It’s likely your auto finance applicants and current customers are wary about fraud.

The 2023 U.S. Identity and Fraud Report from Experian showed more than half of consumers feel they’re more of a target for fraud than a year ago.

The report found that consumers and businesses alike are keeping fraud and security top of mind amid uncertain economic conditions with nearly two-thirds of people surveyed reporting they’re very or somewhat concerned with online security.

Experian indicated consumers’ top concerns include identity theft (64%), stolen credit card information (61%) and online privacy (60%).

In addition, Experian highlighted just over half of businesses report a high level of concern about fraud risk with leading areas including transaction fraud, cybercrime and identity theft.

Nearly 70% of businesses report that fraud losses have increased in recent years and authorized push payment fraud is the leading fraud event type experienced by 40% of businesses, according to Experian.

Elsewhere in the report, Experian indicated that consumer expectations continue to rise with 85% of people expecting businesses to respond to fraud concerns.

The report noted that most businesses say they’ll increase their fraud budgets by 8% to 19%, but they’ll also need to align with consumer expectations.

For example, Experian pointed out that 85% of people said physical biometrics are the most trusted authentication method, yet only a third of businesses use it.

The report found though that some businesses are listening to consumers with 32% of them saying they’ll be investing in physical biometrics solutions.

Experian said businesses also need to ensure they’re delivering seamless online customer experiences.

In fact, 51% of consumers considered abandoning a new account opening because of a negative experience, and 37% said a bad experience caused them to take their business elsewhere, according to the Experian information.

To help address fraud in 2023, Experian said nearly 60% of businesses are already emphasizing or are looking to build machine learning capabilities into their fraud identification and prevention strategies.

Experts explained machine learning can help businesses analyze large numbers of transactions and data sets so that fraud risks can be identified.

For those businesses currently using machine learning models, Experian discovered 90% reported a high level of confidence in their effectiveness at fraud detection and prevention, and 87% reported high levels of confidence at customer authentication.

Experts said these trends show that incorporating this innovative technology into fraud prevention strategies will be table stakes for businesses to keep up with growing fraud risks and consumer expectations.

“As fraudsters become more sophisticated and opportunistic, businesses need to proactively integrate the latest technology, data and advanced analytics to mitigate the growing fraud risk,” said Kathleen Peters, chief innovation officer for Experian’s Decision Analytics business in North America.

“With the right identity and fraud prevention solutions in place, businesses can take a multilayered approach to verify identities, properly treat fraud and provide a frictionless customer experience that builds trust,” Peters added.

Last year, Experian estimated that its fraud prevention solutions helped clients save at least $12 billion in fraud losses globally.

For more details from the Experian’s 2023 U.S. Identity and Fraud Report, go to this website.