Credit profile number

CPN, an acronym for Credit Profile (or Protection or Privacy) Number, is a recent and as yet (2010) unchecked method of identity theft.^[1] Legitimate, but unused, Social Security Numbers are found by computer search; typically, they belong to children or long-time prison inmates who make no use of them. They are then sold to persons with poor credit ratings, who can make extensive purchases using the numbers. Credit checking services such as Experian and Equifax normally determine a person's creditworthiness by a simple lookup of their SSN, but these pristine SSN's trigger no warning flags. If the purchaser overuses the CPN to the point that they are denied further credit from merchants, they have only to buy a new CPN and begin the cycle over again.

References

1. ^ Draper, Bill (2010-08-02). "AP IMPACT: New ID theft targets kids' SS numbers". Associated Press: p. A01. http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/08/02/1757559/ap-impact-new-id-theft-targets.html. Retrieved 2010-08-02. ^{[dead link]}