Debix Publishes Largest Study Ever on Stopping Identity Theft

Electronic Audit Trails From 259,761 High-Risk Consumers Prove Consumer Participation Can Virtually Eliminate New Account Fraud

AUSTIN, TX--(www.AllPayNews.com) - June 9, 2008) - Debix (www.Debix.com), the nation's leader in proven identity theft protection, today published the results of the largest study on stopping identity theft ever assembled. The study measured the effectiveness of enlisting consumers as active participants in stopping new credit account fraud, the most damaging form of financial identity theft. This crime damages the financial reputation of over 2.2 million consumers every year and accounts for $17.9 billion in losses (source: Javelin 2007).

The study analyzed 30,618 live consumer credit transactions generated by the 259,761 consumer participants between October 1, 2007 and December 31, 2007. The majority of these consumers were recent victims of data breaches in which their name, address, Social Security number, and date of birth were compromised.

The most important finding was the 0.00% fraud rate, meaning there were no successful identity theft attacks when consumers participated in the decision to open new credit accounts. This compares to an expected fraud rate of 1.05% when banks open accounts without consumer participation (source: Javelin 2007).

"The study proves that Identity theft stops when consumers participate in the decision making process," said Bo Holland, CEO and founder of Debix. "It proves the common sense principle that a thief can convince a bank that he is you, but the thief cannot convince you that he is you."

Other key findings of the Debix study include:

-- Consumers demonstrated that they were willing and able to respond to
secure authorization requests from institutions. They are motivated to
protect their identities.

-- Out of the 30,618 authorization requests for new lines of credit,
consumers stopped 380 reported attempts of identity theft.

-- Consumers reported four incidents of new credit account fraud when the
consumer was not invited to participate in the decision. Note that this
number is likely understated as Debix cannot monitor unauthorized
transactions and consumers may not discover and report the fraudulent
account for months or even years.

-- Rarely were consumers denied credit because they activated their Fair
Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) Fraud Alerts.

-- Creditor compliance in honoring FCRA Fraud Alerts exceeds 99 percent.

-- As part of the study and related pilot program, 29 new account fraud
attacks were escalated to law enforcement to monitor how consumer
particpation and real-time reporting to the authorities can affect
prosecution of identity thieves. This effort has yielded two perpetrator
confessions to date.
Debix first presented this research to the Cyber Security Commission for the 44th Presidency and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in April 2008. It is published today for the first time at www.debix.com/research.

About Debix Inc.

Debix Inc. operates the first national Identity Protection Network dedicated to protecting consumers, and the organizations that serve them, from identity theft. The Debix Network is the only identity protection solution that proactively stops identity theft at the moment it is attempted. Backed by exclusive, patent-pending technology, the Debix Network brings consumers together with financial institutions, state and local governments, and law enforcement to catch identity thieves in the act. With its "zero-tolerance" approach to prosecuting the crime of identity theft, Debix's mission is to eradicate the problem altogether. Led by the nation's most experienced identity protection experts, Debix is continuously working on the development of innovative new technology and services to protect consumers. The company is partnering with a wide range of national organizations, including the Identity Theft Resource Center, Merchant Risk Council, American National Standards Institute and the Better Business Bureau, to develop programs and solutions to improve identity theft protection services. To date, more than 35 state and local governments have joined the Debix Network to provide protection service to their citizens. The company is headquartered in Austin, Texas and privately funded. For more information, visit www.Debix.com or call 888-DebixMe (332-4963).

Media Contact:

Tiffany Massey
THUNDER FACTORY
818.206.8304
Tiffany@thunderfactory.com

Debix Contacts:

Bo Holland
CEO
Debix
888-332-4963
Bo.holland@debix.com

Julie Fergerson
VP Emerging Technologies
Debix
512-699-6821
Julie.ferguson@debix.com