ID Analytics, a consumer risk management firm, found that 16% of the nation is engaging in improper identity.
For the first time, a national study was conducted to determine the number of people who are explicitly manipulating identity information such as a variation of Social Security numbers and improper names and dates of birth. The study found approximately 45 million people who have deliberately changed their identities in applications for credit, cell phone service, auto loans or other credit transactions.
According to the study, eight million people are using two or more SSNs. There are 16 million people who are using multiple dates of births, as well as 10 million people who manipulated their identities by including their spouse’s information into their own identity.
The top three identity manipulators in the country used a total of 417 SSNs.
“Deliberate identity manipulation is far more prevalent than we imagined. We aren’t including people using nicknames or making a typo on a Social Security number or date of birth, but rather repeated and intentional alteration of key identity elements, in some cases by spouses and parents,” said Stephen Coggeshall, chief technology officer for ID Analytics. “The study uncovered fraudsters, people manipulating their identity to hide in plain sight, as well as those seeking to avoid poor credit ratings. We’re just beginning to get insight into the range of modes underlying identity manipulation—it is a fruitful area for further research.”
The worst cities for identity manipulation are metro areas in Michigan, including Detroit, Flint and Lansing, the study said. The Texas cities of Dallas, Houston, Corpus Christi, El Paso and McAllen were also some of the top areas for fraud.
“While there is extensive research on the crime of identity fraud and its victims, there is far less on the actual perpetrators of the crime,” Coggeshall said. “Now for the first time, there is a comprehensive view of who identity manipulators are, where they are living and specifically how they are manipulating their personal information.”
