Data analyzed by Atlas VPN reveals the threat of credit bureau scams has escalated, leading to an alarming rise in cases of identity theft and financial fraud.
This article delves into the evolving landscape of credit bureau scams, integrating data provided by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) spanning from the first quarter of 2019 to the second quarter of 2023.
During the first half of this year, the FTC has already received 517,128 credit bureau fraud reports, a record amount since the start of the reporting period in 2019.
The data for 2019 shows a relatively modest start with 35,853 credit bureau fraud reports in the first quarter. However, by the end of the year, the numbers had risen to 42,285—an increase of nearly 18% in four quarters. This precursor hinted at the looming escalation of credit bureau scams that would follow in the subsequent years.
The year 2020 witnessed an abrupt surge in credit bureau fraud reports, reflecting a global shift towards remote operations and heightened digital interactions due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Starting at 53,945 reports in Q1, the numbers swelled to 101,850 by Q4—a staggering 89% increase. This surge can be attributed to the heightened vulnerability of individuals to phishing attacks and data breaches as scammers capitalized on the pandemic-induced confusion.
As the pandemic persisted into 2021, the number of credit bureau fraud reports remained consistently high. Q1 of 2021 saw a substantial increase to 141,613 reports, marking a 39% rise from the previous quarter. While the numbers remained elevated, the increase was not as pronounced as the previous year. This trend suggested that individuals and institutions were adapting to the new digital landscape and implementing more stringent security measures.
The year 2022 displayed a pattern of gradual escalation and refinement in scam techniques. With 192,547 reports in Q4, an increase of nearly 49% from the beginning of the year, scammers were evidently honing their strategies to exploit the evolving digital landscape. This might indicate a shift towards more sophisticated approaches, targeting unsuspecting victims using innovative tactics like spear phishing and AI-generated scam messages.
The first half of 2023 exhibited an alarming growth in credit bureau fraud, with 243,293 reports in the first quarter and 273,835 in the second. This surge likely reflects fraudsters capitalizing on an increased reliance on digital transactions, remote work arrangements, and a growing pool of leaked data.
The Anatomy of credit bureau scams
Fraudsters gather personal data from various sources, including data breaches, social media profiles, phishing emails, or even dumpster diving for discarded documents. This information may include full names, addresses, Social Security numbers, and financial details.
Armed with stolen information, scammers proceed to create false identities or fictitious accounts with the credit bureaus. They pose as legitimate individuals and submit fraudulent applications for credit cards, loans, or other financial services.
Once the fake accounts are established, the fraudsters regularly monitor the credit reports of their victims. They keep track of credit scores and activities, ensuring that the deception remains undetected.
With access to the victim’s credit lines, the scammers go on a spending spree, amassing debts on the fraudulent accounts. These expenses may include lavish purchases, cash advances, or transferring funds to offshore accounts.
To avoid arousing suspicion, fraudsters often make minimum payments on fraudulent accounts, disguising the true nature of their activities. They may also use techniques like ‘bust-out fraud,’ where they max out credit limits and abandon the accounts before moving on to new ones.
As the debts accumulate, the victim’s credit score plummets, causing significant damage to their financial standing and reputation. The burden of repaying debts they never incurred can take years to resolve, causing emotional distress and financial hardship.
To read the full article, head over to: https://atlasvpn.com/blog/credit-bureau-fraud-surged-to-500-000-cases-in-h1-2023-ftc-reports
NetRise Introduces New Features for Managing SBOMs & CISA KEV Catalog Support
Posted in Commentary with tags NetRise on August 9, 2023 by itnerdNetRise, the company providing granular visibility into the world’s XIoT security problem, today announced advanced capabilities for maintaining and working with Software Bill of Materials (SBOMs) and support for the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency’s (CISA) Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) Catalog for managing and understanding the risks associated with software components in the firmware of connected devices.
As the security of the software and firmware supply chain and regulation around SBOMs continue to dominate the industry landscape, the impact of consuming and generating a list of ‘ingredients’ for each device cannot be overstated. With the continuing push for new standards to require visibility in the supply chain, device consumers and asset owners need a solution to enable them to streamline SBOM management and vulnerability prioritization efforts.
NetRise recognizes the current challenges in the market, enhancing its customers’ and partners’ ability to manage vulnerabilities effectively, and offers the solution these industry personas have been seeking; the ability to ingest and enrich SBOMs from multiple sources. This key capability helps device manufacturers and owners alike better manage the underlying components and vulnerabilities of XIoT devices.
With the growing prominence of KEVs, NetRise’s adoption of CISA’s KEV data provides users with an efficient method for prioritizing the most exploitable vulnerabilities. Today, a typical enterprise sorts through potentially hundreds of thousands of vulnerabilities, and the ability to prioritize remediation efforts based on exploitability alters the dynamics of device security. In 2022, about 30% of KEVs affected XIoT devices or software components used by XIoT devices. So far, in 2023, that figure is approximately 20%. Considering that any CVE could be on the KEV list, these are impressive numbers.
Key benefits of these new features in the NetRise Platform include:
For more information about NetRise’s presence at Black Hat USA 2023, please visit https://www.netrise.io/events. To learn more about these advancements and other capabilities of the NetRise platform, visit https://www.netrise.io/platform.
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