Auto Loan Fraud Losses More Than Triple in Key Categories, New TransUnion Analysis Finds

CHICAGO, July 23, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- TransUnion (NYSE: TRU) today released new research revealing that despite a decline in incidents across many fraud types, fraud losses in auto lending have increased significantly in recent years. The findings point to a fraud environment impacting dealerships and auto lenders where fewer events drive greater financial losses. Today’s fraudsters have evolved to concentrate on higher-value opportunities throughout the lending lifecycle, especially as new and used vehicle prices reach heightened levels.

Auto lenders are facing substantially higher fraud-related losses across multiple fraud categories. Between Q3 2018 and Q3 2025, losses tied to first-party, third-party and synthetic fraud increased significantly. First-party fraud, which occurs when an individual deliberately provides false information or misrepresents themselves to obtain goods, services or credit, experienced the largest increase. It saw estimated losses rising from $88 million to $323 million—an increase of approximately 267% over the period.