---
title: "Synthetic identity"
url: https://carrierkyc.com/glossary/synthetic-identity
description: "A synthetic identity is a fabricated person or business built by combining real and invented details, such as a real ID number with a false name or address."
---

# Synthetic identity

**Definition:** A synthetic identity is a fabricated person or business built by combining real and invented details, such as a real ID number with a false name or address.

Also called: Synthetic identity fraud, SIF, Synthetic carrier. Category: Fraud.

The Federal Reserve's industry-recommended definition of synthetic identity fraud is the use of a combination of personally identifiable information to fabricate a person or entity in order to commit a dishonest act for personal or financial gain. The word entity matters here: in freight, the synthetic is often the company.

A synthetic carrier might pair a newly formed LLC with a virtual office address, a VoIP phone, a fresh domain and a new authority. It may run small loads and get paid properly for weeks to build history, then submit a large batch of invoices or fuel advances and vanish. Motus now requires identity proofing for new applicants and adds business verification, which raises the bar for a fully fake registration but says nothing about who controls the bank account later.

> **Red flag: Red flags** A business address that is a mail drop or virtual office. A VoIP number with no history. An LLC formed weeks before the authority application. Officers with no footprint outside this company. Volume that ramps quickly with no payment history behind it.

Know-your-business checks help: Secretary of State records, EIN confirmation, address and phone type, domain age, and a bank account held in the entity's exact legal name. See the [new authority risk guide](https://carrierkyc.com/guides/new-authority-risk).

## Related

- [Carrier impersonation](https://carrierkyc.com/glossary/carrier-impersonation)
- [Login.gov](https://carrierkyc.com/glossary/login-gov)
- [Motus](https://carrierkyc.com/glossary/motus)
- [New authority, new risk? What the data says about new carriers](https://carrierkyc.com/guides/new-authority-risk)
- [The carrier vetting checklist for small factoring companies](https://carrierkyc.com/guides/carrier-vetting-checklist-for-factors)

## Sources

- [Federal Reserve: Synthetic identity fraud defined](https://fedpaymentsimprovement.org/strategic-initiatives/payments-security/synthetic-identity-payments-fraud/synthetic-identity-fraud-defined/) (FedPayments Improvement)
- [Federal Register: Availability of Motus, FMCSA's New Registration System](https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/04/29/2026-08334/availability-of-motus-fmcsas-new-registration-system) (FMCSA notice, 2026-04-29)