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  Category: Articles » Finance » Credit » Article
 

Identity Theft - Are YOU at Risk?




By Cathy Taylor

Chances are you think that you won't be affected by the nation's number
one fast-growing crime. Think again. Identity theft is on the rise.

In 2005, 9.3 million Americans were victims of identity theft according to the
Javelin Better Business Bureau survey. 68.2 percent of the cases involved
thieves who obtained personal information off-line vs. only 11.6% obtained
online. ID theft through lost or stolen identification, misappropriation by
family and friends, and theft of paper mail are among the most common
ways thieves gain access to your information.

Most people do not have a clue how to protect themselves.

For a moment, let's just examine what could happen in your life if
you are targeted for this crime:

ˇ¤ Victims now spend an average of 600 hours recovering
from identity theft over a period of years. This equals nearly
$16,000 in lost potential or realized income. Typical out-of-pocket
expenses are $1,500 on average.

ˇ¤ Even after a thief is stopped from using your information,
sometimes up to as much as 10 years, victims still struggle with
the impact of identity theft. That includes increased insurance or
credit card fees, inability to find a job, higher interest rates, as well
as continuing to battle collection agencies that refuse to clear
records despite substantiating evidence of the crime. How
stressful do you think this situation would be?

ˇ¤ The emotional impact on victims is likened to a violation
similar to what victims of violent crime describe including rape,
violent assault and battering. People feel dirty, ashamed,
embarrassed and often are afraid to ask for help. Many have
reported a split with a spouse of significant other as well as being
unsupported by family members.

Most victims report a lack of responsiveness from those entities
they turned to for help including police, collection agencies, credit
issuers, utility companies and financial institutions. The average
arrest rate for identity theft based on reported cases is 5%. The
message here is crystal clear - we have to fight identity theft
ourselves!

Exactly what are the different types of identity theft and how do
identity thieves get access to your personal information?

Financial Identity Theft

This is the kind of identity theft most people think of first.
Thieves hack into your computer at home or at the office and steal
personal information. It accounts for about 28% of all identity
theft happening today.

For example, thieves will:
ˇ¤ use your line of credit to make purchases
ˇ¤ use your credit cards to make purchase
ˇ¤ open up a mortgage using your name and social security
number
ˇ¤ create a loan using your name and social security number
ˇ¤ file bankruptcy under your name
ˇ¤ open phone or utility accounts under your name
ˇ¤ attempt checking and/or savings fraud (accessing your
accounts)
ˇ¤ attempt to use existing accounts to make purchases

Under the Fair Credit Billing Act, your liability in the case of
unauthorized credit use is limited to $50 per card. However, in
order to take advantage of this protection, you must file a dispute
letter within 60 days after the first bill containing the error was
mailed to you. So what happens if the thief changes your address
and you don't receive your bill? Guess what, you are held
financially liable. In addition, the Electronic Fund Transfer Act has
the same 60 day notification provision or your liability is unlimited.
Not fair, but it's the reality.

Some credit card companies promote zero liability for these kinds
of fraudulent transactions. However the reality is that there are
exclusions including cards used by business purposes, ATM
transactions, and certain PIN-based transitions, all transactions
processed outside the card issuer's network, and cases where the
card holder gave permission for someone else to use their card.
You have to read your cardholder agreement carefully to find out
the exact details.

Financial Identity Theft has significant impact on a person's life
including: financial losses, inaccurate credit reports that can mean
being denied a job, difficulty getting new lines of credit, trouble
opening new accounts as well as higher costs for loans and
insurance. The toll of this kind of financial loss can be significant as
can be witnessed in a recent lawsuit filed by a plaintiff against
Home Depot, Case #02CC13327 in Orange County Superior Court,
where a judge awarded the plaintiff $1 million in damages for
identity theft.

Criminal Identity Theft

This is the second most common type of identity theft and
most people aren't even aware of it.

In this case, a criminal uses your information during
encounters with the police. For example, a thief who has your
identifying information gets arrested for a crime and gives them
your name and social security number. One day you are driving
along and get stopped for a traffic infraction. The cop runs your
name through their database and finds out you just committed a
bank robbery in another state. Suddenly you are being hauled off
to jail for something you didn't even do!

Never mind how stressful and embarrassing this mistake
could be, it can also lead to an erroneous criminal record,
outstanding arrest warrants, and possible consequences such as
being fired from your job for not disclosing a conviction and even
get you thrown in jail. What if this happens on a Friday night and
they toss you the local jail overnight? Do you have someone you
can call that could bail you out? Can you afford this kind of mistake
happen in your life?

The results of this kind of criminal identity theft could
include a negative impact on future employment, loss of security
clearance, lost jobs and higher insurance premiums. It is the most
difficult type of ID theft to clear up and in some cases, almost
impossible. Some victims have been reduced to carrying court
documentation with them at all times to prove who they really are
and not the actual criminal.

Social Security Identity Theft

If someone uses your social security number to get a job
and they have a continuous work record, guess who gets to pay
the tax bill? The answer is you. There are cases where someone's
social security number was used a total of 37 times by different
people. In the employment screening business, we see this
happen every day.

Medical Identity Theft

This kind of ID theft involves someone using your health
insurance for medical and/or hospital care. The result is a mixed
up medical record that could result in potentially deadly
consequences. For example, what would happen if someone used
your identification and health insurance number and got an HIV
test that proved positive? Now all of a sudden, that record is
attached to your medical records and every time you see a
healthcare person, they think you have aids. In addition, this can
seriously impact your ability to get insurance and it can result in
significantly higher insurance premiums.

A recent article in the November 2006 issues of Reader's
Digest reported that ˇ°fraud is estimated to account for as much as ten
percent of all health care costs ˇ­ including medical identity theft.ˇ± ˇ°An
insurance card is like a Visa card with a $1 million spending limit,ˇ± says Byron
Hollis, national anti-fraud director of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield
Association. The most frightening part of this article is the fact that
organized crime rings are realizing how lucrative identity theft is and are
adding a new dimension to the problem.

Driver's License Identity Theft

Our driver's license is the standard and most often used form of
identification in United States. ID thieves are professionals at creating fake
driver's licenses that are virtually impossible to detect. Having this form of
picture ID opens the door to numerous other types of ID theft.

On October 28, 2006 in California, a worker at the Santa Ana DMV
was arrested for her alleged role in an ID theft scheme that used applicant
information to create fraudulent licenses. The indictment alleged that she
used her position to sell fraudulent drivers licenses to co-schemers who paid
between $1,500 to $5,000 for each fraudulent license. She allegedly
obtained the identifications of victims from the DMV database and changed
their address and identifiers to match the fraudulent purchaser who then
had a new DMV photo taken.

What can You do to Protect Yourself?

The good news is there are many things you can do to protect
yourself, but you must be proactive. This is a crime you cannot afford to
wait to become of a victim of.

1. Order the Federal Trade Commission's free report on identity theft
by visiting www.consumer.gov/idtheft
or calling 877 382-4357

2. Get a copy of your own credit report and review it carefully for
accuracy. Because of the new Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act
(FACTA) you can get a free copy once a year at
www.annualcreditreport.com

3. Be careful with your mail. Don't use an unsecured mailbox when
mailing anything containing financial information. Drop off at the post office
or in a post office collection box.

4. Guard your trash. Identity thieves will look for credit card receipts
and applications, insurance forms, bank statements etc. Buy a shredder and
use it regularly.

5. Use your Social Security Number only when absolutely necessary.
Before you give your SS# to anyone, ask why it is needed and how it will be
used, or shared with others and how the company protects your personal
information.

6. Pay attention to billing cycles. If your bills don't arrive on time,
follow up with your creditors. A missing statement can mean an ID thief has
taken over your account and changed your billing address.

7. Be cautious with online purchases. Before purchasing anything on
the internet, look for the icon of a lock in the lower right-hand corner of
your browser windows. If it's there, you're dealing with a secure site. It
not, you'll be safer finding another merchant.

8. Remove personal information from old computers. Files you think
you have deleted from your computer may remain on your hard drive where
hackers can easily access them. Use a wipe utility program to delete files
with sensitive data.

9. Opt-out of receiving pre-approved credit cards offers in the mail by
calling 888 5-OPT-OUT or going to www.optoutprescreen.com
http://www.optoutprescreen.com

10. Immediately sign up for an ID Theft Shield program which can not
only monitor your credit and let you know when anything changes, but can
also provide restoration after the fact. Don't wait on this one - Click here
now for more information http://www.prepaidlegal.com/idt/ctaylor75
 
 
About the Author
Cathy Taylor is a marketing consultant with over 25 years experience.
She specializes in internet marketing, strategy and plan development,
as well as management of communications and public relations programs
for small business sectors. She can be reached at cathy@apscreen.com

Article Source: http://www.simplysearch4it.com/article/43510.html
 
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  Some other articles by Cathy Taylor
What Can Happen to You as a Victim of Identity Theft, Facts & Figures
Is identity theft really that serious? Thousands of people every year are victims of this terrible crime. Thieves use your personal information to ...

Identity Theft - How Can you Prevent it Happening to You?
The nightmare of identity theft strikes an estimated 750,000 people every year. How can you keep from being one of them? While there is no guarantee that you ...

What is the Fair Credit Reporting Act and What you Should Know
The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) and the recent update to this law called the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions ...

  
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