Identity fraud rings identified operating in Southern States

 

 

This month, consumer risk management firm, ID Analytics of San Diego, published a study indicating that there are more than 10,000 identity fraud rings operating in the US, and many are in southern states.

According to the report, the study is the first to investigate the interconnections of identity manipulators and identity fraudsters to identity rings of criminals working in collaboration.

So called hotbeds for fraud rings include; Alabama, the Carolinas, Delaware, Georgia, Mississippi and Texas.

The study which reportedly looked at approximately 1.7 billion identity risk events demonstrates once again how sophisticated consumer analytics data bases are truly becoming.

One can only wonder if federal, state and local law enforcement agencies will receive a copy of this study and actually use it in a meaningful way. The fact is, based on past history, reports and studies relating to the activities of identity fraud rings operating here in the US seldom results in prosecutions.

Data mining for fraud detection purposes is a good thing. However, data mining should be an inclusive exercise which not only helps protect the safety and security of financial services firms, but also assists victims of identity fraud in learning the most likely source of a data breach involving their personal identifiable information.

Almost certainly, this suggestion would meet with strong opposition from both the consumer data and financial services industries which would most likely sight potential liability issues.  However, with carefully crafted federal legislation including a mandatory notification process in place, American consumers could (and should) have the ability to search and locate information on a central database which would help them identify the source of a past data breach involving their personal information. Which would be a good thing.