Synthetic fraud is a form of identity theft where the perpetrator combines real and fake information to create a new identity. Instead of getting most or all of your personal and financial information to steal your identity and money, synthetic fraud only requires one piece of information, like your social security number.

With just this one piece of information, a synthetic identity thief can craft a sort of Frankenstein of financial disaster on their victim out of a social security number paired with fabricated data, like a fake address and name. The synthetic identity thief can then make fraudulent purchases and accounts with this information.

Perpetrators may use synthetic fraud for many purposes, including:

• To take out loans in their name to steal money from creditors.
• To avoid detection by the government.
• To aid and protect their criminal business, like drug or human trafficking.
• To open a credit card account.
• To build up good credit by paying off small purchases and loans so they can eventually take out a larger loan they never payback.

Protecting Yourself

Online banking and the sheer amount of personal and financial information on the internet has made synthetic fraud easier to commit, and therefore more common. In addition, crucial personal information, such as social security numbers, is available to purchase on the dark web. Luckily, there are some ways that you can protect yourself and your children from synthetic fraud:

• Freeze all of your credit. This will stop future credit fraud from happening. However, you may still be unable to prevent false tax filing or an undocumented worker receiving unemployment benefits.
• Freeze your children’s credit. This will prevent anyone from using your child’s SSN to build credit and take out loans with their SSN.
• Monitor your credit annually to ensure that your credit score is correct. Request your free credit report at least once per year.
• Subscribe to an identity protection service. They will offer protection and mitigation against any form of fraud, stopping it before it happens or lessening the consequences of having a stolen identity.
• Be vigilant and limit the information you share. As an example, avoid sharing your birthday and personal information online.
• Receiving mail regarding any random government benefits.
• Limit sharing of your social security number by using alternative methods when organizations ask for forms of identification.

You can resolve the issue by proving you are the actual individual tied to the SSN and not the thief.