Citation[]
Government Accountability Office, Highlights of a Forum: Combating Synthetic Identity Fraud (GAO-17-708SP) (July 26, 2017) (full-text).
Overview[]
According to experts, synthetic identity fraud (SIF) has grown significantly in the last five years and has resulted in losses exceeding hundreds of millions of dollars to the financial industry in 2016. A key component of synthetic identities is SSNs — the principal identifier in the credit reporting system. The GAO convened and moderated a diverse panel of 14 experts on February 15, 2017 to discuss: how criminals create synthetic identities; the magnitude of the fraud; and issues related to preventing and detecting SIF and prosecuting criminals.