SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR DETECTION AND MITIGATION OF IDENTITY THEFT

• US 20090106846A1
• Filed: 10/17/2008
• Published: 04/23/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 10/23/2007
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Identity Rehab Corp. (Equifax, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Identity Rehab Corp. (Equifax, Inc.)
• Inventors: Lunstrum, Eric Richard, Yurek, Justin, Yurek, Daryl, Dupray, Dennis J.
• Application Number:
  US12/253,725
• Publication Number:
  US 20090106846A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 726/26
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/02 Banking, e.g. interest calculation or account maintenance credit or loans G06Q40/03

Abstract

An identity theft and identity repair system and method is disclosed that uses public access databases to identify changes in the records of a person to detect and mitigate attempts of identity theft against the person. Unidentified data or changes in the person'"'"'s name, address, social security number or phone number are used to determine possible attempts of identity theft against the person. Once a correct baseline of a person'"'"'s publicly available personal information has been established, this information baseline is used to automatically monitor the person'"'"'s public records on a periodic basis, notify the person of any detected changes which may be caused by the person or an imposter in an attempted identity theft. If identity theft is suspected, the system and method initiates a detailed analysis of the person'"'"'s publicly available personal information to determine the extent of the (any) identity theft. A further option of the present system and method is to initiate needed corrective repairs.

Claims

1. A method for detecting identity theft, comprising:

(A) verifying a client'"'"'s identity;

(B) receiving, from one or more informational sources, personal client information;

(C) presenting the personal client information to the client for obtaining corrected personal client information depending upon an extent of verification of the client'"'"'s identity in step (A);

(D) subsequently, receiving additional personal client information from the one or more informational sources; and

(E) determining whether there is a discrepancy between the corrected personal client information and the additional personal client information, wherein the discrepancy indicates incorrect data in the additional personal client information; and

(F) providing the client with information related to identity theft when the discrepancy is determined to exist.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the verifying step includes:

obtaining personal client information from a source different from the client;

formulating at least one question related to the personal client information, the at least one question unknown to the client;

subsequently, receiving a response to the at least one question from the client; and

using the response to verify the client'"'"'s identity.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the verifying step includes:

verifying the client wherein the extent of verification is at a first level for providing a first level of identity theft service; and

subsequently, second verifying the client at a second level for providing a second level of service, wherein the second level of service provides the client with access to information not provided to the client at the first level.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the step of second verifying includes issuing a plurality of communications for contacting the client, wherein the communications request responses as to a validity of the client'"'"'s identity.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein each of the communications request notification if the identity of the client is disputed.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the verifying step includes:

obtaining a plurality of client contact informational items for contacting the client, wherein each of the client contact informational items is for contacting the client differently;

for at least one of the client contact informational items, a step of sending a communication to a client contact destination that is identified by the client contact informational item, wherein the communication requests a response for verifying the client'"'"'s identity;

determining whether to provide the client with additional client related information depending on whether the client'"'"'s identity is disputed in at least one response for verifying the client'"'"'s identity; and

providing the client with additional client related information when the client'"'"'s identity is not disputed by at least one received response for verifying the client'"'"'s identity.

7. The method of claim 1, further including a step of second determining, when the discrepancy is determined to exist, a result indicative of a likelihood of identity theft occurring, the result being dependent upon an evaluation of the discrepancy.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the step of second determining includes combining a plurality of weighted measurements, wherein for each of the weighted measurements, the measurement therefor is indicative of an occurrence of an identity theft related factor in the discrepancy, and the weight therefor is indicative of a relative effectiveness of the measurement for predicting whether identity theft is occurring or is likely to occur.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the step of combining includes summing the weighted measurements.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein the weighted measurements are determined by a stochastic process receiving information related to a plurality of instances of information indicative of actual identity thefts.

11. The method of claim 1, further including a step of second receiving, when the discrepancy is determined to exist, more detailed personal client information from the one or more informational sources or additional informational sources for assisting with a determination of a likelihood of identity theft occurring.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the step of second receiving includes selecting at least one type of client related information to retrieve for inclusion in the more detailed personal client information;

wherein the step of selecting is dependent upon at least one value of a result indicative of a likelihood of identity theft occurring, the result being dependent upon an evaluation of the discrepancy.

13. The method of claim 1, further including the steps of:

determining, for detecting a particular type of identity theft, corresponding core informational types;

wherein for detecting the particular type of identity theft, a change to data for one of the corresponding core informational types is necessary;

wherein the step (B) of receiving personal client information includes a step of receiving data for the corresponding core informational types for the particular type of identity theft;

wherein the step (D) of receiving the additional personal client information includes a step of receiving a subsequent instance of data for the core informational types;

wherein the step (E) includes determining the discrepancy by comparing the data for the corresponding core informational types with the subsequent instance of the data for the corresponding core informational types for determining a value, not known to legitimately identify the client; and

using the value in detecting identity theft in a subsequent performance of one of the steps (D) and (E).

14. The method of claim 13, further including receiving input from the client for selecting the particular type of identity theft for detecting from among a plurality of types of identity theft for detecting.

wherein for detecting the second type of identity theft, a change to data for one of the corresponding core informational types for the second type of identity theft is necessary.

15. The method of claim 14, further including receiving input for selecting a second type of identity theft different from the particular type of identity theft, wherein step (D) includes populating a corresponding collection of core client data types for detecting the second type of identity theft different from the particular type of identity theft.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein the steps (D) and (E) are iteratively performed, wherein during at least one of the iterations, an elapsed time between performances of the step (D) is changed.

17. The method of claim 16, further including a step of determining a change in the elapsed time according to a result indicative of a likelihood for identity theft occurring, the result being dependent upon an evaluation of the discrepancy.

18. A method for detecting identity theft, comprising:

(A) verifying a client'"'"'s identity;

(B) receiving, from one or more informational sources, personal client information;

(C) presenting the personal client information to the client for obtaining corrected personal client information depending upon an extent of verification of the client'"'"'s identity in step (A);

(D) subsequently, receiving additional personal client information from the one or more informational sources; and

(E) determining whether there is a discrepancy between the corrected personal client information and the additional personal client information, wherein the discrepancy indicates incorrect data in the additional personal client information;

(F) determining, when the discrepancy is determined to exist, a result indicative of a likelihood of identity theft occurring, the result being dependent upon an evaluation of the discrepancy, the evaluation including a step of combining a plurality of weighted measurements, wherein for each of the weighted measurements, the measurement therefor is indicative of an occurrence of an identity theft related factor in the discrepancy, and the weight therefor is indicative of a relative effectiveness of the measurement for predicting whether identity theft is occurring or is likely to occur;

(G) selecting data for requesting further more detailed information personal client information to be retrieved from the one or more informational sources or additional informational sources for assisting with identity theft analysis;

wherein the step of selecting is dependent upon at least one value of the result; and

(H) providing the client with information related to identity theft when the discrepancy is determined to exist.

19. The method of claim 18, further including a step of determining that a frequency of performing step (G) according to the result.

20. A method for detecting identity theft, comprising:

(A) verifying a client'"'"'s identity;

(B) receiving, from one or more informational sources, personal client information;

(C) presenting the personal client information to the client for obtaining corrected personal client information depending upon an extent of verification of the client'"'"'s identity in step (A);

(D) subsequently, receiving additional personal client information from the one or more informational sources; and

(E) determining whether there is a discrepancy between the corrected personal client information and the additional personal client information, wherein the discrepancy indicates incorrect data in the additional personal client information;

(F) determining, when the discrepancy is determined to exist, a result indicative of a likelihood of identity theft occurring, the result being dependent upon an evaluation of the discrepancy, the evaluation including a step of combining a plurality of weighted measurements, wherein for each of the weighted measurements, the measurement therefor is indicative of an occurrence of an identity theft related factor in the discrepancy, and the weight therefor is indicative of a relative effectiveness of the measurement for predicting whether identity theft is occurring or is likely to occur; and

(G) providing the client with information related to the result.

21. A method for detecting identity theft, comprising:

(A) verifying a client'"'"'s identity;

(B) receiving, from one or more informational sources, personal client information;

(C) presenting the personal client information to the client for obtaining corrected personal client information depending upon an extent of verification of the client'"'"'s identity in step (A);

(D) subsequently, receiving additional personal client information from the one or more informational sources; and

(E) determining whether there is a discrepancy between the corrected personal client information and the additional personal client information, wherein the discrepancy indicates incorrect data in the additional personal client information;

(F) selecting data for requesting further more detailed information personal client information to be retrieved from the one or more informational sources or additional informational sources for assisting with identity theft analysis;

wherein the step of selecting is dependent upon at least one value of the result; and

(G) providing the client with information related to identity theft after the discrepancy is determined to exist.

22. A method for detecting identity theft, comprising:

receiving, from one or more informational sources, personal information identifying a client;

detecting one or more discrepancies between the personal information, and client information known to be correct for the client;

determining a likelihood that a theft of the client'"'"'s identity is occurring or has occurred;

wherein the step of determining includes determining one or more of;

(d) a number of the discrepancies between the personal information and the client information;

(e) whether a first instance of a value of the personal information, detected when determining at least one of the discrepancies, is a typographical variation of a second instance of the value, and wherein the first and second instances are not a result of a common act by the client; and

(f) whether there is a common value, detected in first and second records of the personal information, wherein;

(i) the common value is not correct for the client, and

(ii) the first and second records are not a result of a single act by the client.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein the step of determining includes determining a number of the discrepancies between the personal information and the client information.

24. The method of claim 22, wherein the step of determining includes determining whether a first instance of a value of the personal information, detected when determining at least one of the discrepancies, is a typographical variation of a second instance of the value, and wherein the first and second instances are not a result of a common act by the client.

25. The method of claim 22, wherein the step of determining includes determining whether there is a common value, detected in first and second records of the personal information, wherein:

(i) the common value is not correct for the client, and

(ii) the first and second records are not a result of a single act by the client.

26. A method for detecting identity theft, comprising:

(A) first receiving information for identifying a client;

(B) receiving from one or more informational sources, personal client information of the client'"'"'s identity;

(C) presenting the personal client information to the client for obtaining corrected personal client information;

(D) receiving additional personal client information from the one or more informational sources; and

(E) determining whether there is a discrepancy between the corrected personal client information and the additional personal client information, wherein the discrepancy indicates incorrect data in the additional personal client information;

(F) determining, when the discrepancy is determined to exist, a result indicative of a likelihood of identity theft occurring, the result being dependent upon an evaluation of the discrepancy, the evaluation including a step of combining a plurality of weighted measurements, wherein each of the weighted measurements is indicative of a relative effectiveness for predicting whether identity theft is occurring or is likely to occur, and the measurement therefor is indicative of an occurrence of an identity theft related factor in the discrepancy;

(G) receiving, for at least one value of the result, further more detailed personal client information from the one or more informational sources or additional informational sources for assisting with identity theft analysis;

(H) determining a further likelihood of the identify theft occurring using the more detailed information; and

(I) providing the client with information related to identity theft, at least one of the transmissions occurring after determining the further likelihood.

27. The method of claim 26, wherein the step of receiving includes selecting data for requesting the further more detailed personal client information;

wherein the step of selecting is dependent upon at least one value of the result.