Checking ID? Look at the Big Picture.
by George Milner, BOL Guru
You've been spending months training your account opening staff on the use of primary and secondary documentation. Now, in a startling report, there is strong evidence that the primary documentation we're conditioned to rely upon for ID verification may be of less value than originally thought. Why? Because the identity thief will likely have valid ID.
The report, released by the government on Tuesday, details how federal investigators using obviously fraudulent documentation obtained legitimate driver's licenses. What was their success rate? One hundred percent. That's right, they were successful in obtaining each and every driver's license they applied for.
Was this an isolated incident? No. Legitimate ID was acquired in several states around the country with ID that was meant to be easily identified as fraudulent. In fact, in some cases, the bogus documents used in the application process were returned along with an explanation of what was wrong. The investigators then made corrections and applied again. In each case, the driver's license was eventually issued.
What lessons can we learn from this?
- Primary forms of identification are important, but make sure that the entire set of presented ID makes sense. Is the driver's license from one state while the utility bill is from another? Ensure that the complete set of documentation presents a coherent picture.
- Check your information against as many databases as possible. Customer identity verification software can check the supplied documentation against billions of records.
Will this extra attention to documents and background verification catch every identity thief? Of course not, but by looking at the big picture, you'll spot patterns that will alert you to the problem applications. And that's a good first step.
Source: Government Accounting Office
GAO: Security: Counterfeit Identification and Identification Fraud Raise Security Concerns
Related Articles
MSNBC: Fake driver's licenses easy to obtain
MSNBC: Counterfeiter shares an ID fraud tale
FoxNews: Report: Fake Driver's Licenses a Security Risk
Driver's license fraud easy, GAO finds
Copyright, 2003, Bankers Online. First published on BankersOnline.com 09/10/03.
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