SentiLink
| Private | |
| ISIN | 🆔 |
| Industry | Identity verification Fraud prevention Financial technology |
| Founded 📆 | 2017 |
| Founder 👔 | |
| Headquarters 🏙️ | , , U.S. |
Area served 🗺️ | United States |
Key people | Naftali Harris (CEO) |
| Members | |
Number of employees | |
| 🌐 Website | www |
| 📇 Address | |
| 📞 telephone | |
SentiLink is an American identity verification and fraud prevention company founded in 2017 and headquartered in San Francisco, California.[1] Its software is used by financial institutions to detect synthetic identity fraud, identity theft, and other forms of first-party fraud during account application.[1] By 2024, SentiLink's technology was used by over 300 U.S. financial institutions.
History
SentiLink was founded in 2017 by Naftali Harris and Maxwell Blumenfeld, former data scientists at Affirm, where they worked on risk management and fraud detection systems.[1][2] While at Affirm, they identified applications with identical names and birthdates but different Social Security numbers, recognizing them as synthetic identities.[1][3] They established SentiLink to address identity-related fraud in financial services.
In 2019, SentiLink raised $14 million in a Series A funding round led by Andreessen Horowitz,[4][5] followed by a $70 million Series B round in 2021 led by Craft Ventures, bringing total funding to $85 million.[6][7][8][9]
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Harris testified before the U.S. House of Representatives Financial Services Committee on synthetic identity fraud, noting that fraudulent activity had exploited relief programs such as the Paycheck Protection Program.[10]
In 2020, SentiLink was among the first companies to participate in the Social Security Administration’s Electronic Consent-Based Social Security Number Verification system, which enables real-time validation of Social Security numbers.[11][12][13]
In 2024, SentiLink published research linking data leaked on the dark web to real-world identity theft attempts, indicating that individuals whose Social Security numbers were circulated online were more likely to be targeted by fraud.[14]
In 2025, SentiLink achieved FedRAMP Ready status from the U.S. Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program, certifying that its systems met federal cloud security standards.[15]
Products
SentiLink develops identity verification tools that use machine learning to analyze identity and behavioral data. Its software detects synthetic and stolen identities and supports regulatory compliance through Know Your Customer (KYC) tools.[16]
In 2023, the company introduced Facets, a data intelligence product for fraud detection and risk modeling.[17][18] Its tools address check-fraud schemes, including check “washing,” and provide fraud-insight analysis for financial institutions.[19]
SentiLink's software has been used to detect Assumed Identity Abuse, a form of identity theft linked to organized crime. The company was involved in detecting a criminal network targeting former international scholars, in which stolen or assumed identities were used to commit fraud.[20]
Partnerships
In 2023, SentiLink partnered with Scienaptic AI to combine identity verification with credit decisioning tools.[21][22][23]
In 2024, Consumer Portfolio Services (CPS), an auto finance company, integrated SentiLink's software into its lending operations.[24][25]
In 2025, Yardi Systems integrated SentiLink's fraud detection technology into its ScreeningWorks Pro platform to address synthetic rental application fraud involving Credit Privacy Numbers.[26]
SentiLink joined the FICO Marketplace, allowing its technology to be integrated into FICO's platform for identity verification and fraud detection.[27] Its tools have also been integrated into identity orchestration and risk management platforms such as Alloy.[28][29]
Research cited by SentiLink in 2025 indicated that fraudulent auto loan applications had increased during coordinated attacks on certain lenders, with fraud involving real personally identifiable information more common than synthetic identities.[30][31]
Industry context
The Federal Reserve has identified synthetic identity fraud as a growing risk to the U.S. payments system.[32] A 2023 Federal Reserve paper described it as the use of legitimate and fictitious data to create new identities.[33] Industry estimates suggest that synthetic identity fraud caused losses exceeding US$20 billion in 2020.[34]
Recognition
- 2023: Included in Forbes Fintech 50 list[35][36][37]
- 2024: Named to the Forbes Fintech 50 in the Wall Street and Enterprise category[38]
- 2024: CEO Naftali Harris named among American Banker’s Innovators of the Year[2]
- 2025: Listed in the Forbes Fintech 50 for the third consecutive year[39]
See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Kauflin, Jeff (6 June 2023). "Inside the Rise of a Fintech Startup Using AI and Human Insight to Fight Fraud". Forbes. Retrieved 2025-12-10.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 "A leader in fighting fraud: Naftali Harris". American Banker. 21 June 2024. Retrieved 2025-12-10.
- ↑ "Naftali Harris Statement Before House Financial Services Committee" (PDF). Retrieved 2025-12-10.
- ↑ "Synthetic fraud detection startup SentiLink raises $14 million". Business Insider. 26 March 2019. Retrieved 2025-12-10.
- ↑ "SentiLink Raises $14M Series A Funding". FinSMEs. 26 March 2019. Retrieved 2025-12-10.
- ↑ Azevedo, Mary Ann (5 August 2021). "Ex-Affirm risk leaders raise $70M for SentiLink, an identity verification startup". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2025-12-10.
- ↑ "Identity verification firm SentiLink lands $70m Series B". FinTech Futures. 6 August 2021. Retrieved 2025-12-10.
- ↑ Bluemner, Paul (2021-08-06). "SentiLink Secures $70 Million Series B". Citybiz. Retrieved 2025-12-10.
- ↑ East, Forbes Middle. "Combatting Billions In Unemployment Benefit Fraud, Startup SentiLink Secures $70M". Forbes ME. Retrieved 2025-12-10.
- ↑ "Statement of Naftali Harris before the House Financial Services Committee" (PDF). Retrieved 2025-12-10.
- ↑ "Electronic Consent Based SSN Verification (eCBSV)". Social Security Administration. Retrieved 2025-12-10.
- ↑ Actions Needed to Help Ensure eCBSV Is Financially Sustainable and Meeting Users' Needs (PDF) (Report). Government Accountability Office. September 2024. Retrieved 2025-12-10.
- ↑ "Social Security Announces First Potential Group of Participants for New Electronic Social Security Number Verification Service". www.ssa.gov. September 6, 2019. Retrieved 2025-12-10.
- ↑ "Social Security number leaked? Chances are, a criminal is already trying to use it". NBC News. 2025-08-04. Retrieved 2025-12-10.
- ↑ "SentiLink Achieves FedRAMP Ready Status" (Press release). PR Newswire. 1 May 2025. Retrieved 2025-12-10.
- ↑ Hoisington, Sarah (2020-12-22). "SentiLink Shares What Businesses Should Know About Synthetic Fraud in Exclusive Q&A". Global Trade Magazine. Retrieved 2025-12-10.
- ↑ "SentiLink Launches New Intelligence Solution for Fraud Detection". PYMNTS. 18 September 2023. Retrieved 2025-12-10.
- ↑ "SentiLink Launches Facets – a New Solution to Significantly Improve Financial Fraud Detection and Enhance Proprietary Fraud Models". FinTech Futures. Retrieved 2025-12-10.
- ↑ Baer, Oyin Adedoyin and Justin (2024-11-19). "We Can't Give Up Paper Checks, and That's a Gold Mine for Scammers". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2025-12-10.
- ↑ "A shadowy L.A. crime ring is hijacking the IDs of foreign scholars, fraud expert says". Los Angeles Times. 2025-11-07. Retrieved 2025-12-10.
- ↑ "SentiLink and Scienaptic Partner To Prevent Fraud". New Scienaptic AI. Retrieved 2025-12-10.
- ↑ PYMNTS (2023-12-18). "Scienaptic AI and SentiLink Enhance Fraud Detection Tool Partnership". PYMNTS.com. Retrieved 2025-12-10.
- ↑ Gonzalez, Bianca (2024-01-02). "Socure, Scienaptic AI and SentiLink make strides in catching synthetic identity fraud | Biometric Update". www.biometricupdate.com. Retrieved 2025-12-10.
- ↑ "Consumer Portfolio Services Partners with SentiLink to Enhance Fraud Prevention". Yahoo Finance. Retrieved 2025-12-10.
- ↑ "Consumer Portfolio partners with SentiLink to enhance fraud prevention". Nasdaq. Retrieved 2025-12-10.
- ↑ amandah (2025-02-18). "Yardi Collaborates with SentiLink to Deter Synthetic Rental Application Fraud". Yardi. Retrieved 2025-12-10.
- ↑ "FICO Unveils FICO Marketplace, Unlocking Revolutionary Enterprise Intelligence". FICO Investors. 2025-11-06. Retrieved 2025-12-10.
- ↑ "Bankers Brunch with SentiLink and Alloy". Retrieved 2025-12-10.
- ↑ "SentiLink | Partners". Alloy. Retrieved 2025-12-10.
- ↑ "Identity theft fraud included 2 major auto lender attacks in early 2025, SentiLink says". www.autonews.com. Retrieved 2025-12-10.
- ↑ Nawrocki, Tom (2025-10-09). "Auto Loan Fraud Grows, Fueled by Identity Theft". PaymentsJournal. Retrieved 2025-12-10.
- ↑ "Gen AI is ramping up the threat of synthetic identity fraud". Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. 17 April 2025. Retrieved 2025-12-10.
- ↑ "Federal Reserve white paper examines the effects of synthetic identity payments fraud". Federal Reserve (Press release). 9 July 2019. Retrieved 2025-12-10.
- ↑ "Report: Synthetic Identity Fraud Results in $20 Billion in Losses in 2020". ABA Banking Journal. 20 October 2021. Retrieved 2025-12-10.
- ↑ Tucker, Hank (6 June 2023). "The Future of Wall Street: Fintech 50 2023". Forbes. Retrieved 2025-12-10.
- ↑ Kauflin, Jeff (6 June 2023). "Newcomers to the Fintech 50 2023". Forbes. Retrieved 2025-12-10.
- ↑ "SentiLink". Forbes. Retrieved 2025-12-10.
- ↑ Tucker, Hank. "The Future Of Wall Street And Enterprise: Fintech 50 2024". Forbes. Retrieved 2025-12-10.
- ↑ Kauflin, Jeff; Novack, Janet (February 18, 2025). "Forbes 2025 Fintech 50". Forbes. Retrieved 2025-12-10.
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