Claims - December 2016

The holiday shopping season is underway, and whether you’re buying online or in a tradition- al brick and mortar store, your identity could be at risk. Identity theft sees a definite uptick around the holidays and income tax time. “People are starting to holiday shop and are putting information out there more frequently,” explains Paige Schaffer, president and COO of Generali Global Assistance’s identity and digital protection services global unit.

According to the Javelin 2016 Identity Fraud Study, fraudsters stole the identities of 13.1 million victims in 2015 and used them to spend $15 billion in fraudulent expenditures. In addition, 18 percent of the fraud using U.S. credit cards took place outside of the country, costing $2.4 billion.

In its Identity Fraud Prevention Play-
book, LexisNexis says that identities have
become more accessible for fraudsters,
who can purchase personally identifiable
information (PII) such as names, social se-
curity numbers, addresses and birthdates,
as well as birth certificates, passports and
social security cards. Now, instead of
stealing an entire identity, fraudsters will
establish a new one using these stolen
pieces of PII, which makes them harder to
track, but still able to do untold damage to
the victim’s credit profile.

Financial fraud can occur in several ways. A thief can open a new account in the stolen identity and then default on any payments or the individual will just assume an existing identity and make unauthorized purchases on a victim’s account. While the new chip technology in credit cards make them harder to duplicate, stealing someone’s identity provides a bigger payoff for a thief and is harder to detect. The 2015 Debit Fraud Benchmark Study found a 113 percent increase in new account fraud, which is a factor in 20 percent of all fraud losses.

As consumers become more comfort-
able buying online, Forrester Research
predicts that e-commerce sales could
top $500 billion by 2020, moving more
fraudulent transactions from traditional
retailers to online merchants. Frequently,
scams perpetrated by local thieves end up
sending information to overseas fraud-
sters. “Those who take the information
may not victimize people in the end,” said
Schaffer. “It’s usually another group.”

There are a number of activities consumers engage in on a regular basis that can lead to information being compromised. Schaffer has several recommendations for keeping your identity and credit card information safe when shopping, surfing the internet or traveling.

Gone phishing

“Phishing is a key component around
the holidays,” said Schaffer. Beware of
opening emails from unknown sources
or clicking on links embedded in emails.
“This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t pur-
chase from vendors online,” she said,
“just make sure it’s a legitimate site.”
If you get emails from vendors you
traditionally shop with, Schaffer recom-
mends opening a new window on your
computer and going directly to the com-
pany’s website. “The email could be legiti-
mate, but it’s better to go to the site.”
Also make sure to only shop on se-
cure networks and avoid public, unse-
cured networks in hotels, coffee shops or
airports where someone could hack in
and access your credit card information.
Avoid accessing your financial informa-
tion or any other accounts that require a
password on public Wi-Fi.

Card skimming

You pull up to the gas station, take out
your credit card and don’t think twice
about it. However, credit card skimming
seems to be more prevalent around the
holidays. “Look to make sure there is
only one slot or that there isn’t a piece of
machinery around the slot to capture the
information,” cautioned Schaffer.
Thieves can attach a tiny strip of film
to a card reader and download the infor-
mation located inside the card’s magnetic
strip to create a duplicate card.
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