggest breakthroughs ahead “won’t come from better document scanning, but from AI agents verifying other AI agents.”
