Identity thieves have shifted the way they gain access to consumers’ personal identifying information (PII), according to the 2021 Identity Fraud Study released today by Javelin Strategy & Research, sponsored in part by Kevari. In 2020, criminals targeted consumers directly with scams that resulted in $43 billion in fraud losses.
“The pandemic inspired a major shift in how criminals approach fraud,” said John Buzzard, Lead Analyst, Fraud & Security, with Javelin Strategy & Research in a news release. “Identity fraud has evolved and now reflects the lengths criminals will take to directly target consumers in order to steal their personally identifiable information.”
Once identity thieves have extracted PII and credentials from their victims, they seek to maximize its value, using the data repeatedly and even selling it on the dark web like they do the hundreds of millions of records exposed each year through data breaches. At Kevari, we consistently see the repeated use of PII and credentials used in various combinations across multiple financial institutions.
Financial services companies need to be prepared for this new tidal wave of stolen PII and credentials. Now more than ever, they must have powerful controls in place to prevent account takeover and new-account fraud. Institutions that aren’t well protected risk losing money, customers, and their reputations.
Consumers are increasingly responsible for compromising their own PII and credentials, yet they still expect financial institutions to do the heavy lifting when it comes to protecting their accounts from fraud. According to Javelin, one-third of identity fraud victims say their financial services providers did not satisfactorily resolve their problems, and 38% of victims closed their accounts because of lack of resolution at the financial institution where their fraud occurred.
Please read the news release and then let’s talk about how we can keep your institution protected from account takeover and new-account fraud.
