FINCRIME Database alerts banks of criminal actions

The system will eventually be open to retailers and credit unions.
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- An anti-crime database designed to alert banks in Ohio and nine other states of identity thefts and other schemes is now available.
The FinCrime database is intended to be a secure information-sharing system that immediately links criminals to their acts.
The Minnesota Bankers Association, which introduced the database Thursday, said it should be used in addition to anti-theft features already employed by many financial institutions.
Currently, the average fraud scheme lasts 18 months before it is detected, according to the Federal Trade Commission and the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners.
With FinCrime, banks and police post the names of suspected perpetrators and their activities on the database and share it with law enforcement and banks in 10 states.
Eventually FinCrime will be open to retailers and credit unions, officials said.
"This new anti-fraud tool will help the banks in the alliance share important information and make their fraud prevention systems even more effective," Minnesota Bankers Association CEO Joe Witt said.
Debra Hurston, spokeswoman for the MBA's 500 member banks, said banking associations in 10 states are the first to embrace the system.
Beside Ohio and Minnesota, the other states are Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wisconsin.
Fraud prevention
"Some crimes stay below authorities' radar screens because of the low-dollar nature of the crime," Hurston said.
The police can't spend the resources to investigate all small-dollar crimes, such as someone passing hundreds of bad checks worth only small amounts, she said.
The new tracking and flagging tool should bolster fraud prosecutions and aid bankers in setting up fraud prevention systems that thwart thieves before they strike, said Iowa bank officials who were the first to use FinCrime.
Banks and police seeking more information can check out the FinCrime.com Web site.