Search Results
Working Paper
IDENTITY THEFT AS A TEACHABLE MOMENT
SUPERCEDES 14-28. This paper examines how a negative shock to the security of personal finances due to severe identity theft changes consumer credit behavior. Using a unique data set of linked consumer credit data and alerts indicating identity theft, we show that the immediate effects of fraud on consumers are typically negative, small, and transitory. After those immediate effects fade, identity theft victims experience persistent, positive changes in credit characteristics, including improved risk scores (indicating lower default risk). We argue that these changes are consistent with ...
Working Paper
Out of sight, out of mind: consumer reaction to news on data breaches and identity theft
We use the 2012 South Carolina Department of Revenue data breach to study how data breaches and news coverage about them affect consumers? take-up of fraud protections. In this instance, we find that a remarkably large share of consumers who were directly affected by the breach acquired fraud protection services immediately after the breach. In contrast, the response of consumers who were not directly exposed to the breach, but who were exposed to news about it, was negligible. Even among consumers directly exposed to the data breach, the incremental effect of additional news about the breach ...
Discussion Paper
Identity theft: where do we go from here?
The identity theft forum sponsored by the Payment Cards Center of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia and the Gartner Fellows Program brought together a broad range of stakeholders to discuss the important issue of identity theft. Participants from the financial services and merchant industries, Internet service and technology providers, and regulatory and law enforcement agencies examined issues faced by consumers, merchants, and banks in fighting this financial crime. Discussants shared methodologies used to combat this crime and explored opportunities for coordination in searching for ...
Working Paper
Financial Consequences of Severe Identity Theft in the U.S.
We examine how a negative shock from severe identity theft affects consumer credit market behavior in the United States. We show that the immediate effects of severe identity theft on credit files are typically negative, small, and transitory. After those immediate effects fade, identity theft victims experience persistent increases in credit scores and declines in reported delinquencies, with a significant proportion of affected consumers transitioning from subprime-to-prime credit scores. Those consumers take advantage of their improved creditworthiness to obtain additional credit, ...
Discussion Paper
Identity theft: do definitions still matter?
Despite a statutory definition of identity theft, there is a continuing debate on whether differences among the financial frauds associated with identity theft warrant further distinction and treatment, not only by lenders and financial institutions but also by consumers and regulatory and law enforcement agencies. In this Discussion Paper, Julia S. Cheney examines four types of financial fraud ? fictitious identity fraud, payment card fraud, account takeover fraud, and true name fraud ? that fall under the legal term identity theft to better understand how criminal behavior patterns, risks ...
Working Paper
Credit and identity theft
The quintessential crime of the information age is identity theft, the malicious use of personal identifying data. In this paper we model ?identity? and its use in credit transactions. Various types of identity theft occur in equilibrium, including ?new account fraud,? ?existing account fraud,? and ?friendly fraud.? The equilibrium incidence of identity theft represents a tradeoff between a desire to avoid costly or invasive monitoring of individuals on the one hand and the need to control transactions fraud on the other. Our results suggest that technological advances will not eliminate this ...
Journal Article
Risks of identity theft: Can the market protect the payment system?
Identity theft has been a feature of financial markets for as long as alternatives have existed to cash transactions. But identity theft has recently occurred on a much larger scale. Data breaches often involve the apparent loss or acknowledged theft of the personal identifying information of thousands--or millions--of people. ; Identity theft poses risks, not only to individuals, but to the integrity and efficiency of the payment system--the policies, procedures, and technology that transfer information for authenticating and settling payments among participants. Identity theft can cause a ...
Journal Article
Credit cards' benefits outweigh chance of ID theft
Working Paper
Financial Consequences of Identity Theft: Evidence from Consumer Credit Bureau Records
This paper examines how a negative shock to the security of personal finances due to severe identity theft changes consumer credit behavior. Using a unique data set of consumer credit records and alerts indicating identity theft and the exogenous timing of victimization, we show that the immediate effects of fraud on credit files are typically negative, small, and transitory. After those immediate effects fade, identity theft victims experience persistent, positive changes in credit characteristics, including improved Risk Scores. Consumers also exhibit caution with credit by having fewer ...