A common ground for threats connected to the peer-to-peer industry is insufficient users verification, a confirmation that they are who they say they are. Onboarding unverified customers can lead to a variety of fraudulent activities that go way beyond the traditional perceptions of identity theft. If the risks occur the customer’s trust may be broken and the company’s reputation may be damaged. It is necessary to remember that trust building is a long-term process, created by many indicators and at the same time a value that is difficult to rebuild. Every sharing platform should be armed with a trust management system which contains information security, identity verification and ongoing user authentication, in other words it should be based on KYC policy (Know Your Customer). Failure to do so may lead to following risks:

• Identity frauds – data privacy violation, identity theft, credit card fraud

Sharing platforms usually use only email to verify new users which is not a sufficient method to confirm their identity. We should be exceptionally careful when online communication is the only tool to verify someone. It creates a significant risk for customers and companies from cybercriminals.

• Online fraud and account takeovers

They can lead to a number of negative consequences for the user and create further risks. Account takeover allows access to sensitive personal data and thus the possibility of financial fraud, harm to user’s reputation and moral damages.

• Catfishing

It is a deceitful activity which consists of creating a string of fake profiles to construct a fictional persona. Such an artificially created personality can later be used for financial fraud purposes.

• Malicious bots

They are defined as software that takes automatic actions on the Internet. Malicious bots can be used as a tool to disturb forums, increase website traffic and pose as a real person. The latter carries the greatest risk to user safety.

• Unfair and aggressively negative opinions

They undermine the reliability of the users or services which in turn reduces the credibility of the company.

• Threats to the security of the individual outside the Internet

They pose a risk to the physical, mental and financial security of a user in the real world. An unreliable onboarding and verification process may have disastrous consequences.

What happens when the above risks occur? Just like the boom of the sharing economy so is the boom in crimes by services and goods offered on these platforms.  The events with the Getaround app may be a good example. The car rented via this app was used in a murder and several other cars were stolen. The apartment rented via Airbnb became the scene of a shooting which led to the death of five people and several others left injured. The already famous platform offering short-term rentals has also become the site of organized crime groups. They were setting up fake accounts and offers authenticated by fake reviews. As a result, guests were provided with premises with blocked drains, dirty linen ad floor and the reality which did not match the photos in the offer. Well, all of this creates a rather gloomy picture of a dreamy place to stay.