Due to the fact that identity theft is so rampant – with about 10 million victims a year – a lot of financial institutions are stepping up their security methods in order to help prevent identity theft. Here are some of the things they are doing, that go beyond just asking three privacy questions instead of one:
*Assigning a code a customer must use when initiating a funds transfer. This means that thieves need to have this code in order to perform that transaction.
*Initiating a notification to the bank when a customer changes his online bill pay to have a new recipient. This can prevent thieves from transferring themselves money from someone else’s account under the ruse of being a payment recipient.
*Using analytics to tell when a person logs on to his or her account from a channel not normally used; for example not from the office or home computer. This can help the bank notice a thief accessing the account from another city or country.
*Tracking transactions by IP address to tell what computer they were initiated from. This can help the bank trace the transaction back to a specific geographic location where it was made, in many cases.
Three of the biggest banks, JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo and Bank of America, started a company called Early Warning Services. This company allows them to pool information they find about identity thieves. This can also help prevent you from becoming a victim of this crime.
You may have also noticed Visa and MasterCard blocking your account a lot quicker then normal and only reinstating it after you verify your transactions. Its just their way of protecting their bottom line rather than an attempt to give you protection from identity theft.
Another way to prevent yourself from becoming a victim is to sign up for a good identity theft protection plan. The combination of all of these safeguards won’t protect you 100%, but it can definitely boost your confidence quite a bit. It certainly is nice to have peace of mind.