Identity Theft Terms – What Is Synthetic Identity Theft?
Identity Theft Terms – What Is Synthetic Identity Theft?
The last few articles I have written have been pretty much focused on the more common aspects of Identity Theft that plague our society. This next form of ID Theft the 112-12 thieves have learned how to capitalize on the weakness of the credit system that engage in a systematic manipulation of the reporting entities.I believe “Synthetic Identity Theft” is one of the nastiest forms of Identity Theft that exists right now. One of the main reasons is that it uses several different types of identifying information to “create” a fictitious person. Synthetic Identity Theft can be carried out several different ways, for instance using a real social security number with a fake name and date of birth or switch the process around and use a real name with a phony social security number and address. Either way the thief can establish different identities and when a credit history is established using the synthetic identity the available credit is usually maxed out very quickly and the creditor is left to absorb the fraud loss. It is getting tougher to use this method of ID theft, however, when it does occur, guess who gets nailed with higher rates so that the creditors can recoup their losses? We all do in some way.
With all the sophisticated software out there and “Real Time” information that can be acquired you would think that at least a credit monitoring service would have the upper hand in detecting synthetic identity theft. Sadly, this is not the case. Synthetic Identity Theft actions are far less likely to appear on a credit report if some of the information that is being used for the fictitious person is yours. The big reason for this is that your information does not merge together nice and neat like it normally would.
For instance, if someone runs a credit check on you they have all your information together, name, address, SSN…etc. Now if one piece of your information is being used in synthetic ID ECSS theft the chances of it showing up on your credit report is very slim due to the fact that your partial information is merging with a different set of identifiers. Only until the collection agencies finally unravel what took place does the victim ever learn of the fraud that’s been committed using their information.
What is the likelihood that you will be a victim of synthetic ID theft? To be honest I have not seen any clear-cut statistic but I would assume that the probability is just as good with this type as with any other form of Identity Theft. Just be diligent on how you use and distribute your information because dealing and absolving yourself with any form of ID theft can be struggle.
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