With synthetic identities now linked to a record number of newly opened accounts, U.S. lenders faced more than $3.3 billion in exposure for the year ending 2024. This alarming trend underscores the urgent need for financial institutions such as auto lenders, mortgage lenders and credit unions to harness all available data to detect and prevent synthetic identity fraud at the point of account creation. New research from TransUnion (NYSE: TRU) reveals that key traits and behavioral characteristics found in public data can play a critical role in identifying these deceptive identities before they pose a risk.