Veriff Report: Impersonation fraud is a persistent threat to the success of mobility and gig economy platforms
Robust identity verification for both drivers and passengers is the key to ensuring a safe, secure, and compliant business framework.
New York, Nov. 06, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- While most rideshare trips are generally safe, the sheer scale of these platforms, facilitating millions of rides per day, still translates to a sizable and concerning number of safety complaints. In fact, according to one estimate, a ridesharing safety incident occurs once every eight minutes in the U.S. alone.
Given that drivers are responsible for the majority of incidents, ridesharing platforms must be able to verify the identity of these individuals with absolute certainty. However, the need for identity verification is increasingly being applied to passengers and customers as well, as account takeovers and fraudulent ride requests surge in line with the growing popularity of these platforms.
And yet, impersonation fraud remains a dogged challenge, constituting 90 percent of fraud in these specific categories, compared to 82 percent across industries broadly. This is a key finding from Veriff’s Future of Mobility and Gig Economy 2025 Report, released today, which shines a spotlight on mobility (ridesharing, car rental, and shared mobility) and gig economy (food and grocery delivery) platforms.
“The mobility and gig economy sectors offer great flexibility and convenience for the businesses themselves, and traditionally, they’ve been able to operate without the same stringent verification demands of other forms of employment. But this will surely need to change,” says Ira Bondar-Mucci, Fraud Platform Lead at Veriff.
“This business paradigm should be a win-win for all parties - not just drivers, but passengers and customers as well, who now have a much greater range of options to meet their transportation, grocery, and food delivery needs. But with this convenience and flexibility come several new challenges that make identity verification essential to the success of these business models.”
Beyond the foremost issue of safety, mobility, and gig economy platforms face the obstacles of preventing bonus/offer abuse (when a single driver creates multiple fraudulent accounts to exploit sign-on incentives) and money laundering (drivers aiding in and profiting from money laundering through ridesharing apps). In countries like the UK, legal non-compliance is also a concern as mobility and gig economy platforms are now required by law to verify drivers’ identities to ensure work eligibility.
Other key findings from the report include:
- Most fraud professionals and decision-makers (72 percent) across industries (including the mobility and gig economy sectors) report they have seen an increase in online fraud in the past 12 months, with a similar proportion (75.5 percent) saying fraud has hurt their revenue.
- In 2024, no fewer than 1 in 20 verification attempts recorded across industries (including the mobility and gig economy sectors ) were fraudulent. The ‘fraud tax’ these organizations are paying is unsustainable and needs to be addressed quickly, as it is only going to get worse.
- AI plays a particularly crucial role, helping mobility and gig economy platforms defend against fraud and identity theft. Almost two-thirds (64 percent) of U.S.-based fraud professionals and decision makers across industries (including mobility and gig economy) say they are already using AI/machine learning in fraud prevention.
- 73.6 percent of consumers across industries (including mobility and gig economy) report being comfortable with facial recognition technology, a significant rise from 2024, when the figure was 60.5 percent. Additionally, more than 75 percent indicate they would be comfortable using an ID document and a selfie to confirm their identity online (also a sizable increase over 2024 levels), with over half ranking their comfort at the highest levels.
To access the full report, visit here.
About Veriff
Veriff is a global identity verification platform helping businesses build trust online. Our AI-native technology combines automation and human expertise to quickly and accurately verify users worldwide with minimal friction. Trusted by leading companies like Blockchain, Bolt, Deel, Monzo, Starship, Trustpilot, and Webull across finance, marketplaces, mobility, gaming, and other industries. Our trust infrastructure helps businesses stay compliant, prevent fraud, protect users, and scale globally, enabling a safer, more transparent internet for everyone.
Veriff press@veriff.com
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