
The foolproof way you can stop ID fraud - kawera
https://www.theguardian.com/money/2017/sep/23/foolproof-way-to-stop-id-fraud-credit-file-thumbprint
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kyboren
> If there was a thumbprint on the paperwork and it was not Jamieson’s, it
> would be easy for him to prove as such. And, of course, it means anyone
> trying to get a loan in his name would have to give their own thumbprint.
> Would a fraudster, when confronted with a demand for a print, really provide
> it, given that it could be passed to the police?

No, of course a fraudster would not provide his/her fingerprint. A fraudster
would simply provide _some other person 's_ fingerprint--or one made up out of
whole cloth. Further, a credit application "authenticated" with the wrong
fingerprint still does not prevent the headache of cleaning up after the
sloppy lender who was defrauded with your information. And after all, this is
the primary harm consumers experience from so-called "identity theft".

So, this idea only works properly if the fingerprint is taken directly from
the credit applicant _in person_ by a trusted agent: depending on the context,
perhaps a cell phone store clerk, a loan officer, or a public notary. And if
you're using a public notary, there is really no need for including
fingerprints in the first place.

> So what are the downsides? The biggest is that if there is a notice of
> correction on your credit file, a credit application has to be processed
> manually.

That's probably the greatest security benefit. It should also make lenders
much more cautious in general, and mitigate potential risk of
stolen/leaked/hacked (digital images of) fingerprints being used to
impersonate a person, assuming this idea becomes popular enough or that person
is a juicy enough target for it to be worth fraudsters' while. However, one's
fingerprints are still immutable, replicable, and trivial to obtain in
targeted attacks. So we arrive yet again at the conclusion that it's a better
idea simply to demand in-person verification by a trusted agent with suitable
government-issued photo ID (passport, etc.).

