Management consulting company McKinsey reports that synthetic identity theft is growing fast.  In fact, it's the fastest growing financial crime in the United States. And a LexisNexis Risk Solutions study has found that 20% of ID theft losses by banks can be attributed to synthetic versions of the scheme. If you’re unfamiliar with synthetic ID theft, you should know that it’s not — as its name might imply — a weaker, less “real” form of fraud. In fact, it tends to be much harder to prevent and detect. That’s because all a perpetrator needs to create an identity for criminal purposes is a Social Security number (SSN). Frankenstein monsters Traditionally, identity theft occurs when a thief gets hold of someone’s personal information and uses it to assume his...