You are part of a team consisting of Financial Aid, Admissions, and IT staff. You've received an application for financial aid that requires review before disbursement. Your task is to identify potential red flags, perform investigative actions, and make a determination to prevent financial aid disbursement or allow it.
Initial Information
You've received a financial aid application from a student named Alex Johnson. The application was completed in 15 minutes, which is unusually fast. What's your first step?
Application Review
Upon reviewing the application, you notice the following:
The transcript seems to be from a different student
The address is for a home currently listed for sale on Zillow
The phone number is associated with Google Voice
What action do you take next?
Cybersecurity Investigation
The cybersecurity team reports that the Social Security Number and date of birth were identified in a recent data breach. What's your next step?
Conclusion
Based on your investigation, you've identified several red flags indicating potential identity theft. Here's a summary of the issues:
Unusually fast application completion time
Falsified transcript
Suspicious address (listed for sale)
Google Voice phone number
Compromised Social Security Number and date of birth
Your team has successfully prevented a potential case of financial aid fraud. Great job!