Watch Out for these Applications
by Mary Beth Guard, BOL Guru
Personal identity information on half a million military personnel, military retirees, and family members was stolen December 14, 2002 when thieves broke into the office of Phoenix-based TriWest Healthcare Alliance, a government contractor which provides managed health care to the military in 16 states. The burglars took computer hard drives that contained sensitive identifying information.
Financial institutions should brace themselves for a potential onslaught of fraudulent applications for credit or deposit accounts. It is likely the thieves (or others to whom they have transferred the information) will secure fake IDs made up to match the stolen identities and will seek to commit fraud under the misappropriated identities.
Since the affected parties include not only current military staff, but also retirees and dependents, detecting the fraud will be challenging and will depend more upon general protections against identity theft than clues tied to this particular data loss. Keep in mind:
- ID thieves can sometimes exhibit great patience. It could be months, or even years, before the stolen identity information is utilized;
- Applications received from individuals in the following states should be subjected to increased scrutiny: Colorado, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, Wyoming, Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, and extreme western Texas. Those are the states of residence for the claimants whose data was stolen;
- Applications from military personnel with whom you do not have an existing relationship should be carefully reviewed to confirm the applicant's true identity;
- In your continuing efforts to educate your customers, mention this theft and reiterate the need for individuals to periodically review their credit reports in order to spot fraud at the earliest opportunity;
- Exercise special care with applications that do not arise out of a face-to-face meeting, including Internet transactions, credit card applications, and telephone and mail interactions.
Copyright, 2002, Bankers Online. First published on BankersOnline.com 12/27/02.
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