the Fraudian Slip Podcast: Identity Theft Resource Center – Inaugural Trends in Identity Report and What it Means

Mona Terry, Chief Victims Officer of the Identity Theft Center, talks with President & CEO Eva Velasquez about the latest trends in identity fraud  

• For the last 20 years, the Identity Theft Resource Center (ITRC) has published reports, ranging from the impacts of identity crimes on people and businesses to information on data breaches.
• The ITRC has never shared the data collected directly from the victims of identity crimes we talk to daily – until now. This past week, the ITRC published the inaugural Trends in Identity Report.
• The report looks at identity crimes and victim concerns based on the stories we hear every day. Two of the highlights in the 2021 Trends in Identity Report report are the drastic rise in unemployment identity fraud, and social media hijacking.
• The ITRC sat down with our own Chief Victims Officer, Mona Terry, to discuss the highlights and trends, what they mean, what people can do to protect themselves and more.
• You can learn more about the 2021 Trends in Identity Report and other topics discussed in the podcast by visiting our company website idtheftcenter.org. You can download the report by clicking on our publications section.
• If you think you are the victim of an identity crime, call the ITRC toll-free by phone (888.400.5530) or live-chat on our webpage to speak with an expert advisor.

Below is a transcript of our podcast with special guest Mona Terry, Chief Victims Officer for the Identity Theft Resource Center

Welcome to The Fraudian Slip, the Identity Theft Resource Center’s (ITRC) podcast, where we talk about all-things identity compromise, crime and fraud that impact people and businesses. Listen on Apple, Google, Spotify, SoundCloud, Audible and Amazon now. In this episode, we discuss the ITRC’s inaugural Trends in Identity Report and what it means for consumers moving forward.

For nearly 20 years, the ITRC has published reports about the impact of identity crimes on people. In 2005, we started publishing information about data breaches and the link to identity crimes. Last year, we published our first report on how identity crimes and cyberattacks impact small businesses and solopreneurs.

However, there’s one set of data we’ve never shared – data collected directly from the victims of identity crimes we talk to every day. Add to that the people who call us seeking assistance to avoid becoming a victim of identity fraud or theft. That is, we’ve never shared this information publicly – until now.

This past week, the ITRC published its inaugural Trends in Identity Report that looks at identity crimes and victim concerns based on the stories – anonymous information – we hear each day.

In 2020, we identified a dramatic rise in unemployment fraud based on the number of people calling us daily. From fewer than 20 calls in all of 2019 to more than 20 per day in 2020. We saw the wave of benefit fraud weeks before the problem emerged in the national media.

In 2021, we noticed another kind of wave – a scamdemic, if you will. Again, from the same source – the victims of these crimes, telling us their stories in their own words in hopes of getting help restoring their identities and lives to normal.

We realized there was real value in being an early warning system – a canary in a coal mine – to help consumers, businesses, institutions and policy-makers have the information they need to respond to changes in identity crimes.

Here to talk about what’s in our inaugural 2021 Trends in Identity Report is the ITRC’s Chief Victim Officer, Mona Terry.

Mona Terry and Eva Velasquez discussed the following:

• Findings and highlights in the inaugural Trends in Identity Report
• What the trends mean
• What people can do to protect themselves

You can download a copy of the ITRC’s 2021 Trends in Identity Report at our website www.idtheftcenter.org/publications.

Contact the ITRC

If you think you have been the victim of an identity crime or want to avoid becoming a victim, you can speak with an ITRC expert advisor on the phone (888.400.5530), chat live on the web or send us an email during our normal business hours (6 a.m.-5 p.m. PST Monday-Friday). Just visit www.idtheftcenter.org to get started.

Be sure to join us next week for our sister podcast, the Weekly Breach Breakdown.