Trust on the Move: Fraud Prevention and Verification in the Mobility Industry (2025)

Imagine, Maria, a rideshare driver in Rome, discovered that her identity had been used to operate a fake driver account in another country. A fraudster had cloned her profile using publicly available information and a falsified ID. Several rides were completed using her credentials, leading to the suspension of her account. She lost income and trust in the platform while the fraud was under investigation.

Now, imagine another situation: an e-scooter provider in London noticed a surge in free ride redemptions linked to fake accounts created with referral codes. A single fraudster had generated hundreds of accounts using virtual phone numbers and prepaid cards, costing the company over £30,000 ($40,500) in lost revenue. Some scooters were also taken off-grid for personal use. This incident revealed holes in the business’s verification and fraud prevention systems.

The global shared mobility and Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS) markets are booming. The shared mobility market expanded from $198.23 billion in 2024 to $217.80 billion in 2025, reflecting a strong compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 10.24%. It’s projected to reach $356 billion by 2030 as cities increasingly shift away from private vehicle ownership toward flexible, multi-modal, digitally integrated transport options.

Unfortunately, fraud is growing just as fast—if not faster. It has slipped into the transportation sector, causing chaos for users and significant financial and reputational losses for businesses. According to Sumsub’s most recent Identity Fraud Report, the transportation industry saw a 98% increase in fraud rates in 2024 compared to 2023.

Let’s explore what online fraud in ride-sharing and mobility services looks like, its types, and how it can be prevented.

What is online fraud in transportation and mobility services?

Online fraud in mobility services involves scams or fake activities that target ride-hailing apps, car rentals, e-scooters, and other transport services. Fraudsters use tricks like fake accounts, stolen identities, or payment fraud to cheat companies and users. 

As mobility platforms grow, so do the risks. It’s therefore important for both businesses and end users to stay one step ahead of online threats.

Common types of fraud in the mobility industry

Identity fraud fueled by deepfakes

Yes, the deepfake threat has reached the mobility sector as well. Fraudsters often impersonate others using stolen or made-up identity documents to gain access to vehicles or mobility services. The use of deepfake technology—digitally manipulating videos or IDs to appear as someone else—has made such frauds harder to detect.

Synthetic fraud

Synthetic fraud—where criminals combine real and fake personal data or use deepfakes to create entirely new identities—is on the rise in the mobility sector. Auto lending is the hardest hit, with a 98% increase in fraud attempts and $7.9 billion in losses in 2023 alone. According to Point Predictive’s analysis of 180 million loan applications, synthetic identities, income and employment misrepresentation, and credit washing now account for nearly 75% of the risks auto lenders face.

Document fraud

In 2024, fake documents accounted for 50% of all identity fraud cases, making them the most common type according to Sumsub’s Identity Fraud Report. This type of fraud is commonly used to bypass age restrictions for vehicle rentals, such as underage individuals renting cars or e-scooters using altered IDs.

Account takeover

Account takeover fraud, where fraudsters gain control of legitimate user accounts, jumped by 12% in 2024 compared to 2023. This often affects ride-hailing, car-sharing, and micromobility services. Fraudsters may use these accounts to make fake bookings, spoof GPS locations, or repeatedly exploit company promotions.

Payment fraud

Scammers can use stolen credit cards or fake payment methods to ride for free, commit chargebacks, or launder money through microtransactions.

Suggested read: How to Detect Money Laundering in Vehicle Sales

Account sharing fraud

Account sharing fraud occurs when multiple individuals use a single account—often in violation of terms of service—to bypass identity checks, access restrictions, or payment limits. This type of fraud exploits onboarding vulnerabilities after initial identity verification, allowing fraudsters to repeatedly misuse mobility services, sometimes by selling compromised accounts to others. According to Sumsub’s findings, 70% of fraud incidents happen after user verification checks—which reminds that continuous monitoring is essential to preventing such abuse.

Technical fraud

Technical fraud includes using device or network manipulation, such as camera emulation software, to bypass verification processes.

Car rental and sale fraud

Car rental companies are frequent targets, with fraudsters using stolen identities and credit card data to rent vehicles, which are then driven long distances, sold abroad, or stripped for parts. These schemes can result in significant financial losses due to chargebacks and stolen assets.

In the used car market, scams include fake car listings where buyers are tricked into paying deposits or full amounts for vehicles that do not exist. The UK saw 3.5 million cases of fraud in 2024, with £11.4 billion ($15.4 bn) stolen from consumers, according to research by the Global Anti-Scam Alliance—a significant portion involving fake car sales or parts.

Corporate and procurement fraud

On the organizational side, cases have been documented where individuals forge documents, create false identities, or manipulate procurement processes to gain unauthorized benefits or contracts within mobility organizations, such as those outlined in the EIT Urban Mobility Anti-Fraud Strategy.

Referral & promo abuse

Scammers can create fake accounts or use bots to exploit referral systems, gaining ride credits or cash rewards.

Fake damage claims

Users might intentionally damage a scooter and then submit fraudulent claims to extract money or avoid responsibility.

Fake car sales websites

According to recent research by the Global Anti-Scam Alliance and reported by What Car?, fake car sales websites are a significant and growing problem in 2025. Criminals create fraudulent online dealerships that don’t exist, advertising cars at prices often half of the market value to lure buyers into paying deposits or full payments upfront. Once the payment is made, the criminals disappear without delivering the vehicle. For example, one fake dealership in Scotland was found to have 79 vehicles listed, targeting buyers far away who were unlikely to inspect the cars in person. The average loss per vehicle-related scam is reported to be around £998 ($1,350), with millions of pounds lost annually in the UK alone. 

How to choose the best identity verification and fraud prevention provider for transportation platforms

Fraud in the mobility sector is painful both for users and business owners. For drivers—it’s a loss of income and trust. For businesses—it’s lost revenue and reputational damage.

To protect mobility platforms from fraud and related damages, a complete solution with multi-layered protection is a must. That would include:

AI-powered document verification
Scan and verify thousands of document types from around the world, instantly.

Passive and active Liveness Detection & face match
Make sure the person presenting the document is alive and present: not a bot, a deepfake video, or a stolen image. Liveness detection can be used anytime during the customer lifecycle to ensure the person interacting is a real, live user—helping prevent fraud, confirm identity during high-risk moments, and support ongoing compliance.

Non-documentary verification

Onboard drivers by ID number only in the jurisdictions where it’s allowed.

Ongoing monitoring
Detect repeated fraud patterns, duplicate accounts, and re-registrations.

Fraud scoring, risk signals, and behavioral analytics
Use behavioral and contextual signals to assess risk.

Suggested read: What Is Fraud Scoring? A Guide for Businesses (2025)

How verification powers mobility segments

Segment	Verification use case
Carsharing	Driver’s license validation, fake profiles blocking, account takeover prevention
Scooter/Bike rentals	Age verification, liveness detection to avoid shared or stolen accounts
Taxi / Ride-hailing	Background checks, document scanning, real-time face verification
Car rentals / Leasing	ID and license verification, fraud detection tools, Qualified Electronic Signature (QES) for contract signing, source of funds verification when applicable
All mobility segments	Proof of address (PoA) to confirm user legitimacy, questionnaires for user/driver risk assessment, email/phone/IP verification as an added security layer

How Sumsub can help

Sumsub enables fast onboarding of drivers from any country—whether they drive taxis, rent scooters or bikes, or lease cars. Our solutions are tailored to your specific business needs, from car-sharing and leasing to ride-hailing.

Key features include seamless online ID verification (plus license validation), AI-powered liveness detection, non-documentary verification (where applicable), age checks, and reliable AI-powered fraud prevention. Moreover, with our flexible Workflow Builder, you can customize the user journey by setting triggers and conditions to ensure each customer follows the most suitable verification path.