Dive Summary:

• Credit companies are currently testing new ways in which to utilize social media in order to verify consumer identity and creditworthiness.
• “We are investing a lot in how can we use unstructured data that is sitting out there in social media that can help us understand a little more about identity,” Rajib Roy, president of Equifax Identity and Fraud Solutions, said in an interview.
• While the companies involved in the new program may only access information which has been authorized as public, an increasing amount is readily available to merchants.

From the article:

As Internet purchases rise -- U.S. e-commerce revenue increased 15 percent in the quarter from a year earlier, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce -- more would-be thieves are trying to find ways to intercept transactions facilitated by online payment providers, steal information transmitted in the process, or dupe buyers into sending money to phony companies.