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Identity Theft News
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Identity Theft – Are you are Risk?
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:
* 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.
* 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?
* 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:
* use your line of credit to make purchases
* use your credit cards to make purchase
* open up a mortgage using your name and social security number
* create a loan using your name and social security number
* file bankruptcy under your name
* open phone or utility accounts under your name
* attempt checking and/or savings fraud (accessing your accounts)
* 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 “fraud is estimated to account for as much as ten
percent of all health care costs … including medical identity
theft.” “An insurance card is like a Visa card with a $1 million
spending limit,” 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
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
For more information about identity theft prevention contact Cathy
at 949 635-4923
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Identity Theft Articles
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