There isn’t much I can add to the discussion on the topic of criminals using stolen credit cards to make purchases online. I could talk about various methods used to catch them. However, this week what I thought would be interesting is to comment on the relationship developing between “Easy Identity Theft” and the fraudulent usage of credit cards.
Like many Americans, I used to think that the only way a criminal could use someone’s credit was to steal the plastic card, or at minimum steal the numbers and CVV off of it, to make fraudulent purchases. But now, as I discussed last week, I know that this is not the only use case. In fact, more and more people are starting to fall prey to criminals acquiring their personal information and then applying for credit cards on their behalf. In this scenario, the victim may or may not receive the invoice for the credit card. If they do, they are left with protesting and deactivating this account, if not it could go completely undetected and have lasting consequences.
This is one of the most common uses of identity theft and potentially has the most adverse impact, because unlike a fraudulent charge to your credit card, which most often is credited back to your account, a fraudulent credit application may go undetected and can negatively impact your credit rating for years.
Next blog [Fraud Series: Topic 3] Advanced Fee Frauds
