Identity Theft Articles

The popularity of handwriting analysis has increased use over the last decade. Handwriting analysis the science of understanding the character and personality of a person has enjoyed increased success pertaining to legal issues. The use of handwriting analysis to solve several legal questions has intensified its usage. Its effect on using Handwriting Analysis has aided the employers who are constantly attempting to ensure employee honesty before hiring them.

In the U.S. Polygraph machines have been used as screening tools for employment applicants between 1978 and 1989, where approximately 2,000,000 polygraph exams were conducted annually. The Employee Polygraph Protection Act was enacted by the Reagan Administration, to protect the privacy of the employees. Therefore, to avoid being under the purview of this act handwriting analysis has become one of the favorite methods of employee application screening, since its inception.

This approach of analysis of handwriting samples has been widely adopted over the years. All legal questions concerning employee privacy is eliminated with the use of graphology. However, when an employer asks an applicant to fill out an application in their own handwriting where actually the physical appearance of the handwriting is not protected. This is also dependent on the method in which the handwriting is transmitted, the content therein may be protected by privacy and may potentially expose the analyst and the employer to liability under certain circumstances. The law withholds certain exceptions in the case of personal notes.

The use Of Graphology and its legal implications with the right to privacy are a private matter. When an employer to provide that handwriting sample to a professional analyst for analysis it violates that right. Some applicants are very possessive about their handwriting sample being analyzed by them.

This method avoids legal questions through its implementation as a mandatory rule for screening employees for picking the most eligible personnel. However, when the analyst and the employer are same entity the question of liability does not arise under any circumstances. As long as the forum in which they use that handwriting it is not a violation of that person’s right to privacy at all. Unlike a person’s voice and picture that are not protected, handwriting analysis does not fall under the law as long as the employer uses it to hire the best talent available.

If you are a victim of identity theft, you are not alone. Today thousands of Americans have been victim to at least some form of identity theft. It has become so common that banks do not even argue and investigate if you are in fact a victim, they mainly take your word on it as long as you can show a simple piece of proof. That may be the only good part of the high identity theft rates in the United States today, is that you no longer have to wait months or even years to find out if you are getting your money back.

After you have gotten your money back, received your new credit cards and other things you have fixed, you may think you are done with the process but you are actually not. Many people do not realize it, but identity theft can take a toll on your credit score, and that is not something that is an easy fix. Fixing your score can take months, even years to do because you have to go through the process of paying bills on time, using the right amount of credit to pay for things and so on.

Well now there actually is a way to fix your score in a timely manner. Rather than waiting months or even years to see everything fixed, you can look into credit repair. These credit repair companies can fix your credit within weeks, and with little to no hassle to you or anyone else. Even if you had a poor score before your identity theft incident, there is no reason you should continue to have a poor score. It is so easy to improve your credit today, why not just do it?

By David George

Or had someone open an account in your name without your knowledge? As a professional, your identity is one of the most important assets you have. And with more than 9 million victims of identity theft happening annually, identity theft protection is becoming very important for affluent professionals.

So, how do you go about protecting your identity? Here are some tips:

1. Make sure nobody is standing right behind you when you’re using an ATM machine. Keep your hands over your touchpad to protect your passcode and your body in front of the screen. Cell phone cameras are everywhere and someone my try to photograph your card info.

2. Pay your bills online using only a secure site if that service is available.

3. Don’t give out your credit card number on the Internet unless it is encrypted on a secure site.

4. Take a look at your credit reports from the top three credit reporting companies at least once a year. Review it to ensure that your identity is not being used to establish lines of credit you did not personally authorize. All three major reporting companies are now required to provide a free credit report to consumers each year.

5. Remove your name from direct mail lists for credit card offers. Doing this will opt you out of mailings for 5 years. You may also permanently opt out. If you take that option, you will be mailed a Notice of Election to Opt Out form to complete and send back. You may contact them at:

Direct Marketing Association
Mail Preference Service
PO Box 643
Carmel, NY 10512

6. Make sure that no one is listening if you have to give out personal or financial information over a telephone in a public place.

7. Examine all of your bank and credit card statements each month for mistakes or unfamiliar charges that might be the sign of an identity thief at work.

8. Cancel all credit cards that you have not used in the last six months. Open credit is a prime target if an identity thief spies it in your credit report. Keeping open unused credit lines isn’t as favorable to your credit score as having high limits and low balances on lines that you use.

9. Shred all preapproved credit card offers, utility bills, financial statements, invoices, etc. before throwing them away.

10. Use direct deposit whenever you can instead of checks. Checks can get lost and private information about you can be gleaned from them.

11. Keep track of when you normally receive statements and bills in the mail. If one is late, inquire.

12. Keep important documents and financial records in a locked safe or filing cabinet at home.

13. Never give private information online or over the phone to someone who calls you asking for updates or confirmations regarding purported accounts you may have. Contact the institution directly if you have any questions.

14. Attempt to memorize your passwords. Storing them can be disastrous. A list of them can fall into the wrong hands.

15. Treat your Social Security number as a confidential piece of information. Keep your card locked up at home, don’t carry it around with you.

16. Use good security on your home computer and networks. If you dispose of a computer, remove the hard drive completely.

It is a good idea to explore the use of an identity theft protection service. These services will provide fraud monitoring for credit cards, public records, social security, loans, etc. They will also provide a copy of your credit report from all three of the major credit reporting agencies each year as well as mail list removal in some cases. The limits of insurance or guarantee coverage will often total up to $1 million to cover you for losses that may be incurred due to your identity being stolen and used to incur debt and expenses. Three good services to consider are Trusted ID, LifeLock and Identity Guard. Just go online to get more information about these services and decide if one is right for you.

In the information age, your identity will become increasingly important in the marketing and promotion of your services. With more exposure on the internet, protecting that identity from unauthorized use will become critical. Take steps now to secure the safety of your identity.

Today one of the leading cause for concerns for people is identity theft. The reason is because it has become more and more common over the years, and it’s not even preventable in most cases. Years ago the only way you were really a victim is if someone found your bank statements in the trash, you didn’t protect your emails or bank account or credit card numbers well enough, and a few other ways. Today unfortunately, identity theft can occur no matter how careful you are, and it doesn’t have to be by someone who has met you or even lives near you.

We’ve all seen the stories on the news, someone in Florida has charges made by someone at a gas station in New York. How does that happen unless the person is a magician? Well it’s a true worry. The only good news is that now banks have become so use to identity theft that they no longer give you a million questions to make sure you are not lying. It could take weeks, even months for a bank to decide if you actually were a victim of identity theft just 5 years ago, that was a long and annoying process for any victim.

While we can start the repairs quickly there is still one process that does take a while to recover from, your credit. Sadly that is the one area banks have yet to fix completely. That is why we have credit repair companies. These companies can repair your credit in a matter of weeks, not months like other systems take. Credit repair is very important after you have experienced identity theft because you spend years building your score and do not want it to be hurt by something that wasn’t your fault.