The Case of Rising Paper Document Fraud
Nowadays, fraudulent online transactions and identity theft have become commonplace. For example, the European Commission has reported that EU citizens pay a total of €56 billion every year for credit and identity fraud. At present, many countries are not adequately equipped to deal with these crimes.
Until now the case is often made that paper-based identification would help to combat this situation. But rising cases of driver’s license fraud, healthcare fraud, debit and credit card fraud, and bank account takeover fraud are proving the opposite.
To combat such paper document fraud and corruption, blockchain technology can help. Instead of paper documents, if organisations begin to issue digital versions of these documents on the blockchain, they would be safer, verifiable and traceable.
For the purposes of this blog, we shall call the blockchain digital versions of the paper documents as digital certificates.
Advantages of Digital Certificates
For starters, digital certificates issued on blockchain cannot be tampered with and would thus serve as a credible substitute for digital identity.
A digital certificate will hold a QR code or a link. When viewing the certificate on a mobile device or laptop, one can click on the link and immediately verify its authenticity. When printed on paper, the QR code can be scanned and the digital certificate can be verified immediately.
In addition to easy verification, as the certificate is issued on blockchain, it is traceable.
For example; if a company issues a blockchain digital certificate to an employee, with the name spelled incorrectly. Within minutes the company can correct the name and reissue another digital certificate. The blockchain network holds the digital certificate having the incorrect name, when the company re-issues a new digital certificate, a copy of the previous block with all the information and the correct name will be created. So, every change made to a digital certificate will be permanently recorded. Hence, all changes are traceable.
This feature makes it much easier to track down frauds and identity theft. A digital certificate is free for everyone to access, use and share; the same way as credit cards are today – they can be scanned as a part of a transaction and are also highly mobile.
Where can I issue a Digital Certificate?
The process of issuing a digital certificate is simple. Platforms like CredSure are built on the Ethereum blockchain. This removes the need for you to build an infrastructure and a system to issue digital certificates on blockchain.
The platform is simple to use. You create a profile, fill in the needed information to issue a certificate and that’s it! When you issue a digital certificate it will be issued to a person’s email address. So, there is no third party involved. It is as simple as using a mobile payment application or a banking app.
Once a digital certificate has been issued, you can rest assured that the credibility of it is intact at all times. If a miscreant modifies the digital certificate, then when anyone with access scans the QR code or clicks on the link, the verification of the certificate will fail. Authentication on blockchain allows the verification and identification of documents and data. So, you can be certain that the digital certificates that you have issued are secure and fraud-proof.
Blockchain’s ability to update the record with verification of previous transactions makes it an exciting option for record keeping. Identities can be issued and digital copies can be held securely in the public ledger and can be traded for goods and services.
As digital certificates offer a secure avenue for modernizing identification while enabling trust at every step of a transaction; they can be used to provide a strong basis for electronic contracts, mortgages, and the storing of historical financial data.
Where can you use Digital Certificates?
Law enforcement, merchants, governments, industries, and consumers all need easy access to documentation that provides proof of identity and verification of document authenticity, online or in the physical world. The emergence of blockchain-enabled digital certificates will fulfill the need for convenient and secure access to proof of identity.
CredSure’s digital certification platform can be used by anyone – doctors, hospitals, law enforcement agencies or educational institutes. Any paper document can be digitised and issued on CredSure. Our goal is to bring digital security to the masses.
To get started with electronic authentication and secure paper-free records, get on a call with us. We would be more than happy to show you a sample digital certificate and how easy it is to use CredSure.
