The 7 Best Ways A Bank Can Protect A Victim Of Identity Theft

So much theft has occurred in people’s accounts in various banks that have led financial institutions to strengthen their security to protect a victim of identity theft.

While some work hard to build their finances, some lazy people prefer becoming scammers and carrying the hard-earned money and some other valuable assets of the diligent ones.

However, due to the increase in the rate at which people get scammed and their money stolen from their accounts, financial institutions have conceived the best ways to protect a victim of identity theft.

And through thorough research, I have compiled the 7 best ways a bank can protect a victim of identity theft. These are what I will explore here. Thus, read on.

Key Takeaways:

  • What identity theft is and how it works.
  • The 7 best ways a bank can protect a victim of identity theft.
  • Steps you can take to protect yourself from identity theft.
protect a victim of identity theft
Credit:bankwithunited.com

What Does Identity Theft Mean?

Identity theft is stealing an individual’s personal information (identity) for fraud.

A person who does that is usually an unknown and is generally called a scammer.

Types Of Identity Theft

There are different kinds of identity theft which include:

1. Medical Identity Theft

It is the illegal act of impersonating someone and seizing their medical results to be yours. It happens mostly when the criminal has a medical issue but would not disclose it, so he embezzles someone’s medical information to be his.

2. Child Identity Theft

This is unlawful to steal an individual’s identity to kidnap a child. It could be a form of revenge for something bad the victim did previously or for extorting money from a particular person.

3. Criminal Identity Theft

Criminal identity theft is stealing an individual’s personal information to commit a criminal act to avoid being caught.

4. Financial Identity Theft

A forbidden act entails stealing a person’s financial information to control and restrict the account owner from accessing his account information.

If the necessary action is not taken to restore the account, the fund present will be withdrawn by the scammer thus, leading to financial risks.

Financial fraud is the illegal use of a debit, credit card, or electronic means to transmit deceptive information to defraud money and other valuable assets from a person or organization.

Fraud may be committed by someone outside or inside an organization.

How Financial Identity Theft Works

Identity theft begins when an individual’s data leaks via data breaches, hacking, phishing, and other means.

Then a criminal who comes across the leaked data will use it to create and manage an account in your name. He impersonates you using the account in any organization linked to the leaked information.

Unfortunately, after absorbing the revenue of the company, he escapes.

Millions of Americans are affected by identity theft each year.

Javelin’s strategy and research state that identity theft is the fastest-growing crime in the country.

Identity theft takes years to detect. Also, Allstate Identity Protection helps the victim in managing the recovery processes.

The 7 Best Ways A Bank Can Protect A Victim Of Identity Theft

Due to the recent massive identity theft, here are the 7 best ways a financial institution can protect a victim of identity theft.

1. Dark Web Monitoring

Dark web monitoring is one of the ways a bank can protect a victim of identity theft. Every bank should have a company dark web where they monitor if any customer’s information leaks.

Dark web monitoring is an identity theft protection procedure that allows a company to track its personal information on the dark web.

It is also used to search, track, and alert an individual or business on attempts at fraud and impersonation using leaked information. Thus, impeding the damage of a data breach and protecting victims.

2. Mobile Device Security

Mobile device security is securing data on compact devices such as smartphones, tablets, and personal computers and the network linked to them.

All financial institutions should protect and monitor their customers’ mobile device data in the system through endpoint and email security, web gate, VPN, etc. It allows them to discern when any personal data leaks and recover them before the attackers could have access to them.

3. Credit Monitoring

Credit monitoring is tracking frequent changes in a customer’s credit profile. The bank manager should monitor any change made to a customer’s credit profile. It works for tracking the operation of attackers ahead.

4. Payment Process Security

Every payment or transaction in any bank account should be secured. The bank should have tight security for each customer’s transaction process.

It can be accomplished by giving a specific staff the role. With this, attackers will not be able to hack any customer’s accounts or personal information.

5. Fraud Restoration Service

Fraud restoration is the act of recovering fraudulent acts in an organization. Every financial institution should have a staff to monitor fraud in the organization to protect a victim from any form of identity theft.

6. Employee Identity Theft Protection

It is the security given to all staff to protect them from being victims of identity theft. Hence, every bank should provide their staff with identity theft security to protect them and their personal information from leaking to criminals.

7. Employee Training

Financial institutions should train their staff on every piece of information about identity theft: how to monitor personal data and know when it is leaked or attacked by scammers and the critical processes to restore it.

With this, the bank, its staff, and customers are protected from being victims of identity theft.

Steps You Can Take To Protect Yourself From Identity Theft

A victim of identity theft should not only depend on the financial institution to recover his or her account because it may take longer due to other customers they attend to.

Thus, below are explained some steps you can take to protect yourself from the illegal act.

Step 1

Sign Up For Credit Monitoring

Credit monitoring tracks any changes that occur on a customer’s credit profile.

To have additional protection against identity theft, register for credit monitoring with the company you partner with.

Step 2

Buy Identity Theft Insurance Policy

Identity theft insurance policies cover a victim of identity theft. It covers every stolen identity and valuable asset.

Step 3.

Use a Strong Password

Do not use a weak password (your name, date of birth, or address) or the same password twice. Rather, use different but strong passwords for each account.

Step 4

Safeguard Your Financial Record

Keep your account data secret, do not disclose it to anyone.

Step 5.

Have A Personal Financial Manager

Have a personal financial manager who takes note of your financial information and checks if any leaks on the dark web.

Step 6

Report Any Identity Theft To The Federal Trade Commission

Another step to protect yourself from identity theft is reporting the theft to the Federal Trade Commission. It supports the investigation and prosecution of any Identity theft.

Step 7

Freeze Your Account

If you notice any form of identity theft, freeze your account immediately. Do not allow any transaction in the account. This equally prevents the criminal from accessing your account.

Read Also:

How To Get Instant Approval Virtual Credit Card With Instant Use

How To Build Credit Without A Credit Card (2022 Guide)

How To Accept Credit Card Payments In 7 Simple Ways

Conclusion

Identity theft has imposed many risks on victims’ finances. Once a victim’s data leaks and it is not discovered and recovered on time and a criminal uses it to create a new account impersonating the owner, the criminal will steal every one of his valuable assets through the fake account created.

Hence, every financial institution and other business should take the necessary steps to protect a victim of identity theft.

FAQs

Here are answers to some of your questions

What Are The Signs Of Identity Theft?

They include:

  • Missing mail.
  • Omissions on credit reports.
  • Unnecessary withdrawals.
  • Denial to new credit application using the same stolen information by the real owner.
  • Suspicious or threatening mail from the unknown.

What Do I Do If Someone Steals My Identity?

  • Report to the Federal Trade Commission immediately.
  • Freeze the credit report.
  • Change your password and personal information.
  • You may arrange a police report.
  • Relate the theft to identity theft insurance if you have one.

What Is The Best Way To Fight Against Identity Theft?

The best way you can fight against identity theft is by surveying your credit report.

References:

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://bjs.ojp.gov/topics/crime/identity-theft/

https://www.allstateidentityprotection.com/content-hub/amp/how-does-identity-theft-work/

https://www.cisco.com/small-business/resource-center/security/mobile-device-security/

https://www.aura.com/learn/how-to-protect-your-bank-account-from-identity-theft/

https://www.bankrate.com/personal-finance/what-to-do-if-your-identity-is-stolen/

You can learn more from the video below:

About Author

protect a victim of identity theft
Favour Nnenna
I am a writer and researcher, a practical digital marketer, and a copywriter who communicates value to a society based on years of experience and knowledge in the field.

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