What are the warning signs of synthetic identity theft?

One telltale warning sign that you may have been a victim of synthetic identity theft is if you discover a loan or credit line you didnât apply for listed on one or more of your credit reports. If you receive calls, texts, emails, or letters about bank accounts or credit cards you didnât open, thatâs also an alarming warning sign. For merchants and financial institutions, inconsistencies in data traits or a conspicuous lack of social media activity can be a warning sign of synthetic identity fraud.

What is a fabricated identity?

A fabricated identity combines real personally identifiable information (PII) from one or more identity theft victims with fake information, such as a name, date of birth, address, gender, ethnicity, or occupation. The result is a new, fake identity that scammers can use to commit financial, benefits, or tax refund fraud.

What are the red flags for synthetic identity theft?

A sudden change or drop in your credit score, the presence of loans or credit cards you donât recognize, or letters or other correspondence regarding bank accounts you didnât open are all red flags that suggest you may have fallen victim to synthetic identity theft.

How is identity theft detected?

Consumers can regularly monitor their credit reports for signs of identity theft. Meanwhile, merchants and financial institutions can cross check public and private databases, review credit reports, search for social media profiles, and perform liveness checks to detect possible identity theft.

How do you fight identity theft?

You can fight identity theft by filing a police report, submitting a report with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) at <a href="http://www.identitytheft.gov">www.identitytheft.gov</a>, or by filing a complaint with the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3).

Author

Zak Matthews

Zak Matthews is the VP of Solutions Engineering and Partnerships at Chargebacks911. In his current position, Zak leads the design and implementation of technology solutions for our enterprise customers and technology partners. He brings many years of experience to the role, having worked with several fintech and software start-ups in the data analytics space. Zak graduated from the University of Wisconsin with a double major in Market Research & Supply Chain Operations Management with an emphasis in Quantitative Business Analytics.