Here. According to Experian, in "2016, over 15 million Americans were victims of identity theft, up 16 percent from the previous year." Some upsetting findings: • Only half (49 percent) of respondents feel they are likely to become a victim of identity theft * * * • A significant majority of respondents (72 percent) think […]
Category Archives: Identity Theft
Here. Sad news for those who believe the media should cover consumer law.
Julia S. Cheney, Robert M. Hunt, Vyacheslav Mikhed, and Dubravka Ritter all of the Philadelphia Fed, have written Identity Theft as a Teachable Moment. Here is the abstract: This paper examines how instances of identity theft that are sufficiently severe to induce consumers to place an extended fraud alert in their credit reports affect their […]
Here. A look at the bigger picture, and a lot of sage advice.
Here. The top 10 complaint categories include: Category Number of Complaints Percentages Identity Theft 290,056 14% Debt Collection 204,644 10% Banks and Lenders 152,707 7% Imposter Scams 121,720 6% Telephone and Mobile Services 116,261 6% Prizes, Sweepstakes, and Lotteries 89,944 4% Auto Related Complaints 82,701 4% Shop-at-Home and Catalog Sales 66,024 3% Television and Electronic […]
Sandeep Dhameja, Katy R. Jacob and Richard D. Porter, all of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, have written Clarifying Liability for Twenty-First-Century Payment Fraud, 37 Economic Perspectives (2013). Here's the abstract: This article examines the governance structure of retail payments in the United States, provides an overview of payment fraud, and discusses in depth […]
by Jeff Sovern Sovereign Bank is changing its name to Santander, but I have decided not to change my name to Jeff Santander. I'm rather attached to my last name, which family lore claims came about when my grandfather and his three brothers decided to anglicize the family name. Previously, we had been the Smiths. […]
by Jeff Sovern Traditional consumer protection rules drew on law and economics models that assumed that consumers were rational and that when consumer markets functioned poorly, all that needed to be done was give rational consumers the ability to protect themselves. For example, the Truth in Lending Act's focus on disclosures presupposes that rational consumers would […]
by Jeff Sovern Javelin Strategy & Research has issued its annual report on identity fraud (a free version is available here). Javelin reports that 12.6 million Americans–or more than 5%–were victims of identity fraud in 2012, an increase of a million from 2011. It also states that nearly a quarter of consumers who received data breach […]