ShowUp is a British software start-up that aims to put a stop to identity fraud, once and for all. ShowUp works on the simple principle that organisations don’t know people. People know people. By taking a special kind of selfie, ShowUp verifies identity claims in real time, removing the need for passwords and security questions altogether. Why selfies? For the first time nearly everyone has a camera phone with Internet connectivity. Therefore instead of relying on passwords (or any other data) to verify identity, it is now possible to draw upon the natural ability of people to recognise one another. The problem The awkward truth is that organisations that ask for passwords or other ‘memorable’ information for verification purposes cannot tell the difference between their customer and an impostor. Worse, organisations that do so expose their customers to risk, as this drives fraudsters to obtain and trade in such data. With this, organisations are easily fooled, and customers are left to deal with the resulting mess. Fraud is costing the UK £193 billion a year, and identity fraud is the largest type of fraud carried out against individuals, estimated at £5.4bn a year from about 3.25 million victims. How it works The ShowUp network helps organisations know with absolute certainty when they are dealing with an impostor. Users choose their friends and family with the ShowUp app who are able to identify them by sight and name. A network of ‘angels’ is created from those who can recognise the subject. Thereafter, instead of using passwords with their attendant risks, the customer completes transactions with a simple selfie which is instantly verified by the angel community. Organisations have been betting their profits and reputations on a flawed approach to identity fraud detection, and force this broken process on consumers. It is time for change. For more information, please visit the ShowUp website: http://showup.global