Identity theft in general – and tax- or wage-related fraud in particular – has once again topped the list of complaints received by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) for the 13th consecutive year in the annual FTC Consumer Sentinel Network Data Book for January – December 2012. The report, which marks the first year the FTC received more than 2 million complaints overall, found that 369,132 complaints – or 18 percent –  were related to identity theft, with more than 43 percent of those complaints related to tax- or wage-related fraud. The FTC Consumer Sentinel Network Data Book for 2012 is available at http://www.ftc.gov/sentinel/reports/sentinel-annual-reports/sentinel-cy2012.pdf. (more…)

A Federal Trade Commission (FTC) study of accuracy in the U.S. credit reporting industry has found that one in five consumers – an estimated 40 million Americans, according to a ‘60 Minutes’ report on the FTC study – had an error on at least one of their three major credit reports while five percent had significant errors on one of their credit reports that could result in less favorable terms for auto loans and insurance. The full text of the FTC report is available at http://www.ftc.gov/os/2013/02/130211factareport.pdf. (more…)

In resolving the first Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) case involving mobile “apps,” marketers of mobile applications that compiled and sold criminal record background check reports as job applicant screening tools have agreed to settle Federal Trade Commission (FTC) charges that they operated as consumer reporting agencies (CRAs) without taking consumer protection measures required by the FCRA.  The FTC’s settlement order, which prohibits the companies involved from future FCRA violations, is available at http://www.ftc.gov/os/caselist/1123195/130110filquarianagree.pdf. (more…)

A new focus on accuracy in the background screening industry has emerged after several reports about inaccurate background checks appeared in the news recently. The latest story is a blog on HuffingtonPost.com titled ‘5 Stories of Background Checks Gone Awry’ that describes how background checks used when people apply for jobs, open bank accounts, or rent or buy homes can sometimes be “just wrong.” The HuffingtonPost.com blog, which lists five specific incidences of when background checks contained bad information, is available at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/erin-steiner/5-stories-of-background-c_b_2427586.html. (more…)

Nationwide accredited background check firm Employment Screening Resources (ESR) has released its Sixth Annual ‘ESR Top Ten Background Check Trends for 2013’ featuring emerging and influential trends in the background screening industry selected by ESR Founder and CEO Attorney Lester Rosen. For 2013, the focus on accuracy of background check report information and the greater scrutiny of the screening industry was chosen as the number one trend. The Sixth Annual ‘ESR Top Ten Background Check Trends for 2013’ is available at http://www.esrcheck.com/Top-Ten-Background-Check-Trends-for-2013.php. (more…)