Identity Resolution Daily

[Post from Infoglide] Identity Resolution Daily - One Year Later . . . or Thereabouts

“Well, here we are feeling like the stereotypical bad husband. We can’t believe we missed our first year anniversary. I guess a couple dozen long stemmed roses are in order.”

b-eye.com - Business Intelligence Network: Master Data Management Readiness

“The selection and purchase of a core master data management system should be the culmination of a series of preparatory steps that are described in this article.”

newsday.com: NYPD arrests 15 suspected in car insurance fraud

“The 13 people were arrested Tuesday on insurance fraud and grand larceny charges stemming from at least five wrecks. Two suspects are still at large. Police say the ring targeted car insurance companies, taking advantage of a state law that entitles people involved in a crash to $50,000 worth of medical benefits. . . . Police are investigating whether the clinics were in on the scam.”

DataFlux Community of Experts: CIO Forum

“This time, I am on my way to be a panel member at a local CIO Forum. . . . Data integration, and data quality issues are going to be on the top of the list for this discussion.”

supermarket.co.za: ‘E-Fencing’ Is Growing Wave In Organized Crime

“These losses are clearly affecting retailers’ bottom lines. According to the survey, organized crime accounts for approximately $30 billion in retail losses every year. As a result, retailers are also spending more to ward off these detrimental incidents. In fact, the average retailer spends approximately $230,000 per year on labor costs, the study said. This price tag can hit $1 million a year at larger chains that are constant organized retail crime (ORC) targets.”

Data Governance and Data Quality Insider: Get Smart about Your Data Quality Projects

“With all due respect to Agent Maxwell Smart, there is a mini battle between good and evil, CONTROL and KAOS, happening in many busy, fast-growing corporations. It is, of course, with information quality. Faster growing companies are more vulnerable to chaos because by opening up new national and international divisions, expanding through acquisition, manufacturing offshore, and doing all the other things that an aggressive company does, it leads to more misalignment and more chaotic data. While a company may have a strong desire to ‘own the world’ or at least their market, they may wind up owning chaos and disorder instead - in the form of disparate data.”

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DailyRecord.co.uk: Insurance firms cracking down on fraud

“With fraudulent claims on the up, companies are cracking down on false claims. According to RSA, data from any false policy claim will now be shared with other companies through the Insurance Fraud Bureau (IFB). John Beadle, RSA’s counter fraud manager, said: ‘The reality is that insurance fraud adds a significant amount to overall claim costs and it’s the honest policyholders who are the true victims. ‘Fraud adds five per cent onto their insurance bills.”

DMReview.com: Quality Control - Sanjay Rao transforms Identity Systems’ focus from identity matching to data quality

“With backgrounds in both finance and software engineering, Rao immediately took over as general manager at the identity matching pure-play, making him the highest-ranking person with direct hands on the company. As the inside and outside face of the organization, Rao has since overseen eight quarters of strong growth, including almost doubled revenue and profitability. Most lately, Rao has spearheaded Identity Systems’ push into the broader data quality market, as he recently explained to DM Review Editorial Director Jim Ericson.”

b-eye.com - Business Intelligence Network - Blog: Claudia Imhoff: First Steps in Operational BI

“Operational BI is becoming quite the buzz today. There are countless articles, tips, vendors with operational BI offerings, case studies, etc., available today. Yet, I still get asked the very basic question of how do you get started. What are the first steps? Well, here are my thoughts on how to get started…”

ITWeb: Informatica reports record first quarter results

“Significant milestones achieved since January 2008 include: * Announced definitive agreement to acquire Identity Systems, a pioneer in identity resolution and matching technology.”

CIO - Blog: Why Storage and Data Management Will Kick Your Butt

“So what say these IT professions? The ‘Crunch Time’ study concludes that most IT organizations ‘are not equipped to handle periods of intense data flow,’ despite the majority of respondents saying they know that the data tsunamis are coming in the next year.”

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[Post from Infoglide] When Your Business Knowledge of Identity Theft Gets Personal

“Identity theft is a scary aspect in both the business world and your own personal life. When those two worlds blend and it touches your child, the knowledge you’ve gained about fraud risk becomes the foremost thought in your mind, and you automatically fear the worst-case scenario.”

Yahoo! Finance: Informatica’s Acquisition of Nokia’s Identity Systems Completed

“Nokia (NYSE: NOK - News) and Informatica Corporation (NASDAQ: INFA - News) today announced that Informatica, the leading independent provider of data integration software, has completed the acquisition of Identity Systems, which was initially announced on April 17, 2008.”

The Wall Street Journal: Getting in Line: Fliers Self-Sort At Security

“In an effort to ease traveler anxiety and maybe even improve airport security, the Transportation Security Administration is rolling out a new setup where fliers are asked to self-segregate into different screening lanes depending on their security prowess. There are lanes for ‘Expert Travelers,’ who know the drill cold; ‘Casual Travelers,’ who run the airport gauntlet infrequently; and people with small children or special needs who move slowly through screening.”

The 451 Group (free registration required): Informatica buys itself a new identity with its $85m purchase of Identity Systems

“Rumors have continued to swirl around Informatica (Nasdaq: INFA) as a candidate ripe for acquisition. But the company’s announcement on April 17 to buy Identity Systems, a Nokia (NYSE: NOK) subsidiary, to expand its data integration portfolio places it more in the acquirer camp than the target camp – at least for now. . . . Infoglide Software is probably the best known of the independent players in the identity resolution sector, which has clearly consolidated a great deal over the past few years. Could Infoglide now be a target for acquisition from a vendor with fervent ambitions in data integration, MDM and BI such as Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) or SAS Institute?”

Save Borrow Spend: Many Brits do not think fraud is wrong, research suggests

“A total of 1.2 million Brits do not think it is wrong to tell a lie when making an insurance claim, according to a new study from RSA.”

OnStrategies Perspectives: Not Your Father’s Data Cleansing

“Admittedly, you could do a more primitive form of the same task with a traditional name/address verification tool; however getting rough matches is not the same thing as providing authoritative answers when you deal with names that are common, such as Smith or Jones in North America, or for that matter Bin Laden in the Mideast. Similarly, having versions of name/address verification tools in different languages isn’t new either. But again, this all child’s play compared to the challenge of verifying identity, which requires pattern matching that also accounts for context, not to mention real-time search capabilities (most data quality tools have traditionally been batch-driven). Demand for identity verification capabilities is obvious, given the plagues of identity theft, financial fraud, and world terrorism, not to mention more positive goals such as providing real-time credit verifications or managing patient electronic health records for care that may be delivered through multiple entities.”

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Retail Solutions Online: Return Fraud & Abuse Costs Retailers More Than $15.5B

“The survey found that nearly 70 percent of the respondents specified that it is an important issue to their company, and the majority of retailers – 64 percent – report that focusing on reducing refund fraud is a high priority. However, there is clearly a performance gap because two-thirds of retailers believe that their current return policies and systems are ‘ineffective’ or only ’somewhat’ effective in deterring return fraud and abuse. That indicates that there is still much room for improvement on the issue.”

Hub Solution Designs Blog: Next Week’s DIG Conference

“While I think it’s true that MDM is in fact needed at most large organizations, having to coordinate with an already-underway SOA initiative, or step back from a planned BI initiative and first tackle MDM, does complicate things a bit. So that’s the ‘problem’ part. The ‘opportunity’ part is that, for organizations that have the foresight or the luck to tackle MDM first, it makes implementing SOA or achieving business intelligence success that much easier.”

NBC 29: Insurance Fraud Costing Virginians Thousands of Dollars

“Insurance fraud is the second most common and costly white collar crime in the country. It costs the economy nearly $85 billion a year.”

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[Post from Infoglide] More Than “Nice”: Identity Resolution is Core to MDM

“Writing about Informatica’s acquisition of Identity Systems, industry expert Jill Dyche offers a great perspective on MDM. This author of a number of very useful books on MDM, CRM, and data warehousing shared in a recent post that she sees the acquisition by Informatica as a good one for the company and the industry.”

DataFlux Community of Experts: Privacy and Data Governance

“At the recent data governance executive briefings that I participated in with Scott Gidley from DataFlux, one of the examples that came up in conversation regarding data governance was that of data privacy.”

WFAA.com: Organized retail theft rings work stores

“Retailers say organized packs of shoplifters are sweeping shelves clean, then reselling stolen goods on eBay or at flea markets. ‘We have not seen regular shoplifting rise over the last several weeks or months because of inflation,’ said Kroger spokesman Garry Huddleston. ‘What we have seen increase is organized retail crime.’”

Today’s THV: MLK Commissioners Defend Director Linked To Fraud Ring

“The state’s insurance commissioner said last week that the state could pursue charges against DuShun Scarbrough, who began working for the commission in March. Scarbrough has not been charged with a crime, but court papers filed by the state say he received more than $19,000 in false insurance claims for accidents tied to the ring.”

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Softpedia: Nokia Sells Identity Systems to Informatica

“‘After thorough consideration, Nokia decided that Identity Systems’ business has a much bigger potential as part of Informatica since identity resolution is a key part of many data quality and data integration initiatives,’ declared Tom Furlong, SVP, Services & Software, Nokia.”

The Eagle-Tribune Online: Court document alleges how auto fraud scam worked

“Ortega noted that Kaplan had his own guidelines pertaining to the accidents: His rate was $250 apiece. He didn’t want more than three people in any accident vehicle. He also instructed runners to avoid certain insurance companies because their accident investigators tended to be more thorough than other insurers.”

delaware online: Police seek man suspected in DVD theft

“A 24-year-old Wilmington man is wanted by state police for allegedly trying to sell $600 worth of stolen DVDs to a retail store in Brandywine Hundred. State police said Joseph W. Nester, of the 200 block of N. DuPont St., will be charged under a recently enacted statute, ‘Organized retail crime with 2+ previous convictions,’ which makes it a felony for someone with at least two previous convictions to ’steal quantities [of merchandise] that would not normally be purchased for personal use with the intent to re-sell it.’”

Enterprise Systems: Ten Lessons from MDM Early Adopters

“MDM Insight 2008 featured an intimate atmosphere that fostered a rich dialogue among participants and highlighted numerous valuable lessons. Here is a recap of the 10 major lessons learned during our two-day immersion in MDM in Savannah.”

Insurance Journal: Seven Arrested in Calif. for Automobile Arson, Fraud Scams

“‘Insurance fraud is not a victimless crime,’ said Commissioner Poizner. ‘Every Californian pays the equivalent of a $500 tax per year because of insurance fraud. Criminals beware: purposely destroying your vehicle will not result in a paycheck - it will result in jail time.’”

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DataFlux Community of Experts: Could Master Data Have A Much Wider Remit?

“There seems to be a lot of debate around about data governance and MDM, return on investment on MDM etc. going on at present. . . . So I thought I would look at what MDM could potentially do for an enterprise and see if it implementing MDM might have wider implications. I was amazed at how long my list of what MDM could potentially integrate with started to get.”

Fraud, Phishing and Financial Misdeeds: eBay/Craigslist praised by Congressman for efforts to curb sales of stolen military equipment on their sites (?)

“Given the organized effort on a lot of auction sites to fence stolen merchandise via some pretty sophisticated methods, it’s not surprising that the GAO found military equipment for sale on the sites. Many have speculated that these sites are used as a means of fencing the proceeds of what is known as organized retail crime. . . . Anne Broache (CNet) writes: By calling Craigslist CEO Jim Buckmaster and eBay government relations chief Tod Cohen to Washington for the hearing, the subcommittee seemed to be preparing to place those executives in the hot seat. But the tone of that questioning was actually quite cordial. At the end of the panel, Tierney even praised the companies for ‘trying very hard’ to keep sensitive military goods off their sites and acknowledged the rules of the road aren’t the most clear.”

philly.com: Former W.Pa. chiropractor sentenced in insurance fraud

“Prosecutors say Detelich submitted fraudulent claims to Highmark Blue Cross/Blue Shield for services not rendered. He then split the payments from those claims with some patients.”

b-eye.com - Business Intelligence Network - Blog: Jill Dyche: Reminder: Fabulous MDM Webcast on Tuesday

“In which Jill reminds her peeps about the webcast she’s doing with TDWI’s Wayne Eckerson, where they’ll recall Lessons Learned from the MDM Insight conference.”

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Department of Homeland Security: DHS Begins Collecting 10 Fingerprints from International Visitors at New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport

“’Quite simply, this change gives our officers a more accurate idea of who is in front of them. For legitimate visitors, the process becomes more efficient and their identities are better protected from theft. For those who may pose a risk, we will have greater insight into who they are,’ added Paul Morris, Executive Director of Admissibility and Passenger Programs, Office of Field Operations, CBP.”

Data Governance and Data Quality Insider: Mergers and Acquisitions: Data’s Influence on Company Value

“In my work with Trillium Software, I have talked to customers who have saved millions in acquisition costs by evaluating the data prior to buying a company. Some have gone so far as evaluation of the overlap between their own customer base and the new customer base to determine value. Why pay for a customer when (s)he is already on the customer list?”

Exchange Morning Post: To Mark Fraud Prevention Month, NCR Adds Two More Security Inks to Its Sales Receipt Paper Roll Line

“Many stores have flexible or ‘no hassle’ return policies which the criminals may exploit by using sophisticated technology to copy and print seemingly authentic-looking counterfeit receipts. The thieves then steal items from the retailer and later return the shoplifted goods along with a fraudulent receipt to the retailer’s customer service centre for a ‘refund’.”

Worcester Telegram & Gazette News: Fraud busters - Competition will turn up the heat on scammers

“The state in 1991 established an insurer-supported Insurance Fraud Bureau, which discouraged the worst abuses. However, it was not until a Lawrence grandmother died in a staged auto ‘accident’ in 1993 that the public became aware of the extent of the fraud — in many cases perpetrated by enterprising scammers working in cahoots with crooked chiropractors.”

b-eye.com - Business Intelligence Network: Deploying the Integrated Customer Database: A Case Study

“The demand for integrated information has created a vendor response that has spawned a market for what many call customer data integration (CDI) or master data management (MDM). . . . The vendors offering customer relationship management (CRM) tools, CDI or MDM capabilities usually focus on facilitating and accelerating data movement from one or more databases or files to another using extract, transform and load (ETL), messaging (message queues), and other capabilities. How are these ’solutions’ meeting the customers’ expectations? In a previous article, I mentioned that data movement increases costs (adds more complexity to the information management environment), information float or delays (whether batch or messaging), reduces semantic value (much semantic value is casted in the context of the existing applications), and significantly increases the opportunity for introducing information defects. Customers are realizing that these ’solutions’ are more focused on attacking the symptoms (e.g., moving data around faster) instead of attacking the root cause (e.g., keeping the information integrated in one place in the first place).”

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HometownAnnapolis.com: County police battle rising tide of thefts - Anti-shoplifting programs have been implemented

“Faced with an 11 percent countywide spike in thefts last year, county police officers are trying new techniques to stop thieves and shoplifters in north and west county. . . . County police are analyzing data collected to glean details about hot spots, repeat offenders and high-theft items, said Sgt. John Gilmer, a county police department spokesman.”

CarInsurance.com:Lawsuit Accuses Trio in LV

“Shelley Beeler, a spokeswoman for Allstate’s southwest region, which includes Nevada, said the estimate of fraudulent payments is unknown but is believed to be in excess of $75,000. The case and others like it are brought by the company when evidence of fraud is uncovered, she said. . . . Beeler said fraud can add hundreds of dollars each year to the cost of a consumer’s auto insurance policy. The company has a special investigations unit that continually looks for evidence of fraudulent activity, she said.”

ars technica: Analysis: the Obama/Hillary passport breaches and Real ID [Update: McCain too]

“Presidential hopefuls Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton are currently providing the country with a very public lesson in why the ‘privacy advocates’ who oppose initiatives like Real ID and the executive branch’s domestic surveillance programs should really be called ‘democracy advocates.’ In short, only a full investigation will determine whether Executive Branch contractors had political ends in mind when they inappropriately accessed the passport records of Senators Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton on multiple occasions, but the entire incident shows exactly why citizens’ privacy is critical in a country where citizens compete with one another for control of the government.”

b-eye.com - Business Intelligence Network: The Role of Business Intelligence in Managing Compliance

“Healthcare and biopharma organizations are flush with data. Wouldn’t it be nice if we could instead say that these organizations are flush with information or flush with insights? Certainly these organizations are built upon the back of innovation, but it’s probably safe to say that on the whole their data is, well, a mess. Sure, it’s fine in most areas, but then most areas are isolated from one another – which ensures that identifying and merging diverse data sources will generally be challenging. This makes it difficult to glean insightful information from across the whole of the enterprise’s data. So what can be done?”

advertising practitioner: non-obvious, surprise, reality

“There’s a guy in Las Vegas who builds computer systems and trains them in Non-Obvious Relationship Awareness. The casinos there are regular targets for fraudsters and tricksters, often colluding with employees, hoping to sneak themselves some undetected winnings under cover of the mass of gaming transactions that happen every minute. So these systems have to act incredibly quickly; matching information from employee databases with known lists of bad guys, arrest records, customer information, credit reports and all sorts of publicly available data. They’re looking for non-obvious relationships - like the fact that the guy who’s winning lots of cash on table fourteen shares a cellphone number with the dealer on the adjacent table.”

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silive.com: Shoplifters turn to the Internet for easy cash

“LaRocca, the National Retail Federation official, said the amount of cash stores recover from civil actions is minimal compared to the costs to protect their goods. So, it’s no surprise merchants want to get back whatever they believe they are entitled to. ‘Retailers should have a right to collect the damages from people stealing from their stores,’ he said. ‘As a consumer, you and I pay for these losses in prices charged in retail stores.’”

The Monitor: Allstate alleges fraud at Valley chiropractic clinics

“One of the nation’s top insurers has sued a group of Rio Grande Valley chiropractic clinics and lawyers over their alleged involvement in a multimillion-dollar fraud ring. . . . ‘Individuals who conduct fraud generally do so because they think that they are digging into the deep pockets of a big insurance company,’ Mellander said. ‘But the reality is they’re not. They’re stealing from you and me.’”

Fraud, Phishing and Financial Misdeeds: OCCRP reports on Eastern European/Eurasian organized crime

“Eastern European/Eurasian organized groups seem to have their hands in a wide variety of organized criminal activity. They are often mentioned when referring to anything from auction fraud to payment (credit/debit) card skimming and computer crimes.”

Homeland Security Watch: REAL ID Showdown Averted?

“DHS granted an extension on Friday to the state of Montana so that it can comply with the REAL ID Act. The only thing is that Montana never asked for an extension. Montana governor Brian Schweitzer made news over his intention to defy the law passed by Congress in 2005. Schweitzer is leading a charge (joined by Maine, South Carolina, New Hampshire, and Oklahoma) to oppose the REAL ID Act and any efforts by DHS to impose penalties for non-compliance.”

RetailWire: Theft Hits Retail in the Bottom Line

“The risk of retail theft has only grown with the introduction of higher priced items in categories such as smoking cessation, OTC analgesics and allergy, electronics, razors, cosmetics and perfumes. The percentage product loss between manufacture and point of sale, or shrinkage, is about two percent of sales and higher. While that may sound low, it means the loss of $31 billion due to theft. What can retailers and manufacturers do to address retail theft?”

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