While the internet has served to empower identity theft in many ways, it also poses opportunities for investigators. Online activity is a fruitful source of open-source intelligence (OSINT). Social media intelligence (SOCMINT), a subset of OSINT, can be especially useful. The difficulty lies in extracting actionable data from social platforms and incorporating it into the identity theft investigation process.
In this article, we’ll explore how new digital tools can help make accessing the wealth of information contained on social media easier, allowing LEAs to close cases faster.
Quantifying the Scale of Identity Theft
Before we dive into the how, it helps to gain an understanding of just how common identity theft is. The FTC’s 2024 Consumer Sentinel Network Data Book (the most recent report at the time of writing) recorded over 1 million identity theft complaints in that year, representing almost 1 in 5 of all complaints received.
Most of those incidents result in identity thieves opening new financial accounts or taking over old ones, with new credit card accounts alone accounting for about one-third of all reports (449,032). Other forms of identity theft that were reported included:
- Forged or fraudulently obtained driver’s licenses or other government identification
- Fraudulently claimed government benefits
- Employment, wage, or tax fraud
- Insurance or medical services fraud
- Fraudulent access to securities accounts
- Email or social media account takeovers
- Use of a stolen identity to evade the law
Software to Support the Identity Theft Investigation Process
Many frustrations within identity theft investigations can be mitigated through new data sources, such as Spokeo for Law Enforcement. These tools complement conventional law enforcement and traditional, commercially available data sources. In Spokeo’s case, data is derived from a network of thousands of public and available data sources, such as government databases and other public sources.
To illustrate how Spokeo’s advanced people-search and social media tools can contribute to the identity theft investigation process, let’s look at a few specific scenarios.
Identity Theft Resulting From a Specific Incident
Identity theft occurs as a result of many avenues, but often the victim can trace its origin to an identifiable incident, such as a phishing attack via email, text, or a post or private message on social media.
The phone number, return email, or social media account used to mount those attacks represents a potential point of vulnerability. The billions of data points accessible through Spokeo’s databases can frequently draw connections between these points of contact and the real individuals behind them, even when they’re deliberately obfuscated.
Entering the known data – a phone number, email, or social media username – into Spokeo’s search box can reveal available data that Spokeo can connect to the corresponding subject of interest. This data includes the name associated with the account, when available, as well as any additional phone numbers, email addresses, social accounts, and more.
Even professional criminals don’t always practice perfect operational security, and amateurs or first-timers committing crimes of impulse or opportunity are more frequently prone to making errors. Repeating the search process for each additional account revealed in the initial search can capture those OPSEC failures, thereby potentially linking them to a real person.
Tracing the Perpetrator of a SIM Swap or Porting-Out Attack
If identity thieves use the information gleaned from their victims to carry out a SIM swap or porting-out attack, they can impersonate the victim and persuade their phone carrier to transfer the account to a new phone. Once the thief’s phone has synced with the victim’s backups, they have full access to any accounts linked to the phone, including bank accounts, digital payment wallets, social media platforms, and cryptocurrency wallets.
If the victim’s carrier retains a record of incoming customer service calls, including the call that resulted in the successful SIM swap, that number – as in the previous example – may prove traceable through Spokeo’s phone number search.
Differentiating Between Account Takeovers and Organic Social Media Activity
Identity thieves may use a hijacked social media account to target the victim’s friends and family members. Victims often find that the social platform itself is unresponsive to their complaints, and may turn to law enforcement either from frustration or fear that the takeover of their account is part of a larger identity theft.
Comparing the suspected identity thief’s posts with the victim’s other social media accounts can help substantiate this. If the account in question has begun posting frequently about (for example) cryptocurrency investment, and that is not an interest that shows up on any of their other accounts, that discrepancy can substantiate the victim’s belief that identity theft has occurred. Spokeo can find public accounts that the victim has forgotten, or not thought of as “social media.”
New followers or connections on the suspect’s account, especially if they interact only with the identity thief’s posts, are potentially bogus “sock puppet” accounts created by the identity thief or associates. Using Spokeo for Law Enforcement to search each of these in turn can uncover available links between the accounts. They may lead back to real-world individuals, or one or more specific phones in a single geographic area. Any real persons identified through this process can be investigated further through Spokeo. Meanwhile, the phones used may be investigated through subpoenas to the phone carrier or geofence warrants that are underpinned by the location of the perpetrators’ phones.
Uncovering Insider Identity Theft
Identity theft carried out by a family member, friend, or other insider can be difficult to investigate because of the insider’s reluctance to risk relationships on an accusation that may be unfounded. If there is enough evidence to suggest that identity theft has occurred, using Spokeo’s search capabilities to vet family members could reveal wrongdoing.
Researching the social media accounts of family and friends may reveal insiders whose posts display a level of affluence that doesn’t coincide with their known income. Those leads may then be followed up through conventional means.
Zeroing In on a Person of Interest
Once a person of interest has been identified as a potential identity thief, Spokeo for Law Enforcement provides several avenues for further investigation. Searching the newly uncovered name can provide a wealth of information, including current and former addresses, any phone numbers and email addresses openly connected to the individual, and a listing of the person’s public social media accounts and associated usernames.
Spokeo’s social search spans 120+ platforms. Criminals are often surprisingly unguarded in their public posts, even on better-known platforms, and in less formal settings (such as in-game chat) may explicitly brag about their activities. Following them up through conventional investigative methods can result in verifiable evidence and ultimate convictions.
Securing Crucial Technological Assistance
The advantages of state-of-the-art intelligence-gathering are easy to grasp in a real-world setting. For a deeper look at Spokeo for Law Enforcement and its utility in uncovering identity theft, reach out to our team through the contact information on our Law Enforcement page. Our team will be happy to answer your questions, arrange a demonstration, or set up a no-cost, hands-on trial.
The product is available on cost-effective subscription plans to meet the budget of law enforcement agencies, large or small.
Sources
US Federal Trade Commission: 2024 Consumer Sentinel Network Data Book
US Bureau of Justice Statistics: Victims of Identity Theft, 2021
US Federal Bureau of Investigation: Seeking Victims in Identity Theft Investigation
Identity Theft Resource Center: When You Personally Know the Identity Thief: What are Your Options When You Know the Imposter?
Stripe: Six Types of Payment Fraud – and How Businesses can Prevent Them
US Social Security Administration, Office of the Inspector General: Social Security Administration’s Role in Combatting Identity Fraud
American Police Beat: Fraudsters Arrested After Hacking Into Cellphones and Social Media Accounts to Steal Cryptocurrency, Highlights New “SIM-swapping” Scheme