In our Identity Theft, Fraud and Scam seminars, we often mention that in 2005, at any given time, there were approximately 300 internet chat rooms on which 60,000 criminals around the world were buying and selling our personal information. Now we see why!
Experian has reported that according to the Federal Trade Commission, Synthetic Identity Theft is now the fastest growing type of identity fraud. It is representing 80 to 85% of all current identity fraud.
Criminals create synthetic ID theft by merging real and fake personal information of individuals to create a new identity. The information used can be names, addresses, birthdays and Social Insurance Numbers, all bought on the Dark Web.
Be aware that if you start to receive mail or phone calls asking about new credit accounts, or you get mail addressed to a different name, it may indicate synthetic ID theft.
Note that starting in 2018, our IDShield from Kroll includes 24/7 monitoring of personal information on the Dark Web.
Please go to lloydkenney.wearelegalshield.com for more information on how you can protect you and your family through IDShield and LegalShield. Contact us at callcraft@shaw.ca.
For information on other services we have available, please visit performanceplanning.ca.
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