CORRECTIONAL FACILITIES: JAILS & PRISONS

Fraud in Correctional Facilities

There are two main types of fraud that correctionl facilities need to be on the lookout for: counterfeit money and fake identity documents.

On the surface, it may seem a bit odd that fraud could affect correctional facilities - they are not retailers, they are do not deal with "customers" in the traditional sense. When thinking about "fraud" and "prison", the logical connection would be thinking that fraudulent activities land people in prison. The idea that fraud is something that correctional facilities need to protect themselves against seems a bit silly.

When it comes to the financial impact of counterfeit money, the stories that make the headlines are often those in which thousands, if not millions, of dollars have been discovered to be counterfeited. In essence, stories of folks attempting to pay bail that range from the hundreds to the low thousands end up near the back of that day's news stories. But a quick online search will reveal that people try to pay bail with counterfeit money - that a lot of people try to pay bail with counterfeit money all the time.

And if your correctional facility is one of the many that are now accepting credit cards as bail payments, you're going to need to also make sure that credit cards are authentic; counterfeit credit cards with victims' real financial information can be found purchased via the dark web for as little as $30.

Further, exactly how many criminals would end up paying their bail with counterfeit money if it got out that your facility doesn't check for counterfeit payments?

As for identity fraud, correctional facilities are obviously very much aware as to how important it is that people are who they say they are. Of course, there's the issue of proving people are who they say they are when there's a lack of identification documents, but thanks to the many data breaches the past several years, the issue of proving people are who they say they are - even when there are identity documents available - is becoming more commonplace.

Put yourself in the position of a criminal: if you have the ability to purchase a counterfeit identity document that not only has someone else's actual information on it, but also has been produced close enough to a legitimate identity document that it could fool the naked eye, wouldn't you?

Prevent Criminals from Defrauding Your Correctional Facility

As a jailor, you know how important it is to make sure that all cash coming in is 100% real and that all suspects and inmates are who they say they are.

To prevent fraud, correctional facilities need to make sure that all their bail transactions are legitimate and all their suspects and inmates are who they say they are.

And how can you make sure that all cash is real and all people are who they say they are?
By authenticating identity and payment documents the moment they are handed over by using counterfeit detectors

Counterfeit detectors allow correctional facilities to:

Authenticate Payments

• Cash
• Debit/Credit Cards
• Checks

Authenticate Identity Documents

• Driver's Licenses
• State Identification Cards
• Passports
• Military IDs
• International IDs
• & many other forms of identification