As instances of synthetic identity fraud—through which fraudsters create new identities out of pieces of real or fictitious information—become more prevalent, the Federal Reserve this week released a toolkit to help banks and consumers mitigate risks associated with this type of fraud. The toolkit includes downloadable resources explaining the basics of synthetic identity fraud, how fraudsters use synthetic identities and how to identify synthetic identities. The Fed said it will add new resources to the toolkit in the future, including more on synthetic identity fraud detection and mitigation.
Consumer sentiment rose in January
The University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index increased 6.6% in January compared to the month prior, landing at 56.4, according to final results for the month.
