In 2013, 2,204,158 fraud attempts known as identity theft were registered, in which personal data is used by criminals to enter into business under ideological falsehood or even obtain credit with the intention of not honoring payments, according to the Serasa Indicator Experian Fraud Attempts – Consumer.
The result is the historical record registered by the indicator, with an increase of 3.04% compared to 2012, when 2.1 million attempts were registered; of 12,39% over 2011 (1.9 million), and of 17,56% over 2010 (1.8 million). This represents one fraud attempt every 14.5 seconds in the country.
Telephony accounted for the highest number of registrations in 2013, with 951,360, 43.16% of total fraud attempts, up 26.08% from those registered by the sector in 2012.
The service sector – which includes construction companies, real estate agencies, insurance companies and services in general (beauty salons, tour packages, etc.) – had 55,535 registrations, equivalent to 29.85% of the total. Compared to 2012, there was a decrease of 11.85%.
The banking sector is third in the ranking of registrations in 2013, with 399,393 attempts, 18,12% of the total. The sector saw an increase of 1,89% compared to 2012 records.
Major coup attempts
1. Issuing credit cards: The scammer requests a credit card using a false or stolen identification, leaving the “account” to the victim and the loss to the card issuer.
2. Electronics Financing (Retail) – The scammer purchases an electronic good (TV, stereo, cell phone, etc.) using a false or stolen ID.
3. Purchase of cell phones with false or stolen documents.
4. Account opening: scammer opens a bank account using a false or stolen identification, leaving the “account” to the victim. In this case, the entire “chain” of products offered (cards, checks, pre-approved loans) potentializes possible harm to victims, banks and businesses.
5. Car purchase: scammer buys car using fake or stolen identification.
6. Opening companies: stolen data can also be used to open companies, which would serve as a 'front' for the application of scams in the market.
The survey reveals the importance of consumers adopting simple care in their daily lives, such as:
• Do not provide personal data to strangers;
• Do not provide or confirm your personal information or document number over the phone, taking care with promotions or surveys;
• Do not lose sight of your identification documents when requested for entry protocols in certain environments or any business; likewise, do not let shop assistants and other establishments take your bank cards away from your presence under the excuse of making the payment.
• Be careful when typing the debit/credit card password when making payments, especially in the presence of strangers.
• Not providing your document numbers when filling out coupons to participate in sweepstakes or store promotions.
• Do not register on sites that are not trusted; beware of sites that advertise job offers or promotions. Pay attention to the page's security tips, for example, such as the presence of a security padlock.
• Beware of personal data on social networks that can help scammers impersonate you, using personal information, such as sign, car model, team you support, dog's name, etc.
• Keep your computer's antivirus updated, reducing the risks of having your personal data stolen by spy files.
• Avoid carrying out any type of financial transaction using portable computers connected to public Internet networks.
The Serasa Experian Indicator of Fraud Attempts – Consumer is the result of crossing two sets of information from the Serasa Experian databases: total number of CPF consultations carried out monthly at Serasa Experian and an estimate of the risk of fraud, obtained through the application of the models probabilistic methods of detecting fraud.
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