Minnesota Department of Commerce’s Post

Fraud detection and prevention is an important peice in the public secture. Whistleblower hotlines and internal audits can help your agency combat fraud risk. Our Independent Audit Services are designed to empower government agencies, municipalities, and public institutions with actionable insights. Targeted Vendor, Woman Owned Buiness

♦ PLAYING WITH SCAMMERS IS NO GAME! If you think you are hanging on and talking to a scammer to get their data, you are in real danger! Here is the REAL data on how many scam victims have their accounts taken over or their identities stolen. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) collects data on consumer complaints about identity theft, and this data includes information on how the theft occurred. • According to the FTC's 2022 Consumer Sentinel Network (CSN) Data Book, there were over 1.43 million identity theft complaints in the United States in 2022. • Of these complaints, 22% involved account takeover, which is when a scammer takes over an existing account of the victim. This can be a bank account, credit card account, or other type of account. • The FTC also found that 21% of identity theft complaints in 2022 involved new account fraud, which is when a scammer opens a new account in the victim's name. This can be a credit card account, bank account, or other type of account. So, based on the FTC's data, it is estimated that over 314,000 scam victims (just in the United States) had their accounts taken over or their identities stolen in 2022. The FTC says that this number is likely to be an underestimate, as many people do not report identity theft to the FTC. Now do you understand how serious it is to be playing around with these criminals? If they can't get your money they will go after your identity and you will probably never know until someone shows up to collect or arrest you! Once you detect a scam, STOP ALL CONTACT. If you lost money report the crime properly (not in a Facebook group), and BLOCK them everywhere! Unless you are an ex-criminal yourself, or a licensed investigator, or in law enforcement, please stop talking to strangers online! SCARS Team #SCARS #ScamWarning #ScamAlert #ScamDanger #HackAlert #CybercrimeAlert #CybercrimeWarning #ScamNews #OnlineScams #AntiScam #GlobalAntiScam  copyright © 2023 SCARS

Total Line Case Study reveals potential identity theft! Could this be your company? In our latest case study, using real data from one of our members, the terminated policy information on the Total Line Alert showed a policy that resulted in a death claim in 2020! Yet this individual submitted an application for $2M in coverage. Could this be identity theft?! Read the full case study to see the actual Total Line Alert. https://lnkd.in/ead4M8bP

Identity Theft is a type of Fraud. It involves wrongfully obtaining or using another person's private personal data. My experience has been that the most common type of identity theft crime is the creation of some kind of line of credit using another person's private personal data. After this line of credit is created, the offender will use it to make fraudulent purchases. Consider the story below out of Connecticut. An offender used fraudulently obtained credit cards to purchase high priced liquor. Once he obtained the liquor, he would sell the bottles at significantly reduced prices using social media. Obtaining the credit cards with wrongfully or illegally obtained private personal information is identity theft. https://lnkd.in/gYbfZ_Ev

U.S. adults lost more than $23 billion to traditional identity fraud in 2023 and spent an average of 10 hours trying to resolve the problem, according to the 2024 Identity Fraud Study from Javelin Strategy & Research. Those losses represent a 13% increase from the previous year and don’t include the more than $20 billion lost to scams. Criminals continue to find new ways to swindle people, so it’s crucial to remain vigilant. Although there is no foolproof way to check for identity theft, there are several strategies you can use.

Did you know that stolen checks can be a gateway to identity theft and large-scale fraud? Jenna Herron, a Yahoo Finance columnist, shared her experience with identity theft. Jenna's ordeal began when fraudsters used stolen checks to gain access to her bank account. They used Jenna's stolen check to gather her personal information, then posed as her at three different bank branches, draining thousands of dollars from her account. This incident highlights the rise of in-person identity theft, where criminals exploit stolen checks to commit fraud. The image below shows the forged withdrawal slips used in the scam. This type of fraud is becoming more sophisticated, especially post-pandemic, as criminals continue to refine their methods. While Jenna's case primarily involved identity theft and fund withdrawal, fraudsters could essentially "double dip" by also altering the stolen check or utilizing digital tools to counterfeit them, leading to further financial damage. Read Jenna's full story and find out how to protect yourself from this growing threat in today's blog post. (Image source: Yahoo Finance)

Identity theft is a growing concern for business owners, but many are unsure of what actions to take if they become victims themselves. It is crucial to know how to respond promptly in order to minimize any potential damage. According to Javelin's 2020 Identity Fraud Survey, 13 million American consumers fell victim to this crime in 2019, resulting in losses of nearly $17 billion. #DataBreach #fraudprevention #Identitytheft #identitytheftprotection

Identity theft is a growing concern for business owners, but many are unsure of what actions to take if they become victims themselves. It is crucial to know how to respond promptly in order to minimize any potential damage. According to Javelin's 2020 Identity Fraud Survey, 13 million American consumers fell victim to this crime in 2019, resulting in losses of nearly $17 billion. #DataBreach #fraudprevention #Identitytheft #identitytheftprotection

Identity theft happens to millions of Americans each year. The effects of this can be devastating financially and emotionally to anyone who is victimized. The Federal Trade Commission reported in 2022 that the median loss for all identity fraud reports was $650 and the total amount lost by victims of identity fraud was $189,205,793 as published in the Consumer Sentinel Network Data Book 2022. With that in mind, it is important to help your employees protect themselves and their loved ones by offering this valuable benefit.