identity theft godwin oyedokun

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IDENTITY THEFT: A GROWING EPIDEMIC? WE ARE ALL VULNERABLE Godwin Emmanuel, Oyedokun HND (Acct.), BSc. (Acct. Ed), MBA (Acct. & Fin.), MSc. (Acct.), MSc. (Bus & Econs.), MSc. (FACI), MTP (SA), ACA, FCTI, ACIB, MNIM, CNA, FCFIP, FCE, FERP, CICA, CFA, CFE, CIPFA, CPFA, ABR, CertIFR [email protected] +2348033737184, +2348055863944 & +2348095419026 President, ACFE Lagos Chapter Partner, Audit and Forensic Services Ibraheem Jimoh & Co Chartered Accountants Being a lecture delivered at the January edition of the monthly Meeting of members of ICAN Lagos Mainland & District Society, held at the RAILWAY RECREATION CLUB, beside Lagos Mainland Local Government Secretariat, APAPA ROAD, Oyingbo, Lagos On January 21, 2017

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Page 1: Identity theft   godwin oyedokun

IDENTITY THEFT: A GROWING EPIDEMIC?

WE ARE ALL VULNERABLE

Godwin Emmanuel, Oyedokun

HND (Acct.), BSc. (Acct. Ed), MBA (Acct. & Fin.), MSc. (Acct.), MSc. (Bus & Econs.), MSc. (FACI),

MTP (SA), ACA, FCTI, ACIB, MNIM, CNA, FCFIP, FCE, FERP, CICA, CFA, CFE, CIPFA, CPFA,

ABR, CertIFR

[email protected]

+2348033737184, +2348055863944 & +2348095419026

President, ACFE Lagos Chapter

Partner, Audit and Forensic Services

Ibraheem Jimoh & Co Chartered Accountants

Being a lecture delivered at the January edition of the monthly Meeting of members of ICAN Lagos Mainland & District Society, held at the RAILWAY RECREATION CLUB, beside Lagos Mainland Local

Government Secretariat, APAPA ROAD, Oyingbo, Lagos On January 21, 2017

Page 2: Identity theft   godwin oyedokun

INTRODUCTION

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INTRODUCTION

According to the Federal Trade Commission,

identity theft was the number one fraud

complaint during calendar year 2008.

And limiting your use of your personal computer

may not help much: a study released by Javelin

Strategy and Research reported that in 2009,

most identity thefts were taking place offline, not

online -- just the opposite of what many of us

here present might think.

One other troubling finding: the study found that

43 percent of all identity thefts are committed by

someone the victim knows.

Page 4: Identity theft   godwin oyedokun

INTRODUCTION

The methods criminals use to steal personal information change frequently, particularly those that exploit technology.

In addition, while identity theft leads to billions of dollars in losses each year, we consumers aren’t necessarily on the hook for the full tab.

In fact, financial institutions assume most of the liability for spending-related fraud.

This paper does not in any way pretend to cover all aspect of Identity theft, but it will do justice to the salient issues that would help us all as participants in taking extra care in our dealing either as corporate organisation or individual.

The rest of this paper would explore the meaning of identity theft and identity fraud, how it is being perpetrated, how to protect ourselves, how to detect same and what to do if it is established.

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IDENTITY THEFT AND IDENTITY FRAUD:

DEFINITIONS

Page 6: Identity theft   godwin oyedokun

IDENTITY THEFT AND IDENTITY FRAUD:

DEFINITIONS

Identity theft: Identity theft happens when fraudsters

access enough information about someone’s identity (such as

their name, date of birth, current or previous addresses) to

commit identity fraud.

Identity theft can take place whether the fraud victim is

alive or deceased.

Identity theft can lead to fraud that can have a direct impact

on personal finance and could also make it difficult for one to

obtain loans, credit cards or a mortgage until the matter is

resolved.

Identity fraud: Identity fraud can be described as the use

of that stolen identity in criminal activity to obtain goods or

services by deception.

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USES OF IDENTITY DETAILS

Fraudsters can use identity details to:

Open bank accounts.

Obtain credit cards, loans and state benefits.

Order goods in your name.

Take over your existing accounts.

Take out mobile phone contracts.

Obtain genuine documents such as passports and driving licences in your name.

Stealing an individual’s identity details does not, on its own, constitute identity fraud, but using that identity for any of the above activities does.

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FINANCIAL INSTITUTION AND THE

BURDEN OF LOSS

Consumer information is readily available via the

Internet and criminals engaged in a continuous

game of technological one-upmanship with law

enforcement, one wonder what the future holds for

our financial security.

Will sophisticated fraudsters be able to overcome

advances in voice and fingerprint recognition once

the technology ultimately becomes cost-effective for

mainstream use?

Will financial institutions continue to eat the losses

deriving from unauthorized transactions, or will

liability shift more to the consumer at some point?

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STEMMING IDENTITY THEFT IN NIGERIA

In Nigeria, we are familiar with online payment platforms -

Quickteller, Virtual Terminal Network, PocketMoni, InterSwitch –

as well as the use of automated teller machines (ATM) in

facilitating e-commerce.

But with the increased flexibility in handling transactions comes

the added cyber challenge of identity theft or credit card theft

Lack of a central and unique electronic identification system has

made it virtually impossible to authenticate a specific user in a

uniform fashion across services/platforms.

The NIMC Act is an option in dealing with some threats to our ICT

infrastructures and a way out in dealing with identity theft.

The Commission was established to “establish, own, operate,

maintain and manage the National Identity Database in Nigeria”

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FACT ABOUT IDENTITY THEFT FACTS

Common Victims Ski and Play Tennis

Major credit bureau Experian found the common activities of people who were more often victimized by identity theft to have involved in any of the following activities:

Skiing

Tennis

Politics

Cultural/arts

Foreign travel

Charities/volunteering

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FACT ABOUT IDENTITY THEFT FACTS

One in 700 thieves are Caught

Most Common thieves are your family

Million Records Exposed in Data Breaches

Common Victims are Children & Deceased

Smartphone Owners’ Habits Increase Chance of

Fraud

Victims need five full weeks off to restore Identity

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HOW IDENTITY THEFT ARE COMMITTED

The human imagination and creativity are endless when it comes

to stealing things,” says Peter Keane, dean emeritus and professor

at the Golden Gate University College of Law.

Identity thieves commit their crime in several ways:

Your Trash

Your Mail

Phishing

Skimming

Straightforward Theft

Conning

Address Manipulation

Information given away

Dumpster diving

Shoulder surfing

Wallet or document theft

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HOW IDENTITY THEFT ARE COMMITTED

Bogus phone calls

Pretexting

Business record theft

Malware

Spam

Spear phishing

Hacking

Restaurants

Data Breaches

Hacked Shopping Sites

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PROTECTION AGAINST IDENTITY/THEFT

AND FRAUD

The following are also recommended for adequate protection against

the risk of identity theft and fraud:

Don’t throw out anything with your name, address or financial

details without shredding it first.

If you receive an unsolicited email or phone call from what appears

to be your bank or building society asking for your security details,

never reveal your full password, login details or account numbers.

Be aware that a bank will never ask for your PIN or for a whole

security number or password.

If you are concerned about the source of a call, wait five minutes

and call your bank from a different telephone making sure there is

a dialling tone.

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PROTECTION AGAINST IDENTITY/THEFT

AND FRAUD

Check your statements carefully and report anything suspicious to

the bank or financial service provider concerned.

Don’t leave things like bills lying around for others to look at.

If you’re expecting a bank or credit card statement and it doesn’t

arrive, tell your bank or credit card company.

The three credit reference agencies offer a credit report checking

service to alert you to any key changes on your credit file that

could indicate potential fraudulent activity.

It is particularly helpful to check your personal credit file 2-3

months after you have moved house.

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WHAT TO DO AS A VICTIM OF

IDENTITY FRAUD

The victim of identity fraud should:

Act quickly

Report it to your bank as soon as possible.

Report the matter to the relevant organisation

Depending on their advice, you should then alert your local police force

Report all lost or stolen documents

Get a copy of your credit report

Look at your credit report closely

The credit reference agencies will contact lenders on your behalf where fraudulent applications have been made or fraudulent credit accounts opened in order to restore your credit history to its former state.

Page 17: Identity theft   godwin oyedokun

HOW TO PREVENT IDENTITY THEFT

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HOW TO PREVENT IDENTITY THEFT Preventing identity theft starts with managing your personal information

carefully and sensibly. The following among others are recommended

precautions to keep your personal information safe:

Only carry essential documents with you

Keep new cheques out of the mail

Be careful when giving out personal information over the phone

Your trash is their treasure

Make sure others are keeping you safe

Stay on top of your credit

Protect your Social Security Number

Follow your credit card billing cycles closely

Keep a list of account numbers, expiration dates and telephone

numbers filed away

Create passwords or PIN numbers out of a random mix of letters and

numbers

Page 19: Identity theft   godwin oyedokun

HOW TO PREVENT IDENTITY THEFT

Commit all passwords to memory.

When using an ATM machine, make sure no one is hovering over

you and can see you enter your password.

When participating in an online auction, try to pay the seller

directly with a credit card so you can dispute the charges if the

merchandise does not arrive or was misrepresented

Adopt an attitude of healthy skepticism toward websites that

offer prizes or giveaways.

Choose a commercial online service that offers parental control

features

Page 20: Identity theft   godwin oyedokun

HOW TO PREVENT IDENTITY THEFT

Tell your children never to give out their address telephone

number password school name or any other personal information.

Make sure your children know to never agree to meet face-to-face

with someone they have met online without discussing it with

you.

Tell your children never to respond to messages that have bad

words, are scary, or just seem weird.

Tell your children never to enter an area that charges for services

without asking you first.

Tell children never send a picture of themselves to anyone

without your permission.

Make sure that access to the Internet at your children’s school is

monitored by adults.

Page 21: Identity theft   godwin oyedokun

CONCLUSION

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SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION

Identity theft is the fastest growing crime in

Nigeria, the truth of the matter is that the so called

developed country have also recorded the highest

number of cases in the time past, and it is currently

the most common consumer complaint.

Identity theft costs victims a lot of money, stress and

time, but impostors show no mercy as they continue

to find new and more sophisticated ways to commit

the crime (bestidtheftcompanys.com).

Page 23: Identity theft   godwin oyedokun

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION

Identity theft can cost you a lot of money as well as create

confusion across the breadth of your life, but despite the horror

stories, you have to wonder how prevalent identity theft

actually is as well as what you can do to prevent it (Odysseas

Papadimitriou, 2013).

Identity theft and fraud are terrifying prospects for consumers,

as they can lead to financial losses and credit score damage.

However, these types of crime are far less common than you

might think, and you can further reduce the likelihood of

falling victim to them by taking a few commonsense measures

to protect your personal information.

Page 24: Identity theft   godwin oyedokun

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION

Distinguished members of my District (ICAN

LMDS), I can confirm to you that we are all

venerable because the issue of identity theft has

became growing epidemic and sure, exercising

common sense will always be your best defence

against identity thieves, the hope is that advances in

identity verification will also make life more difficult

for criminals in the future.

Conferences and or training of this nature would

help our members and continue to shape their

consciousness while implementing safety measure or

investing cases of identity theft.

Page 25: Identity theft   godwin oyedokun

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION

Take credit card transactions, for example. Steven

Myers, an assistant professor of informatics and

computing at the Indiana University have this to

say: “A credit-card is supposed to identify the

person, but it is easy to imagine the deployment of

technology which uses a camera to perform facial

recognition, a mic to perform voice recognition, etc.,”

“Right now those technologies are very expensive,

but research is going on to bring down the cost of

biometric measures, so that should bring down

identity theft a lot.” (Swapnoneel Roy, an assistant

professor with the University of North

Florida’s School of Computing)

Page 26: Identity theft   godwin oyedokun

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION

Still, we can’t expect identity theft to disappear

altogether, in part because the potential payoff will

always allure criminals and in part because we are

increasingly putting more and more of our personal

information online for the world to see.

Vijay Kanabar, an associate professor of computer

science and administrative services at Boston

University also stated that “the biggest disturbing

trend in identity theft will definitely be social media,

as there will be no privacy.”

Page 27: Identity theft   godwin oyedokun

CASES

Ayo Animashaun victim of identity theft

The HipTv boss made this known on July 2015 when he announced on

Instagram that an impostor is trying to rip off up and coming artistes by

demanding payment for airing their music videos on his programme.

Another Ayo Animashaun impersonating him. He charges and collects money

on behalf of HipTv. This guy mirrors all his posts, It won’t be surprised if he

reposts this to confuse people. His original Facebook account has over 4,800

friends as opposed to the fake account.

TV personality, Ayo Animashaun

Page 28: Identity theft   godwin oyedokun

CASES

Nigerian Woman in UK Arrested for Identity Theft

Oluwaseun Adenubi, a 30 year old Nigerian woman in the UK, has been

arrested by the UK authorities and charged with identity theft.

It was discovered that she stole the identity of another Nigerian-British born

woman so as to have her needs and those of her baby, taken care of by that

country’s tax payers.

This is according to reports by Daily Mail. Adenubi posed as Rita Ogunkunle to

obtain free NHS medical care during the delivery of her son Moses, and also

got a £3,500 payment in the process.

In addition to that she has been receiving about £9000/year in state handouts

while living in the east London suburb.

She also allowed Ogunkunle, 32, and partner Michael Adebambo, 46, to

register as Moses’s parents to get him free NHS care and a UK passport, a

court heard.

Page 29: Identity theft   godwin oyedokun

CASES

Nigerian twist #1: Trust me — send no money

The scam: In London, England, a would-be renter is fooled into believing she’s

dealing with a legitimate apartment owner when he tells her there’s no need to

send an advance payment to him.

The cunning crook spins a story about having trouble with previous renters

and wanting proof of her ability to pay. But he suggests she should send some

money — about $2500 — as an electronic payment to a friend or relative of her

choice.

That way, he says, it will prove she has the money but it will remain safe.

Here’s the catch: as proof of payment, he asks for a scanned copy of the

transfer payment. A while later, posing as the friend or relative, he uses this

copy to collect the money from a Western Union office.

The solution: It’s not clear if Western Union was fooled into thinking the

document was an original or if they will pay out on presentation of a copy. All

they would say is that they are investigating the scam.

Meanwhile, the message is clear: not only should you not send electronic

payments to someone you don’t know and trust but also don’t send them a copy

either.

Page 30: Identity theft   godwin oyedokun

CASES

Nigerian twist #2: Send me the stuff — I’ll use PayPal

The scam: Wise to the use of forged checks and stolen credit cards to pay for

items they’re selling, many vendors using services like eBay and Craigslist

now insist they’ll only accept payments via PayPal, especially to buyers who

ask for shipment overseas — usually to Africa.

Fine. But what happens when you get an email apparently from PayPal saying

your account has now been credited with the money you’re awaiting?

Well, if you don’t independently check your account, you may have just

received a fake message that’s not from PayPal at all.

It’s easy to do if the buyer gets your email address and it’s just as easy for

scammers to design a message that looks like the real thing. And that’s what

they’re now doing in a big way.

The solution: Simple. As suggested above, check your PayPal account to

make sure the money really is there.

Page 31: Identity theft   godwin oyedokun

CASES Nigerian twist #3: It’s OK — we’re the FBI, um, the President

The scam: A resident of North Kenai, Alaska, sniffs out a scam when she

receives a $30,000 check, supposedly from the Central Bank of Nigeria, and is

told to take 10% and forward the rest. She doesn’t.

Later she gets what seems to be an email from the FBI. It says they’ve been

monitoring her email and investigating the bank and “confirmed your contract

payment is 100% genuine and hitch free.”

She still doesn’t bite, so a couple of days later the scammers send another

message, this time from the “United Nations 2007 Compensations Payments

Directive” saying the Nigerian government is concerned about its image and

the President wants to pay the woman $300,000 compensation to redeem its

good name!

Now, of course, they just want her bank details so they can forward the money.

She doesn’t fall for that either.

The solution: Talk about persistence! As usual, the warnings here are that you

don’t get money for nothing, never wire cash to someone you don’t know, and

don’t give your bank details to someone you don’t know — even someone who

says he’s the President of Nigeria!

Page 32: Identity theft   godwin oyedokun

THANKS FOR LISTENING

Page 33: Identity theft   godwin oyedokun

REFERENCES

Arowosaiye Y. I, (2013) “The New Phenomenon of Phishing, Credit Card Fraud, Identity Theft, Internet Piracy and Nigerian Criminal Law” available at http://www.unilorin.edu.ng/publications/arowosayeyi/THE_NEW_PHENOMENON_OF_PHISHING.pdf accessed 14/01/2013

http://www.actionfraud.police.uk/fraud_protection/identity_fraud

http://www.nigerianlawtoday.com/2013/01/stemming-identity-theft-in-nigeria_16.html

http://www.ncpc.org/topics/fraud-and-identity-theft/tips-to-prevent-identity-theft

http://www.nigeriacreditreport.com/services/creditadvice/identitytheft.htm

http://www.ncpc.org/topics/fraud-and-identity-theft/tips-to-prevent-identity-theft

http://www.nigeriacreditreport.com/services/creditadvice/identitytheft.htm

https://www.dia.govt.nz/Identity---How-does-identity-theft-happen

https://www.transunion.com/personal-credit/identity-theft-and-fraud/how-to-prevent-identity-theft.page

Papadimitriou, O (2013). Identity Theft: What It Is, How It Happens & the Best Protection

Downloaded from http://www.cardhub.com/edu/identity-theft/

Leamy, E. (2008). How Identity Theft Happens and How to Protect Yourself: downloaded from http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/story?id=4766894&page=1

Sid Kirchheimer (2013). 10 Ways to Prevent Identity Theft: Downloaded 11/11/2015 on from http://www.aarp.org/money/scams-fraud/info-09-2013/prevent-identity-theft.html

www.nimc.gov.ng

10 Shocking ID Theft Facts of 2012 downloaded on 11/11/2015 from http://bestidtheftcompanys.com/10-shocking-id-theft-facts-of-2012

http://www.scambusters.org/nigerianscams.html

http://jaguda.com/2015/08/11/nigerian-woman-in-uk-arrrested-for-identity-theft/

http://thenationonlineng.net/ayo-animashaun-victim-of-identity-theft/

http://wreg.com/2015/11/08/bartlett-woman-charged-with-identity-theft-stealing-362k-from-employer/