The 2012 Report to the Nations on Occupational Fraud and Abuse from the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE) estimates that the typical organization loses five percent of its revenues to occupational fraud each year and that this figure translates to a potential projected global fraud loss of more than $3.5 trillion applied to the estimated 2011 Gross World Product. The study also found that the median loss caused by the occupational fraud cases was $140,000, and more than one-fifth of these cases caused losses of at least $1 million. The ACFE 2012 Report to the Nations is available at: http://www.acfe.com/RTTN/. (more…)

For the 12th year in a row, identity theft topped the list of consumer complaints released by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) for 2011. Of more than 1.8 million complaints filed in 2011, 279,156 – or 15 percent – were identity theft complaints, and nearly 25 percent of those identity theft complaints were related tax- or wage-related fraud. For more information about the FTC’s Top Complaint Categories for 2011, visit: http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2012/02/2011complaints.shtm. (more…)

Fueled in part by the rise in the use of smart phones and social media by consumers, as well as a large number of data breaches, identity theft incidents in the United States rose by 13 percent in 2011 to affect nearly 12 million Americans, according to the ‘2012 Identity Fraud Report: Social Media and Mobile Forming the New Fraud Frontier’ survey released by Javelin Strategy & Research. To download the identity theft survey from Javelin, visit https://www.javelinstrategy.com/brochure/239. (more…)

As part of a stepped-up effort against tax refund fraud and identity theft, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the Justice Department have announced that a massive nationwide sweep last week targeting 105 people in 23 states to crack down on suspected identity theft perpetrators resulted in 939 criminal charges related to identity theft, according to a news release on the IRS website available at: http://www.irs.gov/newsroom/article/0,,id=253147,00.html?portlet=108. (more…)

To better protect the Social Security numbers (SSNs) of deceased Americans from identity theft, the “Keeping IDs Safe Act” was recently introduced in the U.S. House by Representative Sam Johnson (R-Texas), according to a press release on Johnson’s website. Also known as the “KIDS Act,” the legislature would make it harder for identity thieves to steal SSNs of deceased children and others by limiting access to the Death Master File publicly released by the Social Security Administration (SSA). (more…)