Identity theft has taken a new turn in the US, with fraudsters stealing life insurance agents’ details to claim their commissions, Gen Re VP and Chief Underwriter Keith Brown says.

Departments of insurance in some US states have been hacked by criminal elements seeking agents who are relatively inactive.

“Contact information, such as address and telephone information, is then changed on the agent database,” Mr Brown said.

“At that point the identity thief either applies for appointment with a new insurer using the identifying information of the inactive licensed agent and false contact information, or contacts a carrier for which the inactive agent is currently appointed.”

He says the thief again changes the contact and payment information, this time with the insurer.

Once the database details have been fraudulently manipulated, the imposter submits life insurance applications for individuals whose identities are stolen or who will accept money to have their identities used.

The name, date of birth and social security number on the application are legitimate, but the rest of the information supplied is bogus.

The insurer approves the application, the policy is issued and the initial premium payment is received. The imposter agent is paid commissions electronically within a day or two.

Soon after the initial premium shows up as “account closed”, “not found” or “insufficient funds”.

Mr Brown says while the insurer may initiate a commission clawback, this is unlikely to be successful because the thief will have moved on.

“If an agent hasn’t written any business with your company in recent years and suddenly starts doing so, make a personal visit to them to get reacquainted and update commission schedules,” he said.