‘Nigeria Records 18% National Identity Attacks’

Nigeria’s National Identity document had an 18 per cent attempted fraud rate in 2023, ranking 9th in Africa, a report has revealed.

The latest report by Africa’s identity verification startup, Smile ID, showed that, in 2023, South Africa’s National ID had the highest rate of fraud attempts at 34 per cent, ranking  number one.

This is followed by Tanzania’s National ID, emerging as the second most attacked with a 32 per cent attempted fraud rate; Kenya’s National ID ranked third at 26 per cent, while Nigeria recorded an 18 per cent attempted fraud rate to rank as number nine.

Speaking on the findings of the report, Smile ID, explained that, in the last two years, an overwhelming number of fraud attacks were directed at National ID cards, which accounted for 80 per cent of all document fraud attacks. 11 out of the top 19 most attacked document types were also National IDs.

“This preference for National ID cards among fraudsters results from two factors. In most countries, the national ID is the most common form of Government identification and is mandatory for most adults. With more national ID documents in circulation than ever before, the chances of them getting lost or stolen get increasingly higher by the year, exposing holders to potential document fraud.

“Many African countries have either recently implemented new national IDs or plan to in the coming years. Logistical issues around properly discarding the older IDs can lead to them falling into the wrong hands. An excellent example is South Africa, where the older Green ID card saw significant fraud targeting,” he stated.

Meanwhile, ID noted that, ID documents without biometric information are most vulnerable to stolen ID attacks, adding that, where available, Biometric verification solutions provide an extra layer of protection against stolen ID fraud.