How Activity History and Identification Fraud Work in Zinc's Digital Identity Verification

Activity History and Identification Fraud are two automated background checks Zinc runs as part of a candidate's digital identity verification for a UK Right to Work check and/or a DBS check. They sit alongside the document-based routing covered in [How Zinc's Digital Identity Verification Journeys Work for DBS and UK Right to Work Checks](https://help.zincwork.com/article/0cf58bae-how-zincs-digital-identity-verification-journeys-work-for-dbs-and-uk-right-to-work-checks) — this article explains what these two checks actually do. ## How It Works ### Activity History This runs at the start of the identity verification journey, before the candidate is asked to provide any documents. Zinc queries **TransUnion** with the candidate's legal name and current UK address, to check whether that candidate has a genuine track record of verifying their identity with other organisations. It uses electoral roll registration and financial account data to do this. The candidate is shown an acknowledgment screen before this runs — there's no opt-out if the candidate is completing the identity check digitally. If TransUnion can't uniquely match the details it's given, the candidate is asked to confirm the right address, then the right name, from a short pick-list, before the check completes. The result is scored, and that score is then used to supplement the identity verification journey as needed. ### Identification Fraud This runs on every digital route. It checks the **Amberhill** database to confirm: - the identity's details haven't been stolen - the document hasn't been reported compromised - the identity isn't suspected to be synthetic Depending on the journey, it can also confirm the identity belongs to someone still alive, that it's known by an organisation that should hold a record of it (for example the electoral register), and that it isn't at unusually high impersonation risk — cross-referenced against PEPs, sanctions, and adverse media watchlists. Separately, every route also runs a **Known Fraud check**, querying a database that pools confirmed fraud cases from 180+ UK financial institutions for any link to previous fraud or impersonation. ## Why It Matters Document checks confirm a candidate's passport or ID is genuine. Activity History and Identification Fraud go a step further — confirming the identity behind that document has a real track record and hasn't been linked to fraud or impersonation elsewhere. Together, they let most candidates clear identity verification digitally without needing a manual review. ## What You Need to Do Nothing — both checks run automatically as part of every candidate's digital identity verification, alongside the document journey. If a candidate asks why they were asked to confirm their name or address partway through, or why Zinc is checking financial or credit-reference-style data about them, you can explain that this is Zinc confirming their identity has a genuine history, and that they'll always see an acknowledgment screen before it runs. ### If a Check Doesn't Pass If either check fails on a journey where it's required, the identity check is sent to **manual review** instead of clearing digitally. This can happen if Activity History can't find a track record for the candidate, or if Identification Fraud returns an adverse result. Zinc makes this clear on the candidate report. When this happens, you will need to complete the identity check **manually**. If you need more detail on a specific check outcome, contact our Support Team.