As the fastest growing crime in the United States, identity theft victimizes nearly 10 million people every year. That’s one victim every 3 seconds in the United States. It’s a sad story for those who find out they’ve been victimized, and most people are quick to sympathize with those who’ve fallen prey to identity predators. Unfortunately, support in the form of sympathy after the fact does little to help the victims of this crime once the damage has already been done.
Who are the victims? Is it the people who are careless with their personal information? Is it the people who just have “bad luck” when it comes to these things? Surprisingly, it is not. Many times, an identity criminal gets their hands on other peoples’ personal information through the carelessness of an employer or an institution they have trusted to have and hold secure their personal information. It can often take several weeks or months for the breach to be discovered, and investigations into all of the players who’ve been involved, knowingly or unknowingly, can be difficult to pinpoint.
Law enforcement reporting reveals that identity theft crimes are usually executed by organized groups. The groups typically consist of Collectors, Converters, and Passers, all working within a specific geographic area, and all responsible for specific tasks.
- Collectors acquire identification documents through theft of personal information – usually from mail boxes, dumpsters, landfills, and parked cars, or from the Internet.
- Collectors provide stolen identification documents to Converters, who use the information to establish fraudulent bank and credit accounts and to obtain fraudulent checks and monetary instruments. Again, often on the Internet.
- Passers use the fraudulent accounts and instruments to purchase expensive consumer items in person or on the Internet and to cash fraudulent checks. They also use the false identity to gain employment or approval for loans.
An identity theft crime can sometimes escalate to the point where innocent consumers are accused of tax fraud and brought up on charges by the IRS after a “passer” has used their information to gain employment. Certainly, the list of consequences for consumers is long and distressing, but they aren’t the only ones who experience a negative impact in the wake of such an act. In fact, U.S. businesses lose 48 million dollars a year to fraud that originates from identity theft.
With so many different ways to commandeer an identity so that it can be used to steal from individuals and businesses, who should be saddled with the task of stopping or at least reducing the occurrence of this crime? Only 5% of identity theft cases end with the criminal being caught and convicted of the crime. When dealing with such daunting statistics, a method for prevention of identity theft seems the best avenue of focus, and a way for consumers and businesses to work together to combat what has become a national crisis.
Identity Verification Solutions are quickly becoming as valuable to consumers and businesses as home and office security systems. Business victims are now able to avoid becoming involved with fraudsters by using knowledge-based Identity verification solutions. These solutions help to stop fraud before it even occurs by referencing credit bureau information and alerting them to instances where a customer has submitted personal information that does not really belong to them. Although businesses may not experience an immediate gain from thwarting attempts at fraud that could cause unsuspecting consumers to lose time, money or even their livelihoods – the use of identity verification solutions will eventually pay off big in terms of decreasing revenues lost annually to the crime. And probably the most beautiful part of the trend is that as more businesses start using these solutions, word will spread. When our nation starts to see a measurable decline in lost revenues as deterrence goes into effect – everyone will benefit through lower prices and interest rates on goods and services.
In the mean time, consumer victims are able to proactively monitor the use of their personal information by signing up for new services that alert them to strange activity associated with their personal information at credit bureaus. So if their identity information does happen to fall into the hands of a “converter”, they will at least be able to notify the authorities of the breach before any real monetary damage can be done.
For more information on Identity Verification Solutions for consumers and businesses . . . click here.
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