Sumsub’s data shows an alarming increase in the number of deepfakes worldwide, with dramatic growth year-on-year and from Q1 2023 to Q1 2024.

London – May 30, 2024 – With half the world’s population heading to the polls this year, Sumsub, a global full-cycle identity verification and deepfake solution provider, detected upwards of a 245% YoY increase in deepfakes worldwide.

• Countries with the most deepfakes detected in Q1 2024 are China, Spain, Germany, Ukraine, the US, Vietnam, and the UK.

• While deepfake fraud rates in the UK decreased by 10% in Q1 2024 compared to the same period the previous year, the number of deepfakes detected in the UK increased by 45% from Q4 2023 to Q1 2023.

• In Europe, the top 7 countries with the highest absolute amount of deepfakes are: Spain, Germany, Ukraine, the UK, Italy, Poland and France.

• The highest YoY increase in deepfakes is: Bulgaria (3000%), Portugal (1700%), Belgium (800%), Spain (191%), Germany (142%), and France (97%).

• In the UK, the top 3 sectors with the highest fraud rates among all verifications are: Consulting (4.46%), Gaming (4.17%), and EdTech (2.3%) as of Q1 2024.

This data comes from analysis of identities submitted to Sumsub’s ID verification platform. Key global highlights from Sumsub’s Q1 2024 verification and identity fraud data* show that:

• There’s noticeable growth of deepfake incidents YoY in countries where elections are planned for 2024: India (280%), the US (303%), South Africa (500%), Mexico (500%), Moldova (900%), and Indonesia (1550%).

• Even in countries with no elections in 2024, deepfake scams are advancing at unprecedented rates YoY: this includes China (2800%), South Korea (1625%), Turkey (1533%), Singapore (1100%), Hong Kong (1000%), Brazil (822%), Vietnam (541%), Ukraine (394%)** and Japan (243%).
  
  

“Sumsub performs millions of identity checks annually across all markets and many industries, so we believe these trends are not unique to business and finance; they are symptomatic of what’s happening in the wider digital world.

“They represent the increasing access to deepfake technologies as well as peoples’ willingness to use them. In such an important year for democracy as half the globe goes to vote, this is incredibly concerning,” said Vyacheslav Zholudev, Co-founder and CTO of Sumsub.

The growth of deepfake incidents can be seen across different industries. Last quarter, the sectors with the most deepfakes were crypto, fintech and iGaming. If we look closer at the year-over-year (YoY) comparison, the quantity of deepfake cases soared 1520% in iGaming, 900% in marketplaces, 533% in fintech, 217% in crypto, 138% in consulting, and 68% in online media.

 “The number and quality of deepfakes is increasing and evolving daily worldwide. Even with the most progressive technology, it’s getting much harder to differentiate between a deepfake and reality. The only way forward is to fight AI with AI", said Pavel Goldman-Kalaydin, Head of AI/ML at Sumsub.

“For businesses, the ultimate tool that keeps them protected is a multi-layered anti-fraud solution with different checks at various user journey stages. But content platforms and common users remain vulnerable to deepfakes, especially in light of 2024 elections. Media platforms must stay vigilant - remaining aware and updating defences to detect deepfakes and prevent AI-generated fraud. They need to make sure they are not inadvertently contributing to the spread of misinformation”, Goldman-Kayalydin added.