A fraudster who has obtained an identity card, or produced a copy of one, applies for a card in the customer's name through various channels using this document and the other documents requested in the application. Since the fraudster has obtained, by various methods, all the information needed in banks' identity verification processes, they pass the later stages such as creating a PIN and receiving the card without any problem and achieve their fraudulent goal.
Another method is applications made with real identity details in the name of elderly people or people without legal capacity (whose mental faculties are impaired or absent from birth, who are restricted by a court decision, etc.), and incidents that happen this way can cause serious losses for banks.
To avoid such problems, we should not share our identity details, or our physical identity card, with institutions or people we do not trust.
How do banks protect themselves?
During the application, the bank verifies the identity with official sources, compares applications coming from different channels, and matches suspicious address or phone details against blacklists. It is also important for the courier to check the identity card when delivering the card.
Customers should be careful when sharing their identity details and report the loss of an identity card to their banks immediately. For applications that could be made in the name of elderly or vulnerable relatives, informing family members is also important.
Application fraud is monitored together with the risk of account takeover.
