Identity theft becomes big business

WASHINGTON, Dec. 12 (UPI) -- A Washington privacy consultant says identity theft has become a money-maker for financial institutions.

Robert Gellman said measures to detect fraud bring in a lot of business from consumers looking to protect their assets, The New York Times reported Tuesday.

"Identity theft has essentially become a business -- not just for bad guys but for good guys, too," said Robert Gellman, a privacy consultant in Washington. "A lot of the people that are involved in profiting legally from identity theft are direct participants in the whole credit system that doesn't have the protections in place to prevent identity theft in the first place."

Credit monitoring services like Equifax, Experian and TransUnion have become a near billion-dollar industry thanks to consumers who wish to be notified when lenders request their credit files. The request is usually an indicator that a credit application has been made in the consumer's name.

The major credit bureaus also offer to sell the files they make available to lenders -- including applications for credit, new accounts or balance changes -- to consumers, but at inflated prices.