ZipID parent company, Veda’s 2016 Cybercrime and Fraud Report has revealed identity fraud in Australia is up 80% over the past year.
Identity takeover is the fastest growing type of fraud reported. It is where a genuine identity is stolen from an individual and misused for financial gain.
25% of Australians have been a victim of identity theft, +17% year-on-year.
What are the insights this trend points to for property lawyers and conveyancers?
Face to face plays a vital role in risk management
The fundamental reason that VOI ‘safe harbour’ requires a face to face interview process is to help ensure that the person you are transacting with is in fact the same person shown in their identity documents.
The VOI Standard combines a face to face meeting with original identity documents. This is designed to provide a robust level of scrutiny to combat fraud risks including identity takeover. A high and consistent level of rigour is especially important for land transactions given the principle of indefeasibility and the costs involved in remedying land title fraud.
Secure storage of identity details is a social responsibility
Identity takeover is fuelled by insecure data storage practices which give criminals access to the details they need to steal a person’s identity.
Best practice data security techniques as used by ZipID include encryption of stored client identity information and strict access controls using secure logins and audit trails. These types of methods are essential to ensure your firm does not become a source of data breach compromise.
As part of the Veda Group, ZipID’s market leading ‘come to you’ identity verification agency service and VOI App help protect organisations and individuals against the risks of identity fraud.
To learn more about using ZipID for VOI either by your team or by us meeting your clients contact support@zipid.com.au.
