Social media profiling

Fraud teams use profiling to verify that an identity has a real online presence. Cross-checking employment claims, friends lists, or account creation dates can expose fake or synthetic identities. Sudden changes or mismatched data points may indicate fraud.

Criminals harvest publicly available data to craft spear-phishing campaigns, fake profiles, or social engineering attacks. They may also use hijacked profiles to create credibility for scams or impersonation attempts.

Privacy concerns, fake data, and constantly shifting platforms make accurate profiling difficult. Laws like GDPR restrict how companies can use social media data, and biases can arise from interpreting incomplete or culturally different profiles. Additionally, sophisticated fraudsters often maintain highly convincing digital personas.