Financial fraud more fraught when perpetrator is known
When it comes to identity theft and other financial fraud, the perpetrator is sometimes close to home.
While people worry about having their identity or money stolen by strangers online, family, friends and acquaintances are increasingly the ones stealing and profiting from personal information, according to one survey. This creates a tricky and potentially expensive situation for victims to resolve.
Experts say theft by a family member or acquaintance is vastly underreported.
The National Crime Victimization Survey by the
Bureau of Justice Statistics from 2016 found that just 6% of all victims of identity theft knew something about the offender. But another more recent report by Javelin Research & Strategy, which surveyed 5,000 adults, found that the number of victims who knew the offender in cases of identity theft spiked to 15% in 2018 from 7% in 2017. Because victims were hesitant to report the crime, about three-quarters of these victims personally bore all or some liability for the fraud that occurred.
Experts said that victims generally do not report the fraud because they don’t want to get friends or family in trouble with the law or cause personal rifts. They often feel some shame and embarrassment that it occurred. And in some cases — such as with children or the elderly — they may be unaware or reliant upon the perpetrator.
Axton Betz-Hamilton is an authority on the topic — both personally and professionally.
Growing up, Betz-Hamilton watched her parents struggle unsuccessfully for years to resolve cases of identity theft. At 19, she discovered that her own identity had been stolen years earlier. It took Betz-Hamilton about eight years to straighten out her credit report.
The cruelest twist came after her mother’s death in 2013, when she and her father discovered that her mother had been the culprit — taking an estimated $600,000 combined from Betz-Hamilton, her father and grandfather through various misdeeds.
She has turned the formidable experience into a career. Betz -Hamilton is now an assistant professor of consumer affairs at South Dakota State University, where she focuses on issues such as family financial abuse, child identity theft and elderly financial exploitation.
She also wrote a book “The Less People Know About Us” about her personal experience.
Since the book’s publication earlier this year, Betz
make it more meaningful.
“We are now using this platform as an opportunity to help a local, lifesaving nonprofit organization and one of our customers, Simon’s Heart,” she said. “We are talking less about what we do as a company and talking about giving back,” she added.
Recent Communications will donate up to a total of 100 calls, or $500, according to Conroy.
When a caller reaches the hotline, they are greeted by an automated attendant welcoming them to the hotline and explaining the donation to Simon’s Heart. They are then given the option to select a prompt to reach their favorite character. Once the caller reaches
the character they want, they listen to a voicemail greeting and are asked a question to answer after “the beep.”
Frosty the Snowman, for example, asks callers to tell him how they dress up their favorite snowman or snowwoman; Buddy the Elf asks the caller’s favorite Christmas song to sing with family and friends; Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer asks callers to tell him their favorite games to play with family and friends; and Santa Claus asks callers what is on the top of their wish list this year.
The voicemail file is then sent via a WAV audio file to Recent Communications’ email box as part of the company’s cloud-based phone system.
Conroy said the calls — those that don’t include last names — will be shared on Recent Communications’
Facebook and Twitter social media pages throughout the month.
In 2018 the Holiday Hotline received a total of 25 calls, according to Conroy. In the first week of operation this year, the hotline looked to be on pace to surpass that number — with about 10 calls received by Wednesday, Dec. 4.
Conroy said Simon’s Heart has been a customer for about a year, and that she reached out to the organization to talk about the opportunity.
“We love their mission — they are all about children,” she said, adding that the Holiday Hotline lets people of all ages leave a message with their favorite character while helping Simon’s Heart.
The organization’s goal is to reduce the incidents of sudden cardiac arrest and death in children by changing
the cardiac standard of care to include heart screenings, and making AED devices more accessible in places where kids learn and play.
“Last year, we had many children call into our holiday hotline, with the help of their parents and guardians, of course. The holiday season is a wonderful time to teach children about the spirit of giving and with that, we felt partnering with Simon’s Heart, a child-focused organization, was a perfect fit,” she added.
In addition to adding the nonprofit connection, Conroy reached out to HoldTime Advantage, a strategic partner of Recent Communications, to see if they would like to be involved. Hold-Time Advantage works with businesses to optimize their on hold messaging.
“Hold-Time Advantage donated their talents and
had their folks record the message and the character voices.” Conroy said.
Conroy said the operation of the hotline showcases the company’s products and services in terms of getting a local phone number, getting it published, customizing an automated attendant and creating routing for incoming calls. The hotline features a prompting system, and each character has its own voice mailbox.
Recent Communications will celebrate its 20th year in business in 2020, and is a family-owned and operated full-service telecommunications company that designs, installs, and support business phone systems, VoIP services and unified communications solutions for businesses across a variety of industries.
Many of Recent Communications’ customers are headquartered in Berks,
Chester, Delaware, Montgomery and Philadelphia counties, but the company also works with customers in the Mid-Atlantic region, Conroy said, adding that they can support customers as they grow and open new offices across the country.
To leave a message for one of the characters on the Holiday Hotline call 484-552-2180. To listen to some of the Holiday Hotline messages, visit https:// www.facebook.com/recentcom/ or https://twitter.com/ RecentCom . For more information about the Recent Communications Holiday Hotline visit https://www. recentcom.com/holiday-hotline. For more information about Recent Communications visit www.recent.com.