#6. Questions From an Identity Theft Victim
Identity theft is a crime in which the imposter obtains key pieces of information such as Social Security and driver's license numbers to obtain credit, merchandise and services in the name of the victim.
The victim is left with a ruined credit history and the time-consuming and complicated task of regaining financial health. The imposter may even use the victim's good name for criminal activities. It is a dual crime because not only is it committed against an individual's financial life and credit history but also against his or her reputation and social standing in the community and in the workplace.
In one notorious case of identity theft, a convicted felon have not only incurred thousands of credit card debt by using another person's identity, he was also able to obtain a federal home loan, and even bought homes, motorcycles, and handguns using the victim's name. What is even more frustrating is that the felon even called his victim to taunt him -- saying that he could continue to assume the victim's identity for as long as he wanted because identity theft was not a federal crime at that time. After which, the felon even filed for bankruptcy, also in the victim's name.
While the victim and his wife spent more than four years and more than $15,000 of their own money to restore their credit and reputation, the criminal served a brief sentence for making a false statement to procure a firearm, but made no restitution to his victim for any of the harm he had caused.
How do thieves get my information?
• They go through your trashcan, looking for straight cut or unshredded papers.
• They steal your mail or your wallet.
• They listen in on conversations you have in public.
• They trick you into giving them the information over the telephone or by email.
• They buy the information either on the Internet or from someone who might have stolen it.
• They steal it from a loan or credit application form you filled out or from files at a hospital, bank, school or business that you deal with. They may have obtained it from dumpsters outside of such companies.
• They get it from your computer, especially those without firewalls.
• They may be a friend or relative or someone who works for you who has access to your information
Tips to Consumers:
How can I prevent identity theft? While no one can totally prevent this crime from occurring, here are some tips that can help you decrease your risk.
• Check your credit reports once a year from all three of the credit reporting agencies listed below.
• Guard your Social Security number. When possible, don’t carry your Social Security card with you.
• Don’t put your SSN or drivers license number on your checks.
• Guard your personal information. You should never give your Social Security number to anyone unless they have a good reason for needing it.
• Watch for people who may try to eavesdrop and
overhear the information you give out orally.
• Carefully destroy the documents that you throw out, especially those with sensitive or identifying information. A crosscut paper shredder works best.
• Be suspicious of telephone solicitors that call you at your office. Never provide information unless you have initiated the call.
• Delete and do not reply to any suspicious email requests.
• Use a locked mailbox at your home to send and receive all mails.
• Make an effort to reduce the number of preapproved credit card offers that you receive.
Protecting Identity is More Than Protecting Individuality
Do you remember that Hollywood blockbuster several years ago involving a woman that needed to keep running because of a compromised identity with information taken from the Internet? Or more recently, there was yet another Hollywood offering that shows a regular family man's ideal home and family turned into a suspense-filled arena for a bank heist because of sensitive information gathered from the family trash?
Although, as the disclaimer at the end of these films say, these stories are fictitious, there is indeed cause for alarm for things like these happening to you. Identity theft is a growing problem and once you've been victimized, a whole slew of difficulties will arise from this crisis.
Don't panic just yet though. Note that from these movies you will see that these types of identity thefts are done with precision and motive. Meaning, when identity theft to that magnitude happens, it is usually committed by someone who knows your personal habits and may not be a serial identity theft. That means, you need to safe guard against friends or family that may have a drug problem or are in dire financial straits. Suspicious of you to think this way sure but as the cliché goes, it is better to be safe than sorry, and believe me, sorry is the least of your worries if you become the hapless victim of identity theft.
Just think-if your wallet was stolen or you have for one reason or another, been physically separated from items that contain sensitive information like your social security number, credit card information, driver's license number, etc-- it is easy to prevent identity theft because you can cancel all your cards and report them stolen to prevent anyone misusing your personal information for their gain.
Now imagine this-you are hounded by credit collectors for purchases you have not made, or worse-you are wrongfully apprehended for a crime you most certainly did not commit. How did this happen? Your personal information and sensitive numbers were never physically separated from you. Unfortunately, carelessly giving away your social security number or other sensitive information may put you at risk for identity theft.
A database with all your information may be sold to another entity that may use your data to make purchases in your stead without you knowing. It's easy enough if the criminals who commit identity theft will make purchases on your existing credit cards and such. You can easily check your existing credit cards and see fraudulent purchases.
What about checking the accounts that you don't know about?
Identity thefts may open new accounts for mobile phones, credit cards and even make larger purchases like buying an apartment and you won't know it unless the credit collectors finally trace the bills back to you after the perpetrators run off with the bills.
Therefore, identity theft protection is important, as you have now surmised. Although as in everything in life (another cliché coming), prevention is the best cure. Given this, it is important to find out the best ways to prevent and protect yourself against identity theft. Fortunately, you can get extremely useful information on this online through websites like www.crimedoctor.com
This website is a rich resource for anything and everything about identity theft and how to protect yourself against it. This site has a very useful article on identity theft written for lay people like you and me so that you can guard yourself by learning more.