CPNs: The old scam with a new twist may become easier to combat – Part 2
As we explained in yesterday’s post, the use of the so-called CPN that’s tied to a new SSN poses significant dangers to the victim, particularly if he or she is a minor. One of the reasons minor identity theft is so difficult to deal with is because it’s generally not caught until the child turns 18, which is usually the first point at which they apply for some type of credit. A thief can use the number for many years and pile up significant debt because of this. It’s also very difficult for lenders and other financial institutions to catch this type of crime, because there’s no existing credit file associated with the child’s SSN. In fact, there is no easy way to determine with certainty that any particular SSN actually belongs to a minor, although that may be changing.
The Identity Theft Resource Center (ITRC) recently issued a press release that describes a proposed database called Minors 17-10 Database to be created by the Social Security Administration and used by the national credit reporting agencies to identify SSNs issued to minors up to 17 years and 10 months of age. So, when a creditor tries to pull a credit history associated with the SSN of someone in the Minors 17-10 database, they will receive notification that the SSN was issued to someone who is currently a minor.
Kudos to the ITRC for proposing such a tool. Although it won’t completely prevent the unauthorized use of a minor’s SSN (credit can be issued without review of a credit report and a thief can use a SSN for numerous purposes other than credit), it seems likely to reduce incidents where credit is issued to someone using a minor’s SSN. It remains to be seen if it will be developed and used. In the meantime, financial institutions must make employees aware of this scheme if they don’t already do so – after all, Minors 17-10 is not currently available for use, so what you receive from the credit bureau may in fact be a segregated file created through the use of a CPN. What efforts are being taken by credit issuers now? Are employees trained to recognize “red flags” related to the composition of the nine-digit number that might indicate the applicant’s identity warrants further verification?
by Charlotte Rose
CIPP
Senior Investigator, Kroll Fraud Solutions
Tags: CPN, id theft of minors, identity theft, identity theft scams, ITRC, SSN
