6 Ways Your Clients Can Spot Identity Fraud Before It Happens

We all play a role in helping reduce risk, prevent identity fraud and minimize loss in both our businesses and personal lives. As a lender, preventing identity fraud and theft in your business can help you acquire new clients and grow your credit portfolio. 

According to a recent survey conducted by Equifax Canada for Fraud Prevention Month, you can help protect your business by educating your clients on how to spot identity fraud and prevent potential theft before it happens. 

 

How lenders can educate their clients to help prevent identity fraud 

 

Check your caller ID

As the COVID-19 pandemic has changed the way Canadians work, learn, shop, and interact, 70 per cent of those surveyed say they are screening their calls more to avoid calls from fraudsters. Sixty-three per cent say they’re receiving these calls more frequently since the beginning of the pandemic. 

Review your credit card statements

Sixty-nine per cent of Canadians surveyed are reviewing their credit card and bank statements more closely for signs of fraud. Notably, women, people aged 55+, and Quebecers are significantly more likely to check their statements more often for signs of identity fraud.  

Be safe online and change your passwords

More than half of survey respondents (53 per cent) are changing their online passwords more often. “It can be as simple as creating a monthly reminder to change your passwords, double-checking financial statements, and shredding those documents versus putting them in the recycling where a dumpster diver could find them,” says Julie Kuzmic, Equifax Canada’s Senior Compliance Officer, Consumer Advocacy.

Check your credit report

Checking your credit report remains one of the best ways to spot identity fraud. Roughly four-in-ten respondents are checking their credit reports more (45 per cent). Quebecers are significantly more likely to have checked their credit reports more often than people in other parts of Canada. 

Be mindful of your location

Not only are Quebecers more likely to have checked their credit reports more often, they also feel they are getting more fraudulent calls, and feel more at risk to theft and identity fraud compared to those in the rest of Canada. 

Enable two-factor verification to protect against identity fraud

Two-factor authentication is a method of verifying a person’s identity by using an additional factor such as sending a PIN via email or text. It is becoming more popular with 35 per cent of consumers using it now versus 26 per cent two years ago. Nearly eight-in-ten Canadian respondents (78 per cent) say they would be more likely to choose an organization/retailer that used multiple steps to protect their information against fraud.

While most Canadians (77 per cent) are taking multiple steps to protect their personal information, more than half wouldn’t know what to do if there was theft or identity fraud committed in their name. This presents a big opportunity for Canadian lenders to step into the spotlight and help educate their clients about how to spot identity fraud as well as help minimize risk and loss in your business.

We want to help Canadians live their financial best. If you want to learn more about how understanding fraud trends can help acquire more customers, minimize portfolio risk and reduce loss related to fraud, please contact your Equifax Account Representative. You can also reach us directly at 1-855-233-9226 and follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn.  

Source: Equifax Canada Survey for Fraud Prevention Month

 

This article is published by Equifax Canada Co.® 2021 All rights reserved. No part of this article may be reproduced, copied or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a retrieval system of any nature, without the prior permission of Equifax Canada Co. This article is for informational purposes only and is not intended to be legal advice.