Financial firms, especially those that service loans in the automotive industry, are facing increasing fraud based on synthetic identities, researchers are warning. More broadly though, synthetic identities are a growing threat for every industry sector. The estimate impact of synthetic identity fraud on lenders has grown since the pandemic to $3.3 billion. Cybercriminals Turn to the Long ConFraudsters are also gaining experience in how to extract the most value from the synthetic identities. While it' a an arms race, synthetic identities are usually flawed reflections of reality.