The Kenyan National Identification (ID) Card has been listed among the nineteen most attacked documents in Africa.
Kenya’s ID comes in third in the 2024 Digital Identity Fraud in Africa Report after South Africa’s Green Book and Tanzania’s National ID card.
“In the last two years, an overwhelming number of fraud attacks were directed at National ID cards, which accounted for 80% of all document fraud attacks,” read the report in part.
In the report by Smile ID, South Africa tops with 34 percent, followed by Tanzania at 32 percent then Kenya with 26 percent.
Uganda’s ID is ranked fourth with 25 percent, Democratic Republic of Congo’s (DRC) passport is next with 23 percent followed by Ghana’s National Insurance at 20 percent.
“11 out of the top 19 most attacked document types were also National IDs, with the Kenyan ID being the most vulnerable at a 25% fraud rate,” read another part of the report.
Ghana’s and Malawi’s passports tied at 19 percent followed by Nigeria’s National ID at 18 percent while Ghana follows closely with 16 percent.
South Africa’s driving license and Ivory Coast’s national ID are also in the list with 14 percent followed by Cameroon’s national ID at 13 percent.
Other documents in the list include Nigeria’s voter ID (12%), Zambia’s passport (12%), Benin’s national ID, Cameroon’s passport (11%) and Botswana national ID (11%).
Other Documents Attacked
Apart from the ID, there are other documents that experienced a fraud rate of 8 percent as highlighted in the report.
These include passports at 6.8 percent, voter ID at 2.2 percent and driver’s license at 1.3 percent.
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Why Fraudsters Target ID
According to the report, fraudsters prefer ID because it is the most common form of Government identification and is mandatory for adults in most countries.
“With more national ID documents in circulation than ever before, the chances of them getting lost or stolen get increasingly higher by the year, exposing holders to potential document frauds,” the report read in part.
The report revealed that many African countries have either recently implemented new national IDs or plan to in the coming years.
It explained that logistical issues around properly discarding the older IDs can lead to them falling into the wrong hands.
“An excellent example is South Africa, where the older Green ID card saw significant fraud targeting,” read another part of the report.
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East Africa Figures
ID fraud in Eastern Africa reflects the overall trend across the continent, with national ID documents constituting the majority of document fraud attempts.
Of the top 5 most attacked ID documents in the region, four are national IDs.
Besides, the report said the overall fraud rates in Kenya remain stubbornly high due to various reasons like the old ID’s.
“There are several contributing factors, one of which is the continued prevalence of old National ID cards which are constructed of black and white paper images, laminated in plastic,” the report detailed.
The report also stated how the newer Huduma Namba cards in Kenya have faced several challenges to adoption including opposition in the courts and data collection method.
Passport is the second vulnerable document in Kenya with a fraud rate of 10 percent.
