Losses to automotive loan fraud reached to about $8 billion last year, according to a new study, as restrained affordability came to bear.

The Point Predictive report estimated the industry sustained $7.9 million in fraud losses last year.

It said the majority, or nearly 75% of the fraud, came in income and employment misrepresentation, synthetic identity and credit washing, all of which it said are usually tied to direct borrower fraud as opposed to criminals using stolen identities, though the latter represented 14% of auto loan fraud.

Total auto loan fraud actually fell last year, though that resulted from a decline in origination volume, according to the report. The rate of applications with evidence of fraud rose 6%.

Synthetic identity fraud attempts increased 98%, credit washing 30%, bust-out reports 27%, according to the report.

An emerging threat in automotive lending that has impacted online merchants for years is fraud-as-a-service, or “white-glove” services that offer on social media platforms to commit the crime for the borrower, Point Predictive says.

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