Buying a car today is likely a different experience from purchasing it many years ago due to current trends in the auto industry. Nowadays, up to 7% of car buyers purchase a vehicle entirely online, and 43% use the internet to complete at least some of the steps of car buying online. Even the means of financing has changed. Using a credit union, monoline, or any other type of financing has fallen as of November 2024. Conversely, financing directly with a dealer has skyrocketed in popularity, growing by 19.2%.

Unfortunately, not all financing agreements are upheld to the letter. Auto loan delinquencies, which are defined as auto loans with payments past due for over 60 days, account for 1.5% of all auto loans and leases. This rings especially true with synthetic identities (Syn IDs). Fraud committed using Syn IDs rose by 98% in 2023 alone. Loans and leases with a Syn ID have a delinquency rate that is 3 to 5 times higher than the average. This equates to a whopping $7.9 billion in losses.

Fortunately, companies like Equifax make it easy to know who you’re doing business with. They offer Know Your Customer (KYC) technology. With this technology, you can get insights on the customer during the car shopping process. Ultimately, to protect yourself as best you can against fraud, fraud prevention software like Equifax is the perfect thing to get the job done right.