Identity thieves: catch them quickly and report them immediately

As a short term financing agency, your company may be vulnerable to fraudulent new account openings and loan requests. Knowing the root of common threats is essential to denying an identity thief from seeking your services. With more than a quarter million cases of identity theft reported by the Federal Trade Commission, there was approximately $37 billion lost as a result. According to Investing Answers, the biggest threat to a financial institution is the abundance of fraudulent new accounts being opened and the extensive time it takes for companies to realize they are being taken advantage of by an identity thief. In fact, from 2009 to 2010, the time it took to resolve an identity theft incidence increased 21 hours to 33 hours. A thief can obtain financial details of a company or consumer in a number of ways, including through scam websites and hacking software. While it may take time to spot fraudulent activity, stopping continued access to the identity thief's opened account should be immediate. If your financial agency encounters a case of identity theft, cancel their account and any pending transactions immediately, then report it to the police and Federal Trade Commission.