Identity theft and identity fraud in the United States have reached epidemic proportions, costing businesses and consumers billions of dollars annually.

Identity fraud is not a new crime, but the proliferation of the Internet and the availability of sophisticated technology have created a fertile environment for identity thieves to pillage through large databases of personal records and perpetrate fraudulent activities. It has become far too common to hear about yet another security breach that occurs at a bank, retailer, university, or data aggregator.

In 2008, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) received over 1.2 million consumer complaints, 52% fraud complaints, 26% identity theft and 22% other types of complaints. Identity theft was the number one complaint category. The FTC estimates that identity theft costs the American economy approximately $52 billion per year. The FTC also estimates that nearly 10 million American consumers fall victim to identity theft annually with total economic losses of approximately $5 billion. Of the 10 million reported fraud cases, over 6 million involve fraudulent uses of existing accounts and over 3 million involve new accounts being opened in victims’ names. In addition, the FTC estimates that almost two million U.S. Internet users experience fraud each year, with 70% of those who experience fraud doing their banking or paying their bills online, and over half believing that they received a “phishing” e-mail. Identity theft is the most common complaint filed, with 56% of complaints stemming from illegal banking activity (either credit card or retail banking). Fraud knows no geographic, cyclical, or sector boundaries. It affects banks and card issuers, retailers, insurers, employers and increasingly, consumers. Insurance fraud alone is an $80 billion industry!

Our Analytic Solutions are targeted to corporations and government agencies and designed with the risk manager in mind. It is not simply our extraordinary ability to detect fraud that differentiates us, but it is the flexibility of our solutions that can seamlessly be incorporated into an existing workflow.

For every 1 consumer complaint registered with the FTC for identity theft, there are roughly 10 identity frauds perpetrated against a business, whether for opening of a new account, obtaining employment or securing insurance coverage. Don’t let your business be next.