Walnut Creek, California (PRWEB) January 31, 2013
The Identity Theft Council is warning of a troubling increase in the exploitation of payday lending loopholes by identity thieves. According to the Council, because many payday lenders don’t run credit checks with the three main consumer credit bureaus – Equifax, Experian, and Transunion – before granting credit, identity thieves are increasingly turning to these lenders to bypass the few security precautions available to consumers to protect themselves.“I would estimate that more than a third of the identity theft cases we’ve worked on in the last six months have involved payday lenders,” according to Neal O’Farrell, founder and Executive Director of the Identity Theft Council. “It’s a triple whammy for victims. Not only do they have to fight a potentially serious case of identity theft, one that can last for months and even years, they’re often also faced with endless harassment and intimidation from unscrupulous payday lenders who deliberately ignore consumer rights. And those same lenders often refuse to cooperate with the credit bureaus to remove fraudulent or incorrect information from the victim’s credit report.”
While consumers can use fraud alerts, credit monitoring, and security freezes to help protect themselves against the most serious types of identity theft, these tools are of little value if the thieves avoid the traditional lending routes and opt to apply for fraudulent payday loans instead.
In one recent case, according to Mr. O’Farrell, a victim of identity theft reported receiving more than 100 harassing calls from payday lenders over a 48-hour period. In a second case, the victim reported receiving harassing and threatening phone calls from the same payday lender more than 300 times over a three-week period.
It’s a national trend, according to Mr. O’Farrell “While we were working on a case on the west coast involving a group of more than 300 victims of payday-related identity theft, the media was reporting that thieves who had accessed the personal information of more than 300,000 victims of a data breach at a Florida university had taken that stolen information directly to the same payday lenders we were dealing with.”
The Council is working with a number of partners to find ways to close this lending and security loophole and provide better protection for consumers and victims.
In the meantime, the Council offers the following tips to prevent and respond to this type of identity theft:
About the Identity Theft Council
the Identity Theft Council (ITC) is an award-winning non-profit, grassroots organization that provides hands-on support for victims of identity theft, helps law enforcement provide a more coordinated response, and promotes identity theft education and awareness at a community level. The Council was founded by security expert Neal O’Farrell with the support of local law enforcement. For more information or to become involved in the Identity Theft Council, please visit: http://www.identitytheftcouncil.org/.
Neal OFarrell
neal_ofarrell@yahoo.com
9259140248
Email Information
Morning Business Memo…
With the start of the tax filing season just around the corner, the IRS is on alert for rising cases of identity theft and tax fraud. Many taxpayers can become victims if they are not careful about protecting their personal information. In some cases, thieves grab W-2 forms and other financial documents from mailboxes.
"The problem is there's way too much information about us floating around out there," says Adam Levin, CEO of the security firm Identity Theft 9-1-1. He says thieves have posed as tax accountants: "They will take the take the name as a store front of a well-known tax preparation company set up shop for a few days." People go in to get their taxes done and then "all of a sudden the store disappears," along with taxpayers' personal information.
The IRS is well aware of the problem. "If you think you have been the victim of identity theft and your refund has been affected, contact the IRS," says spokesman Eric Smith. "We have a process for handling that." Levin says the number of cases of taxpayer identity theft report to his firm has soared 800 percent since 2008.
There are several ways taxpayers can become victims, he says. "One is that they attempt to file a return and it's blocked, or they are waiting for a refund and they find out it's been misdirected because somebody filed before they did using their Social Security number."
Consumers have also received notices from the IRS saying their income was unreported. That could happen if a thief is using their personal information in connection with employment.
One day after Apple's quarterly report disappointed investors, its big smart phone rival Samsung says its profit soared 76 percent. The Galaxy outsold the iPhone worldwide for the fourth straight quarter. But Samsung says today it expects earnings to decline during the current quarter because of seasonally low demand for consumer electronics. The company is also leaving its 2013 capital expenditure at the same level as last year at $21.5 billion, underlining uncertainty about the global economy and declining demand for personal computers. Samsung shares fell in overseas markets.
Microsoft says its quarterly earnings fell 4 percent despite a lift from its latest version of Windows. The results are the first to include Windows 8, the new operating system. Although Windows 8 sales haven't been as strong as investors hoped, revenue in Microsoft's Windows division rose 24 percent from the previous year.
Richard Davies Business Correspondent ABC NEWS Radio ABCNews.com twitter.com/daviesabc
Also ReadRELATED: Bachmann Courts Endorsement from Sheriff Joe Arpaio
"Discover alerted the sheriff about the problem and he has since canceled the card," reports the CBS affiliate in Phoenix. "He says if he finds out the people responsible were struggling, he may not press charges." Well, that's nice of him. Just last week, Arpaio sounded a lot harsher, as usual, when it came to the topic of amnesty and Obama's new immigration-reform policy, saying: "And where’s the fairness here? Why do you want to give amnesty to those people that came across our border illegally?" So, yeah, we're not even going to try and pretend to understand Arpaio's sliding scale of moral law-breaking.
Your child's full name and date of birth are all someone needs to steal their identity. To shed light on this form of identity theft, law enforcement professional and former fraud supervisor Robert Chappell, Jr., explores the crime in his new book, Child Identity Theft: What Every Parent Needs to Know. Although more than 500,000 children become victims of identity theft each year--half of them under age 6--Chappell says the threat is one that parents must educate themselves about so they can teach their children how to protect their identity.
U.S. News spoke with Chappell about how to detect if a child's identity has been compromised, creative ways identity thieves steal a child's personal information, and why children are often a better target than adults. Excerpts:
Why are so many children targeted by identity thieves?
A child has clean credit in the eyes of the credit-issuing industry. Within the three major credit bureaus, it is widely publicized that there is no date-of-birth verification, so children have credit they've never used before. Credit card lenders are more likely to give a card to someone with no credit history than bad credit history.
[Read: How to Spot the Warning Signs of Identity Theft.]
For those who want to abuse credit, a child is an easier target because children don't have the fail-safe mechanisms that adults do. For example, parents who have credit cards receive statements about every 30 days either in the mail or online. That means they're able to notice credit abuses more readily. If you're going to target someone, would you want to start with someone shortly after birth--whose identity you may be able to use until they're 18 years old--or would you want to target an adult, where you're more likely to get caught earlier? The earlier the criminals target children, the longer they can use and abuse that credit.
In your book, you say many cases of child identity theft go unreported because the thief is often a parent or relative of the victim. What makes it easier for people to target children in their inner circle and hide the theft?
They simply have access to information. It's easier for me to steal your identity if I already know your information. However, many times a parent's intention is to borrow information for what they see as the sake of child. For example, they steal their identity to have their utilities turned back on. But then many find themselves wrapped into a situation where they can not only pay their own credit bills but also their children's bills as well. That starts them down the path of ruining their child's credit. Then the problem escalates when parents start to rationalize things like, 'My kids benefit if I get the cable turned back on so they can watch cartoons,' and then it tends to snowball into luxury items.
You say in the book that the lack of a structured system that understands and institutes identity-theft protections is the primary reason foster children are especially vulnerable to identity theft. With foster care lacking a governing body on best practices, is that kind of overarching system even possible?
The president signed a national order last year that attempts to have foster children's credit checked when they turn 16, so if they had their identity stolen, they can use the next two years before they turn 18 to help mend their damaged credit. But that's not going to solve the problem.
What I see as the only fix is for foster-care systems to take ownership of the child; to care for the child's personal information as if the child were their own. The foster parents need to understand that you can't look at individuals anymore and say that an adult is worth more in the credit-issuing world than a child simply because the adult is earning the income. Both are identity-theft targets, but a child is a more lucrative target because of the fact thieves can hide their tracks longer than if they steal an adult's identity.
Another institution you mention in your book as contributing to the child identity-theft crisis is the school system. Are schools taking enough precautions to protect a student's personal information?
The school systems do a fantastic job of educating children, but they're not police officers, and I think it's incumbent upon law enforcement to educate teachers of their role in this process. For example, walk into a typical elementary school classroom and you'll see the children's names and their birthdays so that the classroom can celebrate them. You may see journals containing their name, address, and date of birth left out on their desks. There are a lot of things that have not been modernized that need to change. We need to make sure all of the school employees are trained and all of the classrooms are designed to protect the children's personal information.
What online safeguards can parents put in place for their child if they're trying to build a wall of defense for their email, Twitter, and Facebook accounts?
A lot of times when you first sign up [for a website], they want to know your date of birth. I would encourage for children to either to not give their true date of birth or to not give it at all, if possible--don't just write off that kind of information. You can also give away similar information in pictures, so kids should be careful of what they have on those sites.
What are some ways people steal a child's identity that most parents haven't heard of?
I have a chapter devoted to what's called "the lobby listener." Go to a doctor's office and you go up to reception and they'll ask for your child's name, date of birth, address, ailment of why they're there, and sometimes their Social Security number. If I'm sitting in the room and I see this happen, quite often what I do is I'll write down the information I hear and then walk up to the person and tell them how someone would be able to steal their child's identity with this information.
[Read: 6 Tips to Protect Yourself from Identity Theft.]
Record-keeping is also a big one. Whether you go to a school's lobby or a doctor's office, you walk in and probably see records behind the receptionist. If someone wants to break into an establishment, it's a great location and they don't even have to physically steal anything. All they have to do is break in, copy the information, and leave. Any place that keeps documents on children out in the open like that is a high-risk avenue for identity theft.
Naturally a lot of parents panic when they find out their child's identity has been stolen. In your book, you recommend while they work with the police, they should try to not to be "annoying" but persistent throughout the investigation. What are your suggestions on how to do that?
First off, be organized and be helpful. I suggest people create a journal, which is basically a record-keeping system of who you have contacted, what the conversation was, what their contact information was in case the police want to follow up, and the documents you receive need to be organized. Being well-organized will make the police think you can help them solve this crime. The more a parent can do to help the police put the puzzle pieces back together, the more successful the investigation is going to be.
[See 10 Warning Signs of Identity Theft.]
Parents also want to know what progress the police make--it helps a lot of them calm their nerves to know that the case is being taken seriously. They should talk to the investigator about when they can get updates--when they can expect that next phone call--not when they can expect the case will be solved.
How would you feel if your child's identity was stolen?
I would feel like I failed to educate them in some way. I'd feel like it was my fault.
Identity theft is such a big crime that it would not be wrong to call it a sin. It ruins the victim’s life form upside down. It occurs when a criminal gets illegal access to the victim’s personal data in order to get finance.
Identity theft is one of the most extensively mounting crimes in the world. The worst thing is that one may get victim of this crime even if he or she is extremely careful. Even a single mistake can lead you to damage of your credit. These criminals are really difficult to catch because they play with your identity.
There are million ways to get access to your personal data starting from your social security number to your credit card and your web databases. Similarly these thieves have billion tricks to steal your personal information. All of your personal information like your security numbers, your credit card number, your account number, telephone number and home address can be leaked out and if it does, it can be misused in many ways.
In many countries like
Internet is a blessing for all of us. But for some people it has been a curse. Hackers and Phishers know how to hack your passwords and get access to your credits on web. It is easier to play fraud on web than in real world. Sometimes they send you spam emails to trap you. These emails carry attractive packages for people. They direct you onto some new link and when you want to enter into that link, they will ask your personal information. Never be a fool to give away your information to these links. You will be entering your data right into their databases.
If you have received mailed in applications for "preapproved" credit cards, but you have thrown them in the bin without tearing up the enclosed materials, criminals may retrieve them from the garbage and activate them without your knowledge. (Some credit card companies, when sending credit cards, have adopted security measures that allow a card recipient to activate the card only from his or her home telephone number but this is not yet a universal practice.) Also, if your mail is delivered to a place where others have ready access to it, criminals can just cut off and redirect your mail to another location so that they will receive them.
In these cases, the criminal might change the billing address of you credit. The billing reports will be received on a new address which will keep you unaware of all the explosive activities being done by your credit card. You will get to know when it is too late for you to act against the criminal.
Anticipation is always considered better than treatment. In case of identity theft, it is considered highly recommended. To call identity theft a sin would not be wrong as it has totally ruined many people’s life. Identity theft takes away the money and the reputation as well.
Identity theft can ruin your money and can misuse your name in many illegal activities. The thief might take loan under your name and/or even open a new account(s) with your name. Thief will disappear as soon his game is over and you will be the one suffering all the consequences like answering to police and other agencies.
These criminals are smart enough to get access to your data without you noticing that. All they need is your social security number, name and residential address to ruin your credit. With all this precious data in their hands, they may get your date of birth; mother’s maiden name and every necessary statistics require opening a new account.
If the above information is already leaked out, criminal might get several credit cards under your name. These cards are the easiest to get; all they need is your driving license with a picture ID and your social security number.
Awareness is the key to success to prevent your self from being a victim. There are many steps which you might take to minimize the risk up to a great level.
To protect your identity with credit cards: you must check the credit card application process of the stores where you are applying for credit cards. Check how much secure their process is. Only apply for the credit card at a store if you are fully satisfied.
You also need to check and discuss this matter with all private companies or business organizations you deal with. Ask them how they dispose of the documents from their clients and how much secure their database is.
Never entertain such queries on phone when they ask you for the verification process claiming to be your bank manager or someone like that.
If you have any intention to dispose of your documents, always use the paper shredder so that no one gets this stuff from your bin. Do not carry all of your credit cards or checkbooks along with you in your wallet.
Never write your credit card number on checks. Have a regular check on your bank statements and if you have applied for a credit card and it is taking too long to receive you, you better ask your bank again, Do not use one credit card for high bills and do not throw away your receipts after shopping.
These ordinary sounding guidelines will save you from lot of trouble at the end.
Social security number is an identification number which is owned by every person starting from a business tycoon to an employee in ordinary organization. With the raise of communication technologies, the number identity theft is increasing rapidly. These social security numbers are being used in every financial transaction, billings, savings and daily shopping. Social security number alone is sometimes enough to get loan, deposits or cash credits.
There exist some other security numbers like your Automated Teller Machine number, credit card numbers and master card numbers but these are used for high end potential credibility. These are approved and released only on the strict and stiff screening process. With the help of these cards, the card holder may not need to carry bulk of cash while traveling abroad and can access his/her account from anywhere around the globe.
World of technology has indeed provide us with convenience but it brings along some problems too. Identity theft is the biggest problem people are facing nowadays. You need to be really careful if you do not want to face this situation. Follow the instructions given below to minimize the risk:
Prevention is better than cure; If you have ever witnessed someone suffering through identity theft, you must believe on this quotation. The very first requirement to avoid this theft is awareness. Identity theft in broad sense covers many categories so everyone must be aware of all the categories and how one can fall in that to stay away from it.
Identity theft may occur online as well as in any utility stores. One may lose their identity if personal documents are stolen or were not disposed off properly.
When you talk about online identity theft, you must be aware of Phishing. It is a widely growing way to steal one’s identity online. In phishing criminals take help from spam or pop-up messages which appear on you screen while you are browsing web. These messages promise you any attractive offer but ask for your personal information including your credit card number or social security number.
In some cases, these spammers send you scam emails pretending to be from your bank or online payment services. They warn you to immediately update your credit information otherwise you will loose your account. These messages or emails ask you to follow a specified link to check the authenticity. This website might look like the original one but it actually is a fraud to trap you.
These online hackers trick you to put your personal information on their links and you will be passing over your secured data right in their hands. Always avoid such scams to keep yourself safe.
You can be victim of identity theft even if you do not use computer. There are million of other ways from where your personal information might be leaked out. Like, you did not shred your important documents before throwing them in bin and someone stolen information from them or you lost your wallet with your credit card. You might have left your receipt at a restaurant with your account number on that.
Some companies keep data of their clients in huge databases and most of the time these databases are linked with internet as well. These online hackers may get access to these databases to leak out precious information of your clients. On internet, it is harder to check the person’s identity as he himself is not available. So if the credit card number is stolen; the thief can easily sell or purchase items from web with your money.
In crowd these thieves may engage in “shoulder surfing” where they will catch you sharing your personal information with your friend or putting your information in any machine. Your name, telephone number and address are the easiest things that these criminals can get.
Just remember if you ever become the unlucky victim of this crime, you should contact Federal Trade Commission and police station as soon as possible. They have trained investigation teams to help you catch the fraud and guide you in other matters.
Identity theft is the perfect combination of robbery and fraud which is done in order to create crime in the immigration, spying, access to someone’s property for financial gains. It can not be compared with plain robbery where rob
ber takes away just the money.
In case of identity theft, a victim not only loses his/her money but his social reputation is also on stake. These criminals will take control over victim
’s credit card, telephone number, website passwords and social security number. All of this information is enough for a fraud to misuse person’s name in many different ways.
These criminals may get the authority over name an
d can do millions of crime under your name. They are fearless than normal robbers because their own identity is hidden in this case. They play behind the stage with your name on the board. Identity theft and fraud is one bundle of gigantic crime package that could start with a concerned demand of one’s social security, or telephone number.
These crimes do not end here. Once they are finished with your money, they will start misusing your closed friends and trusted relative’s data. These criminals get greedy every coming day and you and your family will suffer badly. It is highly recommended to avoid getting you and your family into such painful situation.
You must perform every single step which is required to keep these notorious criminals away.
1) Never give away your social security number to anyone unless the person proves his/her identity to you.
2) It’s uncommon that someone asks for your middle initial (mother’s surname). If it happens never give away until you have all your satisfaction. Banks and other organization already have this information in their records so it is not possible that they would call you to ask this information again.
3) If you have any intention to discard your card and important document copies, always use a paper shredder before throwing them in bin.
4) Do not trust any service man that came to you with the renewal of your credit card and ask for your personal information. If they insist tell them to prove their authenticity or bring along the letterhead of the original office.
5) Keep a regular check at your mail box; so your letter with plenty of information may reach only your hands.
If you have been the victim of identity theft, do not consider yourself alone. There are many helpless people like you who have been the injured party of this cruel crime. So if you have been the victim of this crime, do not stay quiet, share it with the right people who may guide you in right direction.
If you have fallen prey to this crime, contact police and/or authorities as soon as possible. They can direct you to right path telling you what is right for you. Never ignore this theft and do not deal it like a normal robbery. Identity theft has its long term after effects. Identity theft does not mean that you lose your property and money but it also takes away your good social reputation. Money is hard to earn but it is recoverable, but if reputation is broken, it is hardest to get back.
You can report authorities to tell them the real situation because without that, they might be considering you the culprit. They will never be able to figure out that someone else is illegally using your data and credit card. To tell them the real story, you will have to be super active and fight this growing criminal bandwagon.
Reporting your area police is the first step in this regard. You will have to visit the closest police station and tell them what happened to you. Some people have this feeling that police will misunderstand them and would not trust their story. This might be the rare case because these authorities are handling such situations almost daily. They might not help you recover from trauma but they will help you catch the criminal.
You should take all the documents required as evidence. You must bring along bank statements which prove the misuse of your credit card without your consent. Also take the documents which show the opening of new credit card without your authorization. Take all accounts and credit lists which have been affected by this fraudulent act.
In addition to police, you must also report this theft to the Federal Trade Commission. They are the one who have expert investigation team which search the crime in more depth. In most of the cases, police takes help from this investigation team to examine the felony.
Go to http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/microsites/idtheft/ to register your complaint and for additional steps to take if you’ve been victimized by identity theft. The Federal Trade Commission may not be able to help you regain what was lost when your identity was stolen but their far-reaching investigations and statistics analysis can be helped if you report identity theft.
Your creditors also get affected by the accident which strokes you. After you have reported into Police Station and FTC, you must send copies of police report to these creditor and financial institution you work with. Attach a letter of explanation along with that explaining you have been the victim of identity theft. They are your business dealers so they have the right to know to get them protected.
In all crime reports at United States starting from Federal Trade Commission, government bureaucracies; Forensic Accounting firms, credit report agencies, investigators to other private companies identity theft is considered as the world’s biggest crime. The main reason behind that is a person who owns credit cards, driver’s license and even a social security number can be a reluctant victim of this crime. These criminals find their prey near ATM machines, in utility stores, phone booths and garbage areas. Some of them exist in the cyber world in form of hackers.
Once this criminal gets access to the person’s secured information, this may be the start of a long term nightmares for that person’s whole family. The scandalous will use this information for his many illegal purposes which will cause many troubles to the victim. These troubles include bad credit report due to the unprecedented debts which is not easy to recover immediately in any case.
If you have become the victim of this cruel theft, there is no need to waste your time in order to take help from some authorities. These processes are only time wasting and you will end up answering millions of irritating questions like how, when, who and where. If you are thinking to contact any private agencies, just remember they are going to demand heavy fees and you have already lost much. You must only get proper forms of your complaint at any government agency.
If you have filed the proper complaint with FTC, they are the leading and core authority to follow-up of credit records trespassing, and have full control to detect, through consistent monitoring of your financial accounts as well as your current billings; in order to deter, with caution to safeguard any personal information under their safekeeping. They may defend your identification from any continuous manipulations of the suspected theft.
If you have lost your credit account to a thief, you will have to hire a certified Forensic Accountants. They will investigate the depth of the identity theft case and will help you in all angles of your financial loss to the offender. The team is composed of CPA’s CrFA’s, and other investigators. The best thing it offers is the defense in case of repetition of identity deception.
Government agencies usually make collaboration with many investigating companies like FBI, U.S postal inspection services and U.S secret services to act against identity theft crimes.
A lot of paperwork is involved when you are filing your complaint to a definite authority of theft crime. You’ll need a series of contact files, actual conversations and written messages, discussions at the agency, dates, and witnesses, if there are any. Original copies of all documentations should be included in your files.
Paperwork is involved when you want to file complaint. You will need lot more information like contact files, actual conversation and written messages, witnesses, dates and discussion at agency. Keep original copies of all documentations with you as this will be required.
The detailed procedure will be provided to you. But remember to send or hand over the photocopies of your documents to only the concerned person. Write a proper application with a detailed note of what actually happened. This process is very long term so it needs your patience.
It would be too hard to repair a lost spirit on your part for having lost some of your economic gains that can’t be recovered in years, alongside a weakened morale. Be serious in shielding yourself against identity thieves before becoming their prey.
Identity theft is a dangerous crime which occurs when a fraud misuses your identity with the help of your personal information for his purposes. Personal information might include social security number, credit card, driver’s license number and much such information like that. The fraud might use this information for many illegal activities.
The victim is left with bad credit and long term recovery procedure of retrieving financial health. Victim will not only suffer through financial loss but also his social reputation would be highly damaged. Finance can be recovered easily but the reputation is hard to earn and hardest to recover back.
Identity theft has ruined many people’s lives before this law was made. In many cases the criminal misused the credit card of the victim to get many loans, cars, and guns and had the courage to call the helpless victim to tease him. Prey could not help this situation because there was no such law or agencies to take action on that.
Today, laws and agencies try their best to help but even now there is no complete security for your information. You have to be extra vigilant while handling your personal data. You personal data may be leaked out due to following carelessness on your side:
Of course no one can make sure above situations never happen; but you may minimize the damage. Here are some tips which may help you in this regard:
These ordinary sounding tips will help your soul at the end. Remember it is better to prevent the disease than to cure.
Theft of your identity by some one looks like an act that illusionary books of science and movies have on their complicated plots. This was considered fictitious before the advancement of technology and availability of the web around the whole world.
Act of stealing and snatching any body’s identity is now easily possible for most of the hackers and artists of internet. Because of their proficiency and high quality techniques, we can more precisely say that it is as easy for them as if snatching a candy from a little child. Life is bet, special and social life.
How would it be possible for some one to snatch your identity? Answer is simple; any one can do it by simply assuming your social security number, number of credit card or some other stuff which discloses your personal information for their personal use. More precisely we can say that identity can be snatched if any unknown person utilizes information which belongs to you to attempt any scam or theft.
They do the act by using your credit card number, your name, date of birth and social security number. Your credit card is being used by them and they don’t pay the bills. As a result the criminal account is reported on your credit report. They make a call to the authority which have issued you the credit card and request them to alter the mailing address of your credit card account.
After that the authorities which have issued you the credit card make the changes and send all bills to the new address. This is the reason that most of the people will not be able to get that what kind of scam is going on. They may get phone service on cell using your name. They may also open accounts in banks and make horrible checks using your account.
Is it that easy to steal some one’s personal information?
Information related to you that is available on the internet is almost unbelievable. Most of the companies make available such services which provide criminal, civil record, history of your professional life and also your assets related to bank or bank account numbers. Some of the greatest companies that provide you such services are Lexis-Nexis and West Publishing Company.
There are also many small companies which are providing you such services. In old times, this kind of research used to take many days but nowadays, you can easily avail this information in few minutes with just a few clicks of your mouse. There are some economical products that can reveal your personal information even if you are immensely private.
Stealing the identity of some one includes utilizing some main information for intimation. One of the most important things is to get goods and other things in your name by using your debit card or credit card. According to U.S postal services this is one of the most vastly growing robberies in
Crime of identity theft is increasing day by day and by one estimate of industry more then 1,000 people of
Legal responsibility of you is restricted to $50 but the fatalities faced by you will include both the time and struggle to cure the effects of theft. For clearing yourself up from bad credit reports, you need to provide extensive documentation. Some of the people have to wait years and years to clear up the scam student loans and credit accounts and others needed to clarify illegal capture and sincerity proceedings.
You might have watched many Few years ago these movies were considered fictitious only, but now they are part of realities and we can witness these stories all around us. Identity theft is a greatly growing problem and anyone of us can be a victim of this theft.
If you have a look at these movies, you will notice that these crimes are done by the people who are close to you. They are the one who knows your personal information and can get access your secured data easily. The need of the hour is to keep your secured information away from those friends or family members, who are facing financial problems or drug addicts. Do not feel guilty for that, you are just trying to be at the safe side; it is better to stay on the safe side other than being sorry at the end.
Always report for your stolen items; your credit cards, social security numbers, driver’s license number or ATM cards as soon as you become aware of that because it might safe anyone else from misusing your cards. Report to the authorities or service centers as soon as possible to prevent any further damage.
Stolen item is not the only reason of identity theft. Sometimes you mistakenly speak your personal information aloud or keep them at a place which is not totally secured. Your information may leak out due to little carelessness.
If you are in habit of putting your important information on websites; you are handing your credits to hackers and professional looking for people like you. It is the easier job to get access to the databases available on web.
Sometimes companies or employees in a low reputed company may sell your information to these thieves in exchange of money. So be very cautious to whom you are providing your personal information. Never pay high bills while shopping through one credit card.
The risk involves with identity theft is opening a new account with your name and you being unaware of this theft. You will only be notified when the debt under your name is out of limit. Keep a regular check on your bank statements to confirm the account clearance.
Therefore, identity theft protection is important, as you have now deduced. Although as it is said; prevention is better than 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 you 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.
Identity theft is becoming the biggest crime throughout the world. Identity theft occurs when a person steals the personal information of any other person and misuses it for his own purposes. The advent of technology and cyber world is also increasing this crime every day. On internet it is easier to access personal information. The rapid increase in the usage of credit cards and ATM cards is another reason of this identity theft.
No doubt every person finds it easy to do transactions and shopping online. It seems convenient but it is risky too. When a person puts his personal information on websites, it becomes easier for the hackers to get access on your information.
These criminals can use your credit information for many crimes without you being aware.
The reason for the increase of this crime is that any person who possesses credit cards or even social security number can be a potential victim of this theft. This is considered dangerous because a person is unaware of this damage until the criminal’s game is over.
There are many ways that can make this identity theft possible. If you are in habit of putting your personal information on internet, you can be the most probable victim of this crime. If you loose your wallet with your important information or if the personal documents are stolen, you can be a victim. Your personal information can be stolen if you leave them unlocked at home or in office.
Sometimes the use of credit cards in utility store can be dangerous. Frequent use of ATM card can also be the cause of leakage of your personal information. Do not ever tell proudly the amount you are carrying in your bank accounts. Your bank mailing address should be the one where you are available all the time.
The hard fact behind this crime is that there exists no single solution to completely neglect this theft. One can minimize the risk but still there is a probability of falling into that category. One needs to be aware of all the cases and options to minimize the risk.
You need to be very careful while using your credit card. If you are not using them frequently, you can have a regular check on your credit reports. This will give you detailed information of all the transactions and billing and you may know if anyone else is using your credit card. There exist some steps which you may take if you found out someone else misusing your card.
The first thing you must do soon after figuring out some suspicious activity is to contact a fraud department. They will start a fraud alert on your credit and you will be notified at every single activity with your credit card. Like if the fraud tries to open a new account with your name, or he would try to change the billing address.
You must also file a complaint with FTC that will help the agency understand the problem in detail. Identity theft and the problems that victims face on such circumstances. This will be able to help in formulating better solutions to the increasing identity theft problem. Awareness is the key to preventing identity theft. Being responsible for protecting how we divulge our personal information can help greatly in making us avoid being unwilling victims.
Identity theft was never considered that practical before the advent of technology and cyber world. With the rising technologies these hackers and phishers can be compared to the con artists from the fantasy movies and suspense-thrillers.
Problems expand when the cyber world is involved because you will have to worry not only for your credit cards and wallets but also for your online data. This online information can be hacked and misused for plenty of crimes.
According to FTC, there are more than 160,000 reported cases in the
There exist many different kinds of identity theft insurances varying from company to company. Some companies include identity theft insurance as part of their home insurance policy. Some sell them as a stand alone policy or as a support to homeowners or renters insurance policies.
These policies are affordable as they charge almost $25 and $50 for $15,000 to $25,000 worth of coverage. Identity theft insurance provide compensation for the expenditures like lost wages, phone bills and certified mailing costs. Sometime it may also include attorney fees with the prior consent of the insurer.
Complaints about identity theft have rushed forward from about 40,000 in 1992 to 750,000 in 1998, according to regulators.
Las vegan Julia had a worst experience of identity theft when she had to stay in jail for 3 days and had to pay a fine of $15,000 because she lost her purse with personal information. Thief misused her credit card and she had to suffer for two years till her life get back to normal track.
Clark Country metro police receive almost 70 new cases of identity thefts in only one week. According to a report, identity theft is considered as the fastest growing crime in
Ted Burke is a former law enforcement agent who has spent many years dealing with identity theft victims. "They really didn't have an antidote or way to stop the bleeding until we came about.” Bruke is now working in
These companies will provide extra shield to your credit every time. These shields will be monitoring your credit details and transaction activities all the time and will be reporting you time by time. This way you will no longer stay unaware of any change occurred to your account or credits. These shields have been the considered the most effective way to guard your identity till now.
Ted Burke adds, "It gives them peace of mind. They can sleep at night knowing we're watching their back 24-7, 7 days a week no matter where they are or what they are doing, we are taking care of them."
Identity theft shield benefits will cost your family anywhere from $10 to $12 a month. Pre-paid legal Services has been in business for more than 30 years and operating in
Internet has no doubt brought many facilities for the people of today. People may deal with business transactions more easily. They no longer have to follow those long tiring procedures of going to bank and waiting for their turn. No one can restrain taking advantage if he or she has the facility of internet. But usually people are unaware of the harsh realities of these fancy looking conveniences.
Identity theft occurs when some person misuse someone else’s identity for his own purposes. In the
According to a research, almost 700,000 people get involved in these identity theft cases every year. Every single person spends an average of $1000.00 for the damage. Imagine the tragedy if each of them will spend 3 days clearing themselves instead of personally earning. This is simply clear that this crime is highly affecting the world’s economy and the damage rate is higher than the recovery rate.
The need of the hour is to keep double care of your belongings so that you may not regret later. You might lose your identity very easily like the loss of you wallet, which has you credit cards and signatures. Your reputation of being famous financially can also make you target. Using ATM cards most often and trusting on your employees or colleagues blindly.
If you own a bank account or a credit card or even social security number, you might be the unwilling victim of identity theft. The worst thing in this theft is that the real person stay unaware of the theft until the damage is done. Thief will misuse his credit card, will apply for loan and can change the billing address leaving the actual person unaware of the damage.
Similarly your personal data in online world is not safe enough to trust blindly. Any reputable company will take extra care to keep precious data of the customers safe. Some companies do hire hackers to jot down the loop holes in their systems so that no hacker from outside the world can attack their systems. To kill these criminals, you have to take help from people like them for they can only understand their minds.
Internet world is no doubt attractive and we visit almost every other website without thinking twice. But visiting any new web link will expose your system’s internet protocol address to these people. Which means you are telling them your location and service provider? These webmasters can look through your web history and online traffic as well; eventually will bring out your secured information causing trouble for you.
The existence of the track records, naively created by simple browsing, enables crime makers to arbitrate through your codes to your local computer. On the contrary, reputable sites leave scripts for a simple reason of making the browsing convenient to returning visitors.
Identity theft cases are more alike other identity theft cases where a person looses his identity out of nowhere. You may never specify your safe steps which can be followed to avoid this theft. But again extra vigilance is required to stay away from such bad consequences.
What exactly is identity theft and why it is affecting so many people’s life? The news of the people being victimized by this identity theft is increasing every day. It is not only the identity; people’s lives are getting changed with this dangerous crime. If one wants to avoid this theft and stay away, one must understand it in depth.
Identity theft is basically defined as the theft where person’s money and reputation is on stake. A thief steals person’s secured information and misuses it to get access to money and property. Although personal information is held with care yet there are million of loopholes from where this information can be leaked.
In identity theft, your identity can be stolen by just your credit card and your signature on it. Once your identity is stolen a person can pretend to be the owner of that identity and get hand on the money. Credit card is not the only gate for these thieves. They can be the hackers and hack your information from internet.
Money is not the only target of these criminals. They can do many crimes using your identity and in the end you will be the one paying the consequences. These criminals can steal your credit card records and call your card issuer to change the billing address. Once it is done, they can then charge purchases on your account without you knowing it.
If a person changes the billing address, you will be facing massive damage because you will find out late about the theft. In this situation that fraud might open another account using your identity and he has to pay no bills. You will realize this as a problem when the delinquent accounts turn up on your credit report.
The worst situation comes when the fraud opens a new account with your name and gets a new identification card with your name but his picture. He may take huge loans and bad checks under your name. After his game is over, he will be running away from police bravely showing your name and you will be the one facing police.
Police may arrest you when the criminal does not appear in court. A warrant will be issued in his name, which is in actual your name. Now you might be feeling the bad face of getting your identity stolen.
If you want to keep yourself protected from such criminals, you need to be extra vigilant with your information. Consider it like diamonds in your hand and keep them under key and lock. Do not ever speak your personal information aloud in crowd. When you are in stores doing some shopping. Never hand over your credit cards to the shop keeper.
Try to minimize your risk, limit your use of ATM cards. Never carry your check books along with you. For your credit accounts, you can report it to the different fraud agencies who can issue a fraud alert on your account. This alert would notify creditors to contact you every time a new account is being made under your name. You can also have your affected credit accounts closed to stop further infringement. Report also your problem to the police as well as the FTC in order to make the necessary legal arrangements and cases in the event that the perpetrators are apprehended.
