The risks for identity theft strike throughout adulthood
Your customers, members, and employees are more vulnerable every time they use a credit card (especially online), file their taxes, or sign up for a wedding registry.
LifeStages
® services help protect the people who’ve placed their trust in you against these risks throughout life.
Marital status change risks
In the flurry of wedding plans, it’s easy for couples to let down their guard.
In hopes of making their wedding day even more magical, Ricardo and Juanita hit every booth at the bridal show, signing up for free gifts, raffle tickets, and win-a-dream-honeymoon contests. But the magic turned to sleight of hand when an identity thief snagged their full names, dates of birth, addresses, and phone numbers.
Even the most routine task–applying for a marriage license–can put people at risk if a Social Security number becomes public.
Any change in marital status, whether through marriage, separation, divorce, or becoming widowed, could potentially trigger a need for our LifeStages
® services.
Military service risks
Military personnel are prime targets for identity thieves. They’re at risk due to long deployments, frequent moves, and the challenges of keeping tabs on their financial accounts from remote locations.
A naval officer fears for his top-secret security clearance after his Social Security number is used to commit employment fraud.
A U.S. Marine stationed overseas discovers $15,000 in credit card charges for purchases he’s never made.
A military spouse can’t pay rent because someone drained the family account.
You can provide identity protection for your customers, members, and employees who serve in the military with LifeStages
® services.
Tax-related identity fraud risks
Stolen Social Security numbers caused a flood of 47,000 fraud reports to the IRS in a single year. Potential losses reached $179 million.
A taxpayer tries to file his return and is told that someone already filed under his name and Social Security number.
A couple didn’t receive their refund check and finds out that it had already been claimed and mailed to someone else’s address.
An employee receives her annual Statement of Earnings and notices that a lot of extra income was reported under her Social Security number.
The IRS tries to help, but limited resources and tricky legal issues get in the way.
Victims face the stress and time-consuming labor of providing police reports, copies of tax returns, letters of explanation, and much more.
Death risks
To a felon looking to break free of his rap sheet, the end of a loved one’s life offers the opportunity to create a new identity. All they need is data often found in an everyday obituary including the deceased's name, date of birth, mother’s maiden name, and places of employment.
Louis Taylor died of natural causes in 2002 at age 78. In 2009, he applied for a job–or so said the caller who claimed to be doing an employment background check. “Someone’s playing a very dirty trick here,” the caller mused when Mr. Taylor's widow told him that Louis was deceased. The ever-so-helpful caller suggested he could get to the bottom of this scam if she provided him with Louis’s Social Security number ...
When someone passes on, your customers, members, and employees emotions are at their lowest and most vulnerable.