Fake and expired IDs keep showing up in routine customer transactions, from alcohol purchases to credit card applications. The problem shows up most often in industries that depend on fast onboarding and remote transactions, where identity checks rely heavily on scanned documents and automated workflows.
Intellicheck analyzed nearly 100 million identity verification transactions collected through its cloud-based verification service during 2025. The company said the dataset covers about half of the adult population in the U.S. and Canada.
Across all transactions, 97.85% of IDs passed verification on average. That number hides major differences by industry and use case, with some sectors showing much higher failure rates.
The report separates failures into two main categories, expired IDs and failed IDs. Expired IDs can indicate operational issues, stolen credentials, or poor…
Verify the physical address and contact details of online stores before making a purchase, especially if the prices are significantly lower than established South African retailers.