The new survey also shows that consumers are still overestimating their ability to identify deepfakes and want the government to do more to regulate AI
SUNNYVALE, Calif. — May 14, 2024 — Jumio, a leading provider of automated, AI-driven authentication, risk assessment, and compliance solutions, today released the "Jumio 2024 Online Identity Research Report," the third installment of its annual global consumer survey. This year's findings show that consumers are highly concerned about the risks associated with generative AI and deepfakes, including the potential for increased cybercrime and identity fraud.
The study surveyed the views of more than 8,000 adult consumers from the UK, US, Singapore and Mexico. The results of the study show that nearly three-quarters of consumers (72%) worry daily about being scammed by deepfakes, revealing sensitive information or being scammed out of money. Only 15% of global consumers (compared to 7% in Singapore) say they have never encountered a deepfake video, audio, or image.
Despite heightened anxiety about this rising and evolving technology, consumers still overestimate their ability to identify deepfakes, with 60% of respondents trusting them to detect deepfakes, up from 52% in 2023. In Singapore, the figure is as high as 77 per cent. Globally, male respondents are more confident in their ability to identify deepfakes (66% of men and 55% of women), with male respondents aged 18-34 showing the strongest confidence (75%) and female respondents aged 35-54 being the least confident (52%).
Stuart Wells, CTO of Jumio, said: "As generative AI technology advances, the frequency of deepfakes continues to rise, suggesting that there is a huge gap in our overall ability to detect these spoofs. This continued overconfidence reflects the need for increased public education and the use of more effective technological solutions. Businesses and consumers must work together to strengthen digital security measures to effectively prevent identity fraud. ”
The vast majority (60%) of consumers are calling for greater government regulation of AI to address these issues. However, the level of trust in government regulation varies across the globe, with 69% of Singaporeans saying they believe in the government's ability to regulate AI, compared to just 26% in the UK, 31% in the US and 44% in Mexico.
The true cost of online fraud
Fraud is a familiar issue for many consumers around the world, with 68% of respondents saying they have suffered or suspect they have been the victim of online fraud or identity theft, or know someone who has been defrauded. U.S. consumers are the most likely to be victims of fraud directly (39%), either knowingly or suspiciously, while Singapore is the country that reports the most known victims (51%).
Nearly half (46%) of consumers who have suffered or suspect to have suffered online fraud or identity theft said the experience was only a minor inconvenience, but 32% said the experience caused serious problems that took hours to resolve, and 14% even called it a painful experience.
Whether or not they are victims of fraud or identity theft, the majority of consumers worry about falling victim to data breaches (79%) and account takeover attacks (77%) on a daily basis.
Balance the security and user experience of authentication
For companies looking to protect themselves and ensure the authenticity of their users, authentication is a critical part of the solution. More than 80% of Singaporean consumers said they would be willing to spend more time on identity verification if these measures improve security in industries such as financial services (85%), sharing economy (85%), healthcare (85%), government affairs (84%), travel and hospitality (84%), retail and e-commerce (83%), social media (82%) and telecommunications (82%).
When creating a new online account, global consumers say taking a photo of their ID and a real-time selfie will be the most accurate means of identity verification (21%), followed by creating a secure password (19%).
Philipp Pointner, Head of Digital Identity at Jumio, said: "As we navigate the complexities that come with generative AI, the role of complex security systems becomes critical. In response to the rise of deepfakes and cyberspoofing, it is imperative to adopt biometric-based multimodal verification systems. These technologies are key to ensuring that businesses can protect their platforms and customers from emerging cyber threats and are far more robust than passwords and other traditional, outdated identification and authentication methods. ”
The survey was conducted by Censuswide and was conducted among 8,077 consumers in the UK, US, Singapore and Mexico. The fieldwork was conducted from March 25 to April 2, 2024. Censuswide adheres to and employs members of the Market Research Society and follows the MRS Code of Conduct based on ESOMAR principles, and they are also members of the UK Poll Council.
About Jumio:
Jumio helps businesses understand and trust their online customers. From account opening to ongoing monitoring, the Jumio platform provides advanced identity verification, risk assessment, and compliance solutions to help organizations build, maintain, and restore trust accurately.
Leveraging powerful technologies such as automation, biometrics, AI/ML, liveness detection, and codeless orchestration, combined with hundreds of data sources, Jumio helps businesses effectively combat fraud and financial crime, ensure real customers can log in quickly, and meet regulatory compliance requirements, including KYC and AML. Jumio has processed more than 1 billion identity verification transactions worldwide, covering more than 200 countries and regions.
Headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, Jumio operates globally with offices and representation in North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia Pacific and the Middle East, and has been recognized with multiple awards for its innovative solutions. Jumio is backed by a number of investment firms, including Centana Growth Partners, Great Hill Partners, and Millennium Technology Value Partners.