The Identity Theft Guardian

Identity theft has become a worldwide crisis, particularly in the United States. The Federal Trade Commission states that the crime of identity theft is rapidly growing and will affect thousands of people throughout the world and because the rate of conviction and prosecution of identify theft criminals is so small, this crime will just grow worse over time. If you are like the majority of people, then you may wonder exactly what identity theft is, how it can affect you, and what thieves may do with your information once they have it. The goal of this article is to examine the crime of identity theft and look at how it can affect the average person.

Essentially, identity theft is where a criminal gains access to your personal identification information, be it your Social Security number, credit card number, or bank account information. You may be amazed at what somebody can do once they have access to your personal identification history. Once a person with the available knowledge and lack of conscience has gained access to your Social Security number, address, phone number, and birth date they have an open ticket on accessing and abusing your credit. You may think that this cant happen to you but the Federal Trade Commission estimates that 9 million Americans will be affected by identity theft each year and unfortunately, you could be next on the list. If you become a victim of identity theft, the consequences can be catastrophic.

Victims of identity theft not only have to go through the difficult, time consuming, and self demeaning act of proving their innocence, but will also be required to engage in the process of restoring their credit and good name. The act of restoring your credit can take hundreds of hours spread out through a period of several years and can cost thousands of dollars in out of pocket expenses for the victim. In addition to this fact, an identity theft victim can have their life put on hold while trying to restore their credit, making it difficult or impossible to secure home mortgages, automobile loans, and credit for other needed items. On rare occasions, an identity theft victim can actually be arrested for crimes that they did not commit. To make matters worse, someone who has fallen prey to identity theft may not even realize what has happened for months until they are contacted by debt collectors for bills that they did not incur. To make matters even worse, if an identity theft victim needs to seek another job, their now negative credit history may have a large impact in obtaining gainful employment.

Once a person understands what identity theft is and how it may affect them, they often wonder just what an identity theft thief will do with their information. The possibilities are virtually endless, with identity theft criminals using stolen personal identification to rent apartments, get credit cards, open telephone or utility accounts, and even open bank accounts, all in the victims name. While some identity theft criminals are simply people with bad credit themselves who may use your information for the purpose of obtaining credit and will actually pay the bills, many more will simply spend with no intention of ever paying back the debt and continue to do so until your credit and good name are completely destroyed. Some identity theft criminals have actually filed for bankruptcy using a victims social security number.

As seen by this article, identity theft can happen to anyone, and can often go unnoticed until the point where the victims credit history and good name has been completely destroyed. While recovering from identity theft can be a long and hard road to recovery, there are steps that someone can take to narrow the possibilities of becoming an identity theft victim. Anti identity theft programs such as LifeLock specialize in helping people protect their credit and personal identification information before they become an identity theft victim.



By: Rick Churchill

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Identity Theft is now the number one crime in the entire world. It is estimated that $221 billion a year is lost by businesses worldwide due to identity theft. Cyber crime units now analyze 2,000 to 3,000 new viruses per hour. Much of the malware harvests financial and personal data sold to groups who turn it into cash through identity fraud.

One simple toll-free telephone call can block 99.9% of personal exposure to Identity Theft. Aside from expediency of commerce, it’s shocking that legislation has not been enacted to automatically force this common action without the consumer having to make the call.

Every 3 Seconds someone becomes a victim of Identity Theft, 20 lives ruined every minute, 1200 every hour, 28,800 every day, 201,600 every month, and 2,419,200 every year. The impact on the individual is staggering with thousands of dollars in costs and dozens of hours wasted trying to deal with the personal devastation. It could all have been avoided with one simple telephone call.

On an individual level, how does one become a victim of Identity Theft? And most importantly, how can we avoid becoming a victim of this prevalent crime? The odds are clearly stacked against society, our personal information is readily available in this high technology world.

Just as we use firewalls and virus protection programs for our computer health, we need to closely examine the anatomy of this crime of opportunity. What protections are available to insulate us against the potential damage from stolen personal idenitity information?

Many of us may already be victims of Identity Theft and don’t know it yet, or the impact of the fraud has yet to be perpetuated or discovered. Remember those special event tickets you bought, or the hotel reservation, car rental, or airline flight reservation call you made?

Have you ever purchased an automobile and filled out a loan application? How about an application for a cell phone, a store credit card, or an application for an apartment rental? What about a school, personal or equity loan?

Remember all of the information you probably provided? You most likely gave your credit card details, or birth date, social security number, address, bank account references, employment information and/or phone number.

Now ask yourself a few questions … Who has access to all of that information? Do you know them? Do you trust them? What’s to stop them from selling or misusing that data?

It’s a scary proposition, but right now there are probably several file cabinets or computer storage files in different places of business that house enough of your personal information to allow for an easy theft of your identity. It’s a fact of life, we’re ALL vulnerable. But you can easily block the use of that information. You’ll see how in just a moment, but first …

How does information theft become Identity Theft?

Stealing your personal information is only the first step in the criminal process. Once the information is gathered, the thief must then convert that information into a means by which he or she can profit.

One popular method is to simply call one of your credit card companies posing as you and change the billing address for the card and then begin making a series of purchases. Identity Theft perpetrators don’t even need your credit card, they can simply call and have a duplicate card issued. They can establish utility, cable, or cell phone service in your name. Some even obtain leases, car loans and more.

In one recent case, a local bank in Montgomery County, Maryland USA issued a check for $100,000 for an equity loan on a home. The entire transaction was recorded on bank cameras as the check was handed to an impersonator of the home’s actual owner. And that was the second time it happened to the same victim who was exonerated by authorities as an accomplice in the case.

Identity theft ruins lives. It creates a seemingly infinite number of short term problems that turn into a nightmare that can linger for decades. Don’t assume that it can’t happen to you.

ATMs are one the latest points of attack. Thieves have developed credit cards that can temporarily program any ATM machine to copy the magnetic data off of your credit or debit card when you use the machine. This method has effectively collected hundreds of victims in the course of a single weekend from a single machine.

Identity thieves also use handheld magnetic card readers that can be easily purchased right on the internet. Culprits include waiters and waitresses, store clerks, toll booth collectors, and gas station attendants to name a few.

64% of all fraud complaints involve identity theft and it’s not just credit cards. With your personal information, thieves can open bank accounts, order checks and run up huge debt by writing bad checks in your name. Identity thieves have become so creative and talented that most protections schemes can be thwarted.

So what’s the answer? Credit monitoring services like those offered by the credit bureau agencies? Simply put, that’s like having an alarm to alert you after you’ve been ripped off.

The solution is clear, placing a Fraud Alert on your credit profile with the primary credit bureau agencies will block 99.9% of attempts to use your personal information for credit without your permission. Fraud Alerts require direct contact with you before an account can be opened or credit extended in your name. They can be put in place for a period of 90 days and can be renewed every three months.

Unlike fraud alerts, the alternative Credit Freeze option remains in place indefinitely and no credit of any kind can be issued in your name until you take the required steps to remove the freeze.

Just one telephone call is all it takes to any of the primary credit bureaus in the United States:

Equifax: 1-800-525-6285; www.equifax.com P.O. Box 740241, Atlanta, GA 30374-0241

Experian: 1-888-EXPERIAN (397-3742); www.experian.com P.O. Box 9532, Allen, TX 75013

TransUnion: 1-800-680-7289; www.transunion.com Fraud Victim Assistance Division, P.O. Box 6790, Fullerton, CA 92834-6790

Identity Theft is not the only problem in using credit. Inside the complex credit system there are credit robbers. Some of your most trusted creditors are damaging your credit scores and credit rating without your knowledge.

But that’s a story for another article, for now you would be well advised to immediately place a Fraud Alert on your credit profile with any of the credit bureau agencies. Then be sure to update that order every 90 days. It’s the best way to avoid becoming an Identity Theft victim.



By: Robert Miller

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Some definitions from the web are:

Identity theft occurs when somebody steals someone else’s name and other personal information for fraudulent purposes.

Stealing victims’ personal information and credentials, often to make purchases.

The act of impersonating another, by means of using the person’s information, such as birth date, Social Security number, address, name, and bank account information.

The co-option of another person’s personal information (e.g., name, Social Security number, credit card number, passport) without that person’s knowledge and the fraudulent use of such knowledge.

and from Wikipedia: Identity theft (or identity fraud,) occurs when someone wrongfully acquires or uses another person’s personal data, typically for their own financial gain. Sometimes it is referred to as “identity fraud” since the criminal impersonates rather than ‘removes’ the victim’s identity.

Most of these definitions refer to financial gain. For the criminal there usually is a substantial financial gain. For the victim, the loss is usually much more then financial. Credit theft is the most common form of identity theft. It is the reason there is so much marketing around credit monitoring services. Unfortunately, only about 28% of the identity theft crimes are credit related. It’s unfortunate because credit is much easier to repair then the damage caused by most other forms of identity theft. More about this in Identity Theft (Part II).

What identifies a person? First, take a small town view. In most cases a person is clearly identified by their first name or a nick name, and sometimes via a relationship to another person in town. That identity is usually good for a lot. Even today, in many small towns, a local can buy goods at the local mom and pop with just a smile and “put it on my tab”. Try that at Wal-mart. So outside of small town USA how is business done? In many cases it’s credit. Maybe not as friendly as the small town approach, but usually more reliable. The down side is it’s not really a person that is identified. It’s an account. An account that is represented by a number. A number that is link to some other numbers, a name and an address. And of course there are millions of accounts, names and addresses. How does a business validate the person before them with a credit card is really the person behind the credit in the first place? The business can’t validate this, and that is the dark area the criminal operates in. The only piece of data a criminal needs from you is your name and Social Security Number. With that little bit of information they can virtually recreate you at a different address, with tons of credit cards and possibly much much more.

There is a lot of advise on how to avoid identity theft. Shred your mail. Don’t give personal or private information over the phone. Check the mail every day and stop mail delivery when out of town. Keep all documents safe and secure. Do this, do that, watch out, jump over this bar, duck under this bar, snake through this hoop and cross fingers and prey like heck. These are good procedures to follow. They just won’t help when the government leaves millions of records unsecured, or AOL releases millions of personal searches, or a business is hacked and it’s databases are compromised. Go to Google News and do a search on “identity theft”. Read the stories. There are hundreds, thousands and sometime millions of identities compromised every day. It is not a matter of if, it’s a matter of when virtually every personal identity will be compromised.

The probability that an identity will be compromised is nearly 100%. No one person has complete control over own data. Identity theft protection cannot be accomplished though personal protection of one’s data. Is this sounding a little redundant? It’s because this point is too important to miss. Preventing an identity form being compromised is not possible. Protecting your identity is possible.



By: Frank Brammer

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Identity theft worksheets can be valuable tools to combat the horrible possibility and reality of this increasing crime against normal people. A person does not have to live in a high crime area or walk through a ghetto to be a victim of identity theft. An identity thief could find information about you and use it to steal your money, your name and your complete identity. Someone else could be using your identity to get a job, a credit card or a car. Identity theft worksheets can be a great tool if this should happen to you or someone you know.

Once a thief steals the identity of another person, the process of reversing the damage can be frustrating, expensive and frightening. The person affected will soon discover that the crime has been committed, and they will have to start a process to recover their identity. The goal for each person will be to restore their accounts and credit history to the way it was before the violation by one of these thieves. Identity theft worksheets, when completed properly, should help an affected person reverse the damage done by the thief.

Identity Theft Worksheets Should Be Completed Carefully

Identity theft worksheets are designed by experts to make sure that each affected person takes all of the necessary steps for recovery. The best identity theft worksheets provide guidelines for the action that should be taken as soon as the crime is revealed. People find out about identity theft in different ways. Some people find out immediately if they check their accounts regularly. The victims will soon notice that withdrawals or charges appear on their accounts that they do not recognize. Some people do not realize there is a problem for some time after more damage is done.

Each victim should use identity theft worksheets, and they should follow each and every step carefully. The problems of identity theft differ from case to case so each person should study each part of an identity theft worksheet to determine the relevance of each part of an identity theft worksheet to their particular case. Identity theft worksheets should be kept for a couple of years after the problem is solved as problems from this theft could arise years after the matter seems to be resolved. The victim will have to prove that a crime has been committed, and the identity theft worksheets will aid the victim in this regard.



By: Ann Marier

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