IDtracker gets to the bottom of identity theft
Idtracker is a company that was born out of necessity. Sindre Hagen, CEO, had his identity stolen and the company came into being to essentially get to the bottom the case. Idtracker aims to get to the bottom of identity theft.
During the process of trying to obtain further information on his case, Sindre noticed that he was not getting much assistance from the police. So he took matters in his own hands, and through clever research was able to actually find the individual who had stolen his identity.
He then went back to the police, armed with this information. With this, the police were able to catch the culprit and the case was resolved.
Sindre didn’t stop there, though, as he continued to look into and further develop the business idea for Idtracker. In the process of idea development, Sindre went to private investigators and found that they had a lot of cases that weren’t solved. This is where co-founder, Hamza Muftic, comes in. Hamza has a strong predilection for IT security, and was studying nanoelectrics and robotics at the University of Oslo.
Investigating fraudulent cases
With their third partner, Oddleif Sveinungsen, Sindre and Hamza completed fraud and scam cases. And, one-by-one, they helped to get to the bottom of these cases. Through this process, they found they were investigating frauds quite a lot. This fact made the two founders sit back and think whether they could actually offer a widespread solution to help solve fraud cases.
They started to reach out to HR agencies as they thought the data they compiled that could offer a widespread solution in developing tools for background checks. Furthermore, they are currently in the process of developing the tools specifically for background checks. They will have this service available for companies to utilize when going through the hiring process. “We want to be the company that makes sure you employ the right person”, stated Hamza.
Can IDtracker be brought to the world?
One of the main challenges Idtracker has had to overcome is learning to work in different countries. One of the reasons is the presence of different laws and regulations that have to be followed.
Another obstacle has been that in Norway, they are able to 100% verify individuals. However, in countries like the United States, no central databases exist that can be utilized to compile the data they require. This makes it difficult to aggregate data, stated Hamza. Also, with working through available data and how to utilize it, Hamza said, “getting to know exactly what the customers truly want also represents a bit of a challenge”.
Hamza explained that Idtracker has a small group of early adopters and that Idtracker is very focused on developing a product that really helps their consumer and helps Idtracker develop “something the consumer really wants”, explained Hamza. They have since partnered with the Nordic company Relink Labs to spread their reach. With their software they can sieve through multiple sources of public data to compile the information critical to Idtracker. These sources tell companies whether or not a candidate is a good fit for their company. Idtracker uses their technology in their company solution.
Learning to bring transparency to their business
Hamza shared some final closing thoughts on how they structure the company and approach problems to find viable solutions. “In the beginning we were very tight-lipped and kind of ‘flying under the radar’ because we were a little afraid someone would try to steal our idea. But, we’ve now employed a different approach. We feel that the more people you speak with, the more chances you have truly connecting with people from all over the world, and that can serve as a true asset”.
