Identity Theft Articles

According to the Federal Trade Commission also known as FTC “you or someone you know may have experienced some form of identity theft. The crime takes many forms. Identity thieves may rent an apartment, obtain a credit card, or establish a telephone account in your name. You may not find out about the theft until you review your credit report or a credit card statement and notice charges you didn’t make-or until you’re contacted by a debt collector.” When I read that quote it really made me think just how serious this is and the negative affect this could have on my family and myself.

Being a Mortgage broker I know all too well the value of having great credit, guess what suffers the most when your identity is stolen? That right your credit. Picture this you’re at work you get a call from your wife whose at the doctor’s office because she’s been feeling a bit under the weather, She screams into the phone “I’m pregnant” just as your hearing is coming back she adds “it’s twins” This is actually good news you and your wife have trying to have a baby for the last 10 months while you weren’t planning on twins, this is an added bonus because you and your wife had plan on having 2 kids. And you’re thinking 1 pregnancy 1 set of crazy pregnant wife syndrome and all that comes with that you know what I mean moodiness, swollen feet and those 2am cravings that have you driving all over town trying to find an all night Krispy Kreme donut shop. But at the end of all that 2 kids, done. So you make dinner plans to celebrate, blow her a kiss, hang up, and try to get back to work. a near impossibility, your mind is now racing with all the things that will change. At dinner that night you and your wife laugh, cheered and had a great nonalcoholic dinner. After desert your wife informs you that your 2seater car that you love because it makes you look cool will be replaced by a MiNIVAN. It’s a good thing you had dinner already. But you console yourself by thinking I’ll get an SUV instead. She continues “we need to get a bigger house” This you agree with and suggest looking this weekend.

Let’s fast forward a couple of months your wife is starting show and after many weekends of driving around with your realtor that thinks every house she shows you is perfect for you, you finally find one that is. You make an offer that’s accepted you and your sign the contract every body is happy especially the realtor done deal. Not quite, you still have to get a mortgage. But this is no big deal you have great credit, been in the same job since college over 6 years now making good money. Your only concern is which mortgage should you get. You take a day off work to go with your wife to see your local banker who greets you by your last name you insist that he calls by your first name he agrees and comment how your wife is glowing. At his desk you explain the purpose for the visit and hand him the contract for your new home. He hands you a form to get some basic information that he needs to get the process started. One of the space on the form is for your social security number and for consent to pull your credit which you fill in and sign and hand it back to him. He takes it with a smile and start pounding away on his computer. You turn to your wife who can’t wait to leave to go look at new furniture you assure her this won’t take long just then your smiling banker calls you by your last name, and he’s not smiling anymore. He proceeds to tell you He will not be able to get you a mortgage for that house or any other house. Because not only is your credit score ridiculously low but according to your credit report you already own a house that you took an equity line against and is not paying. I know this story sounds far fetched but believe it’s not I can’t tell how many times I’ve seen this kind of thing happen and just how it can devastate a person.

It can happen to anyone. Your phone rings and you are confronted with a collection agency demanding that you pay past due accounts for services or products you never bought. What happened?

Identity theft struck 8.9 million victims in 2006. According to Javelin Strategy and Research 8.9 million people were victims of identity theft in 2006, totaling $56.6 billion in loss.

Identity thieves steal ATM cards, driver licenses, credit card numbers, Social Security numbers, and other items with personal identity information. These criminals then use the information to impersonate their victims. The common idea is to spend as much money as quickly as possible and then find another victim.

Common ways of getting personal information include:

• Dumpster Diving - Going through trash looking for personal information.
• Mail Fraud - Stealing mail, which includes checks, credit offers, anything that will give them the ability to get credit in your name.
• Shoulder Surfing - Capturing your PIN by looking on as you conduct your transaction.

As much as sixty-three percent of identity theft can be prevented by the consumer.

Some tips to prevent being a victim:

• Shred all documents with personal information i.e. birth dates, name, address, account numbers etc. It is highly recommended to use a cross cut shredder.
• Use a locking mailbox; do not leave mail in the box overnight.
• Shield the screen and keypad with your hand and body when you enter your PIN.
• Closely monitor your accounts for unidentified activity.

Prevent criminals from getting your personal identity information. Prevention is the most effective way to protect you from being an identity theft victim.

The best identity theft protection is not a software package that protects you from Spyware infestation. But the best identity theft protection in the first place is you!

What does that mean, well the best Spyware protection software is not going to be much helpful if you do not handle your personal privacy carefully?

It means you have to first think about these 7 questions:

1. How am I handling all kind of paper documents like bank statements and bills that I receive daily from the mailman?
2. What does somebody need from me if he wants to abuse my personal credentials to get a loan, or a false drivers license, or a mortgage, all on my name?
3. Where do I keep my passport and drivers license while I am asleep?
4. Can a pickpocket steal these things easy from me when I am shopping?
5. Can a burglar steal my home computer or my notebook from my car?
6. And if that is possible, is my private data safe, or can everybody find and read it without any problem?
7. What would be the consequences for me and my family if somebody did steal my Identity?

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There are at least 4 things you need to do, or have to organize:

1. Take care of your personal documents, especially if they contain some private facts like your address, bank account numbers, and social security number.
   • Use a personal safe for all documents to keep.
   • Use a shredder for private documents that you don’t need anymore, DO NOT put it in the garbage can.
2. Instruct your family members to be careful also with these things.
3. Protect every computer in your home that has private data on it, especially if it is connected to the Internet.
   • That means protection by setting up a firewall, that is the front door that keep intruders out, and prevent those that are already in to communicate with their makers who are somewhere on the internet.
   • Installing the best possible software that detects, prevents and eliminates Spyware.
   • Installing the best possible software that detects, prevents and eliminates Viruses, Worms, Trojans, and Root kits.
   • Install software that is able to create a special drive partition or map where you can store this private data with at least 128 bits encryption so nobody can read this without your secret password.
   • Of course you need to protect your computer / notebook with a secret Windows login username and password.
4. If you have done all this, than there is still one thing to consider: Every protection can be broken with enough time and tools invested in this course. Therefore it is a good idea to take some insurance in case this might happen in spite of all your precautions. The change that this will happen will be much lower but it is still possible.
   • Insurance means you have some agency who takes all kind of precautions with these credit bureaus placing credit alerts etc.
   • They do that periodically.
   • Have your name cleared from all kind of junk mail lists, and pre-approved credit card lists.
   • If you lose your wallet, they take care of all the hassle.
   • They do a lot more, saving you a lot of trouble and work to reclaim your good name and undo all the wrongdoings of those thieves.
   • If they have to go to court for you to solve any problem they will have a large budget to spend for lawyers etc. and it cost you only a small amount of money each year.

Fixing a stolen identity means giving your attention to all the companies where you have credit accounts. Whereas most advice tends to focus on how to interact with credit reporting agencies.

Calling and writing financial institutions is important. You’ll also want to contact service providers such as phone / cell phone providers, utility companies and auto / health / life insurance companies.

If you have a career where you’re a member of a professional organization or agency, then you should contact this organization. And if you have any type of gym, or sports membership, then you may even want to contact these service providers also.

Why all of these organizations?

Identity thieves often use personal information taken from valid associations to open fraudulent accounts elsewhere. For example, if an identity thief is able to obtain information about your accounts with health or life insurance companies then they could change or alter data within these records, and then use the information to obtain new policies with other companies.

If your account(s) with these companies doesn’t yet appear to be affected by fraud, you won’t need to necessarily include everything in your correspondence that would typically be sent to those already affected by the identity theft. However, if fraud issues eventually surface among these companies then any affected accounts will have to be closed, and new ones opened with fraud alerts attached.

When fraud issues appear you always want to request that any information related to the identity theft be sent to you immediately. You can also ask the same information be sent to the police.

And speaking of police, if you contact your local police department you must insist that they file a police report for you. (Filing a police report is important because this report is usually required by credit reporting agencies and creditors alike before they remove instances of fraud from your credit report).

Right now, it’s important to alert service providers and other companies of the fact that you’re a victim of ID fraud. Ask for a “fraud alert” to be placed on accounts you now have. This includes setting up a “username” and “password” whenever possible.

It takes time to repair a stolen identity. An identity stolen today could take many hours to fix in coming months. Failing to go beyond making a few phone calls may keep the affects of ID theft around longer than it should be … leaving opportunities for the fraudster to open new credit lines in your name.

A stolen wallet is a problem. But you’ll have bigger problems if it turns into full-blown identity theft.

Identity theft occurs, among other things, when a thief takes your personal information and uses it to open new credit accounts. In other words, the issue goes beyond theft within existing credit accounts. It involves opening brand new fraudulent accounts, using your name and personal information, so the new credit can be tapped by the thief.

In order to stop fraud activity you have to go beyond simply contacting credit card issuers. You must widen the safety net.

This includes:

– Calling your state’s department of motor vehicles and asking them to attach a “fraud alert” to your driver’s profile. Request that no part of your personal information, such as home address, be changed without alerting you.

– Contacting any organizations or memberships if their cards were in your wallet. Have a fraud alert attached to them.

– Contacting the big 3 credit reporting agencies immediately. Their phone numbers are as follows: Experian - 888-397-3742, Trans Union - 800-888-4213 and Equifax - 800-685-1111. Ask each one to send you a free credit report. Your credit accounts, including ones resulting from or tainted by fraud, appear in these reports.

– Having each credit-reporting agency attach a fraud alert to your credit profile. Request that no new credit or change in your personal information be made without contacting you right away.

– Examining your credit report and doing more than just looking at open accounts. Look for new credit inquiries as well. These inquiries may be the result of an identity thief trying to open a new fraud account with the creditor.

– Having the standard 90-day fraud alert with the credit reporting agencies increased to at least one year. Why? Because fraudulent credit inquiries can result in the establishment of new credit account for up to one year after the inquiry was made.

– Filing a police report with your local police department. This is extremely important because both credit reporting agencies and credit issuers are going to want to see proof that you’re actually a fraud victim. How are they going to know you’re not simply trying to get out of paying for bills you actually created? A police report addresses this “proof” issue.

– Going back and forth between creditors (who issued fraud accounts) and the credit reporting agencies to get your credit reports cleared of errors. In other words, you’re going to have to follow thru to make sure any fraud accounts you’ve identified are actually removed from your credit profile.

Identity Theft is an all inclusive term that defines all types of crimes in which another person’s personal information is illegally used typically for economic gain. In actual, identity theft is not considered as correct term, because it is not possible to steal any ones identity. One can only use another person’s identity. If your identity is illegally used by a criminal, you can end up in a lot of trouble because you will be held responsible for the criminal’s actions. Not only this, you will also end up facing huge financial losses. With the advent of plastic money, this kind of theft has gained tremendous popularity and become a threat for just about everyone. It is now legally considered as a crime in most of the countries.

The major reason behind stealing another person’s identity is to facilitate crimes such as illegal immigration, terrorism and espionage (to collect secret information to provide to third party and get paid for this). It can also be used to blackmail someone. Anyone can attack the payment systems of others by acquiring the personal identity of any specific person. Some persons pretend to be others for non-financial reasons, because they want to get fame and attention of others for the victim’s achievements. This is called identity theft in media.

Financial Identity theft is bank fraud. It occurs when criminal gets a loan from a bank acting to be someone else. The criminal proves himself to be another person by showing an accurate name, address, date of birth or other relevant information that is required by the banks for identification. Even if the lender verifies this information through national consumer reporting agency all information given by criminal is identical and not a single issue arises at this stage. It can only be verified by checking Original ID card issued by Government. Such crimes do not leave any evidence. One can only discover the criminal if the funds for loan were mailed to them.

Identity cloning is the situation when a person uses another persons’ identity to keep himself hidden from the authorities in order to avoid arrest for the crimes. Or it may be done by a person who is illegally working in a foreign country, or by a person who wants to hide himself from creditors and other individuals for certain reasons. Concealment or identity cloning can continue for long duration of time without being detected. Criminals may also obtain fraudulent documents or ID as well. This will reinforce his claim of the cloned ID.

Criminal identity theft is defined as the identity theft when criminal uses the identity of another person when he is arrested by police for a crime. Criminals show their fake ID and fake documents to police and as the criminal has got this Id illegally and it is not his true Id charges are recorded under the victim’s name and real criminal is released. When the victim of criminal identity theft fails to appear for his court hearing warrant would be issued under his name. It is difficult for the criminal identity theft victim to clear the criminal record against him.

Identity theft has become a major crime in USA. Strict laws have been constituted to counter it. Different organizations are also providing protection against it. Identity is very important for every person and every organization and its protection is also very necessary to avoid misuse of the identity.