Correctional Facilities: Jails & Prisons

Fraud in Correctional Facilities

There are two main types of fraud that correctional 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 - in fact, 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 need to make sure that the credit cards are authentic (counterfeit credit cards with victims' real financial information can be found purchased via the dark web for as little as $10) and that the person using the card matches the name on the card.

As for identity fraud, correctional facilities are obviously very much aware as to how important it is that they know the identity of the  people accessing their sites.  Whether employees, visitors or vendors, safety and security demands that a robust control system is in place to authenticate identities.  

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