Auto-loan fraud losses have outpaced fraud rates, new analysis finds

What TransUnion's analysis found

TransUnion's analysis compares auto-financing fraud losses in the third quarter of 2018 with the third quarter of 2025. First-party fraud, where an applicant misrepresents their own identity or finances, rose from $88 million to $323 million, a 267% increase. Third-party fraud, where someone uses another person's identity without consent, rose from $18 million to $47 million, up 161%. Synthetic-identity fraud, which combines real and fabricated identity information, rose from $93 million to $208 million, up 124%.

These are attributed industry figures based on TransUnion's own account and consumer data, not a government count of prosecuted fraud cases.

Why losses are rising even as fraud rates fall

TransUnion reports that third-party fraud incident rates in the third quarter of 2025 were less than half the third-quarter-2018 level, yet total losses were 2.6 times higher. The firm attributes the gap to fraudsters becoming more targeted and efficient, concentrating effort on fewer applications that yield larger loan amounts rather than spreading attempts across many small ones.

Credit washing is an emerging risk

TransUnion's analysis identifies 'credit washing' as a growing concern: roughly 5% of U.S. consumers have suppressed charged-off accounts from their credit files through atypical dispute activity, representing an estimated $10 billion in erased debt. Consumers who show this pattern have charge-off rates several times higher than typical borrowers across every credit-risk tier, which TransUnion says can understate real repayment risk to a lender reviewing an application.

How buyers, sellers, and shoppers can protect themselves

• Verify a vehicle's title and lien status directly with the state title agency before paying, rather than relying only on paperwork a seller provides.
• Use traceable payment methods for a private-party sale or deposit, and avoid wiring money or paying with gift cards at a stranger's request.
• Applicants should expect a lender to verify income, employment, and identity independently; being asked to skip that step is a red flag.
• Dispute inaccurate credit-report information only through the official process with the credit bureau or the CFPB, not a paid 'credit repair' service that promises to erase accurate charge-offs.