Here is a story of a stolen check – ID Theft, how they found out about it, and what they did.
Sally and her husband were living in student housing in Chicago. She was supporting both of them at the time when a personal check was stolen. Because they were living in an apartment run by the university, all rent payments had to come out of her husband’s bank account. This led to a complicated financial situation. At the time money transfers were more complicated so Sally would have to write her husband a check through the bank and have it sent to them by mail. But, this time the check included rent and a portion of their tax return and it never got to them.
How Sally Found Out
Sally followed up with the bank to cancel her check. The bank indicated that they couldn’t do it because it had already been cashed. The bank provided an image of the check and someone else had signed her husband’s name to the check.
What She Did About It
To be able to afford their monthly rent payment while sorting out the stolen money situation, Sally opened a credit card through her bank and borrowed cash from her credit line. To recover the stolen cash, she filed a police report with her local precinct.
Sally told them everything that happened, but because it was clear that the check had been stolen from a mailbox, they said it wasn’t under their jurisdiction — and they had to fill out a report with the postal police instead. They filled out multiple reports with the postal police, but they never got back to us. Luckily, the bank accepted my screenshots of the report. As long as it was documented with legal authority, they felt it was fine. About a month later, the funds were restored to Sally’s bank account.
Sally and her husband are lucky, this scenario rarely ever works out for the victim without the guidance of a trained recovery advocate.
Stay safe, click carefully and watch for scams because a Stolen Check – Identity Theft incident is a horrible experience.
I had the pleasure of speaking with our partners at Tzedakah House on their podcast, Benefits & Beyond. In this podcast, I chat with Luke about identity theft protection and the services defend-id provides. I share my story as a victim of identity theft and the first-hand effects it can have on a person both emotionally, financially, and at the office.
Topics Luke and I cover:
What services does defend-ID offer? (credit checks, recovery, etc.)
How did you get started doing this? (backstory)
What kinds of plans are available? (gold vs. platinum)
How easy is ID theft to offer to employees? (size, participation, funding, etc.)
On my work laptop, I use a VPN (Virtual Private Network) whenever I work remotely including in my home, my hotel room, or any other location away from the office. (be sure to watch the video below)
Private WiFi is the flagship product of Private Communications Corporation, founded by Kent Lawson in 2010. After reading a series of articles in The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, and The New York Times about the security vulnerabilities of WiFi hotspots, Lawson (a 40 year computer industry executive) was inspired to come out of retirement and work to resolve the problem.
According to Lawson, “your private information is an easy target on a public WiFi network such as hotels, coffee shops, and airports that are not secure. Anyone using the same hotspot can intercept and hack your communications. Your usernames, passwords, and other private information can be stolen out of the thin air.”
“We created Private WiFi to protect your identity and personal information by encrypting your WiFi signal. Everything you do online is protected with bank-level security, so you can surf, share, shop, and bank with confidence.”
A way of life
Think about it, connecting to public WiFi hotspots has become a way of life. Millions of people connect to public WiFi every day without thinking – at coffee shops, hotels, restaurants, or airports. It’s fast, it’s free, and it’s convenient. But this convenience can come at a cost.
But it’s not secure. Everything transmitted on your laptop, smartphone, or tablet over WiFi hotspots can be grabbed out of thin air – and many users don’t understand hotspot security risks. Roughly 39% have accessed sensitive information while on WiFi hotspots, according to a Nielsen/Harris Poll. That means their privacy and security are in danger every time they connect.
According to Lawson, “Private WiFi encrypts Internet traffic and protects hotspot users from hackers and identity thieves, creating a secure tunnel that is invisible to hackers.”
“In a world full of wireless security risks, Private WiFi puts the power to protect hotspot users’ information in their own hands,” said Lawson.
The New York Times calls Private WiFi the “VPN for the masses.” PC Magazine featured Private WiFi as one of the “Ten VPN Services You Should Know About” and it has been featured on CNN, and Good Morning America among other news outlets.
VPNs are easier to use than ever. My recommendation is to use a VPN on all your devices to search, shop, bank, read, and connect. This will give you the confidence your personal privacy is secure. Think before you connect, don’t make it easy for the bad guys.
Are you taking advantage of the opportunity by offering ID Theft Protection for your Clients and their employees?
Your clients are relying on you to provide the most comprehensive, relevant, value-adding benefits that their employees want and need. With the addition of identity theft protection to your portfolio, you will be stepping out in front of your competition with this high-demand benefit.
Strengthen Your Client Relationship
You are the advisor and your clients trust you to offer the best employee benefit programs. Offering defend-id will demonstrate your professionalism and your thoughtfulness regarding current market trends and demands. As their agent, you will be offering a timely, valuable and relevant benefit.
Don’t Blend in with the Rest
Differentiate yourself from your competition, the ones you are fighting with to get that new account, and the ones you are fighting off to keep your current ones. Offering defend-id differentiates you! Employers need increasingly robust benefits options and employees are looking for it. Chances are if you are not including id theft in your proposals, your competition is.
Tax Benefit for Employers
Employer-paid Identity Theft Protection is a non-taxable, and non-reportable benefit. Not only is employer-paid the most cost-effective but it also has tax benefits as well as overhead advantages.
GROW and Maintain
Grow your business with a new offering, re-engage with your clients and target new prospects. Strengthen your book of business by adding another line of business, identity theft is a sticky product with a long life cycle!
Simplicity
The market continuously floods with new and trendy benefits. The challenge of working with increases and tight budgets makes your job hard! It is difficult to find a benefit that you can add that provides high value at a low cost.
We understand! It can be overwhelming and frustrating. The good news is that defend-id defend-id is designed with the broker in mind! We have worked hard to minimize the sales cycle and simplify an overly complex process. defend-id puts the power in your hands, giving you a co-branded website, a portal to conduct and keep track of your business, marketing material, and communications, and a dedicated training team to help you at all times. We are here to make ID Theft Protection for your Clients an easy solution.
Fully Managed Recovery is the most important pillar of what we do here at defend-id. We take Service Level Standards and Client testimonials very seriously. It is important to ensure that everyone we cover has peace of mind, knowing they have someone who will take care of any identity issue they encounter. All the credit goes to our team of recovery experts who are getting amazing results.
Service Level Standards
2022 Q1 Fully Managed Recovery Testimonials
“I am so pleased as to how my call was handled, the knowledge the representative hadand all that was done while I was on the initial phone call. As a victim of unemployment insurance fraud. I would not have known where to start with putting astop to someone using my social security number and other info to commit identitytheft. The Dark Web report is nothing less than Amazing as it let me know each of thedates and types of information was placed on the Dark Web. The report informed mewhat steps I should take with changing passwords on accounts etc. Thankfully nodamage was done to my credit. I share my personal story so that other members are aware of a situation that occurredand how they (recovery advocates) are working on my behalf. Members need to hearthat identity theft is real and could happen to anyone. This benefit is something I neverthought I would have needed in the past but now I know how very valuable such aservice is and I am grateful and proud to say that Partners offers this valuable type of protection to our membership”. Lois M. FCU
“I would like to acknowledge my fraud specialist and her professional help with myidentity theft case. She is trusted, experienced, knowledgeable, helpful, patient,follows up in a timely way, calm, and well-spoken. I am a senior, fixed income, andhave had ongoing issues with months of unrequested credit and debit cards, andcontinue to have fraud. As a result of my initial contact with my financial institution, Iwas directed to your services. My case was assigned to my advocate and she isOUTSTANDING and our communication continues. She has e-mailed, made phonecalls helped with adding me to necessary account freezes, helped me, (anot-so-knowledgeable senior), speak with an agent for assistance help, with my latestfinancial stress! Always leaving me with the confidence and messages, “Do you haveany other questions for me? Call me, when anything else occurs. Do not hesitate tocall or contact, if I can be of any help.” My advocate continues to help. Please acknowledge this valued employee, in some way for me. I am grateful for her continuedtrusted help.I am so very grateful!” Penny Y. CU
“Our Advocate was superb. I can’t thank her enough. Theprocess was extremely helpful and our advocate made it so easy to navigate. One ofthe best investments I have made – opting in to this service…” Steven G. CU
“My advocate was very helpful and made sure I understood everything about myaccount. She followed up the next day via email and personal phone call and is a veryeasy person to deal with. I appreciate all your help and it put me at ease to know myaccounts are being watched out for me thank you very much!.” Terry S.
“My Recovery Advocate has been wonderful to work with. Thanks, again for all of thevaluable information and services provided.” Kelly V.
“Thank you! My Fraud Specialist has been wonderfully helpful! You have all beengreat! Your knowledge and ability to provide assistance are amazing!” Steve M.
“I am writing to you because of the exceptional service I have received over a yearperiod with my assigned Recovery Advocate. She has been extremely patient, skillful,and customer service oriented!. She is amazing. Please give her a raise! She calmedme down and skillfully navigated to what needed to be done. Thank you so much!!”Shane L.
The average per-victim loss from traditional identity theft and fraud rose to $1,551.
The average per-victim loss from identity fraud scams was $1,029.
More than half (54%) of fraud victims want their financial institution to offer a fraud prevention resource center to help them resolve their identity theft and fraud event.
Consumers expressed an interest in receiving more fraud prevention education from their financial institutions as well as identity protection services.
The 2021 statistics show individuals and businesses are unprepared for the tactics criminals are deploying in our modern, digital-first world.
Since identity theft and fraud is constantly evolving, how does the 2022 Javelin Study reflecting 2021 statistics compare to the last two Javelin Studies in 2020 and 2019?
In 2020, identity theft and fraud losses totaled $56 billion and affected 49 million U.S. adults.
In 2019, identity theft and fraud losses totaled $16 billion and affected 14.4 million U.S. adults.
According to Javelin, “the trends observed were huge increases to account takeover fraud and new account fraud in which fraud operators deployed multiple tactics to steal victims’ personal information to drain them of billions of dollars” including:
New account fraud increased by 109% enabling criminals in possession of consumer information to, at times, open multiple unauthorized accounts ranging from merchant accounts to credit cards.
Fraud affecting existing credit cards rose 69%, while fraud on existing non-card accounts, including checking, savings, insurance or utilities, jumped 73%.
Javelin defines identity fraud as “the unauthorized use of another person’s personal information to achieve illicit financial gain. Identity fraud can range from simply using a stolen payment card account, to making a fraudulent purchase, to taking control of existing accounts or opening new accounts.”
In addition, Javelin defines identity fraud scams as “relatively easy to orchestrate and present an opportunity for criminals to bypass the fraud detection barriers maintained by financial services providers because they directly target the consumer.”
For example, an element of identity fraud scams is that consumers often remember the moment they experienced contact with an ID theft criminal or cyber thief relating to Phishing (fraudulent emails), Vishing (fraudulent phone calls and voice mail messages), and Smishing (fraudulent text messages).
For years, I have written and publicly spoken to consumers and small businesses on how education and awareness will help mitigate a consumer’s exposure to an identity theft event and an organization’s exposure to a data breach incident.
Since identity theft and fraud are constantly evolving, consumers and small businesses need to stay up to date on identity theft and fraud trends, such as the 2022 Javelin study, to make sure their online life and digital identity are safe!
By Mark Pribish
Vice President and ID Theft Practice Leader
