Identity Fraud Case Study

Javelin Strategy & Research released an identity fraud study in 2017. It found that $16 billion was stolen from 15.4 million U.S. consumers in the 2016 year. This compares to $15.3 billion and 13.1 million victims a year prior. Over the last six years over $107 billion has been stolen by identity fraud. So what is identity theft and how can you prevent yourself from falling prey to this growing crime?

The crime of Identity theft, or identity fraud as it is more appropriately called, occurs when an imposter obtains pieces of personal information used to identify a person- such as a name, address, social security number, credit card information etc. - and uses it to his advantage. A criminal with this information can commit financial fraud, or

With these critical pieces of identifiable information in his hands, the criminal now has the ability to open accounts, make purchases, steal money or tax refunds, or even take advantage of services such as medical insurance. This can cause you to, all of a sudden, lose all of your credit, be sought after by police, and have your bank accounts maxed out. An imposter can even use your identity to enter into a country illegally, hide one’s own identity, or even commit acts of terrorism, all in your name.

People who commit identity fraud have their specific techniques they use to gain access to private information. Unfortunately, sometimes we make it easy for them to obtain our information. For example, did you know that when you make a credit card purchase many receipts contain your credit card number? If that slip of paper gets into the wrong hands, some unscrupulous person now has access to your bank

In order to make sure you are not a victim, one should check their account on a regular basis to make sure there are no unfamiliar transactions. Usually when there are unusual purchases, the bank will inform the customer to make sure it’s not fraud. Many times a thief will make small transactions to run tests to see if the account operates. Small purchases may not alert the bank, which is the reason a person must always be on high alert. Any purchase which is unfamiliar must be reported immediately to the bank. The longer the fraud continues the more damage will be