Creating a Case Template - Tips for Submitting Cases to Law Enforcement for Prosecution

Many companies use the excuse that filing a police report is too much work and not enough manpower. Developing a case template is extremely important in streamlining the process and making the job easier for law enforcement. In a perfect world, every member of law enforcement can focus 100% of their time to your case. Unfortunately, law enforcement is stretched to the max. Your case will get worked much faster if it is well organized and easy to understand. You can always hire TCB to work your cases, but if you don't have that luxury, take a day to organize a case template that will work for you.

A case template should include the following:

· Investigator's Checklist-This checklist should be a guide to remind the investigator of all of the things they need to do after a fraud has been identified. When a fraud occurs, it is important that everything is covered quickly. Fumbling around and haphazardly working pieces will cost you valuable time and money.

· A cover letter explaining the ins and outs of what your company does and how your systems work. This information will not change, so have the cover letter started. For example, the merchant acquiring industry is an enigma to a lot of people. Explain what an acquirer does, how the money moves, and then go into a section of how the fraud was committed. Detail the fraud in a step by step account with names, dates and account numbers. Mark each section with Exhibits referencing your pieces of evidence. This cover letter can later be used for your narrative on the SAR. Remember to lose the abbreviations and industry slang-SPEAK ENGLISH! Cops don't do your job. Could you decipher all of the radio number codes law enforcement uses when speaking to each other? "Fellas, we got a 918!" It's the same thing in reverse.

· Exhibits-Pull and label each screen shot, application, credit bureau, etc. that brought you to the conclusion of fraud has been committed. Place each in order behind the cover letter. If the case has any account numbers of any kind associated with the fraud where you cannot access the data, make sure you include the contact information on each account. For example, if I was reporting a fraud where 100 card numbers were used, I would run a report with the card number and each issuer with the bank name, contact phone number to the fraud department, and subpoena address by each card number. Build these types of queries and reports in advance, so you are not scrambling to look them up.

· A Custodian of Records Affidavit-This document is required in about every state. Include it up front with your documentation. This will keep you from having to send a second copy of everything at a later date. This form is notarized and basically states that all of the documents are legitimate and came from your company. Law enforcement will ask for every one of these things. If you get them submitted where your case makes sense, your case will get worked faster. If law enforcement has to stop and keep calling you for more information, you will not see progress. Here are a few more documents you should keep on hand and ready in case you need them:

· Suspicious Activity Report (SAR) - All financial institutions should be filing SARs with their back end banks on any suspicious activity whether or not there was a loss.

· Hold Harmless-This allows your investigators to work with receiving banks to freeze funds. It takes the liability off of the bank and puts it on your company. Most banks will not freeze funds and send them back to you without one of these.

· Affidavit of Fraud and Forgery-This document should be signed by anyone claiming to be a victim of identity theft. The FTC's website always has one available that most banks will accept.

We hope this information will help you prepare a good template and make your cases a little easier to turn over.