Identity Theft Prevention and Resolution Self-Assessment

The following questionnaire has been developed in order to improve your customers’ ability to avoid becoming victimized by identity theft and to assist customers who have been affected by that crime. Review your procedures as you respond to these questions and consider modifications where appropriate.

Research

Find out how much money your institution lost in account takeover and fraudulent applications. The ABA’s 1998 Check Fraud Survey found that $3 out of every $4 dollars lost by a community bank to check fraud was due to some form of identity theft.

Review

Review your authentication processes and policies regarding access to data. Are they effective in helping spot and handle pretext calls? Tool 5’s pretext calling materials can help in a number of these areas.

Handling Customer Calls
  • Do you have a central number for ID theft questions/calls?
  • What advice do you give a customer when he or she calls and claims someone stole his or her identity? Beware, some calls may be pretext calls!
  • Do you provide customers with a victim’s kit, including an affidavit, control form, letters to bureau, creditor, etc. ABA’s Identity Theft Communications Kit has the elements for developing your own victim’s kit.
  • Do you advise customers to file a police report? Does your institution file a Suspicious Activity Report?
  • Who is monitoring timely responses to disputes, including investigation (e.g., compliance officer, security officer, customer service representative supervisor)?
Internal Procedures
  • Are customer contact areas equipped to respond to customer ID theft issues?
  • Do you provide your fraud/customer service areas with ID theft “red flags”?
  • Within your institution, do you share fraud alerts across your various lines of businesses?
  • When a customer advises your institution that his or her account was stolen, do you close the account immediately and issue a new card or new checks?
  • What are your procedures surrounding change of address? Do you:
  • Verify customer information prior to executing the address change?
  • Confirm change at both addresses?
  • What is the process for new check/card requests?
  • Do you notify customers of such requests made 30 days after address change?
Train

Provide general training on keeping information

confidential. See Tool 5: Training Your Employees for a manual on spotting and avoiding pretext calls. Also, last year ABA offered to members a privacy awareness video entitled Consumer Privacy Training Video. If you have not yet ordered your copy (the first is free to ABA

members), please call 1-800-BANKERS.

Communicate

Communicating with your customers is vital to preventing identity theft. ABA’s Identity Theft Communications Kit — which was sent to ABA members in July — will help you to do this and position your institution as a partner in privacy with your customers. The kit contains ideas on both the prevention and resolution side, including:

Prevention / Resolution
  • Consumer Tips
/
  • Steps to Take for Victims

  • Sample Speech
/
  • Sample Letter to Customers

  • Radio Script
/
  • Customer Account Record Worksheet

  • Sample Press Release
/
  • Customer Activity Log

  • Media Talking Points

  • Sample Advertisement

  • Sample Newsletter Article

ABA members may obtain an additional copy of the Identity Theft Communications Kit by visiting our website at or by calling 1-800-BANKERS.