Unlike the more traditional forms of
theft such as auto theft and burglary, where someone with a new high-end sports
car or someone with the nicest house in the neighborhood may be the targeted
victim; identity theft has no particular targets. Since everyone is a target for identity
theft, we as consumers and the companies we chose to do business with (retailers,
merchants, banks, etc), all need to do our part and protect ourselves and our
customers from identity theft.Once
there is a data breach at a major retailer, identity theft can occur and businesses are left with the task of trying
to prevent those stolen identities from being used fraudulently to possibly
gain access to accounts or even open new accounts.
Identity fraud is on the rise, not only in the
US, but also in Europe.According to a
recent article by Financial Times, Brits are at the most risk for identity fraud followed closely by Spain, then
Russia.The article goes on to mention
that identity theft has affected a quarter of the population in the UK.An individual impersonating someone they
arent, to either obtain credit or purchase goods and/or services, accounts for
50% of all fraud crime in the UK.The
same article goes on to mention that individuals in UK use multiple computers
be it for online shopping or socializing with friends and also fail to log out
of banking website and social networks they accessed from their mobile device
which makes it very easy for an identity thieve to gain access to everything
they would need to perform the fraudulent activity. The article also mentions that it takes an
average of seven months before many Brits even realize their identity was
fraudulently used.
With making use of IdentiFraud International, businesses across the pond can know
in a matter of seconds who they are doing business with and protect both
themselves as well as their customers.
[Contributed by Eric Knapp, VP of
Client Services]