The Identity Theft Guardian

Have you fell victim to identity theft? If you have your not alone as identity theft is now the number one crime in the U.S. There is an array of different forms of identity theft, but internet identity theft is by far the biggest problem. With hundreds of thousands of credit card transactions going through the internet on a daily basis and hackers becoming increasingly knowledgeable, it is getting to the point where it is risky to shop online.

There are several ways you can go about preventing identity theft to make sure you don’t add to an already astounding stat. One of the biggest ways people give in to identity theft is by submitting personal information through scam emails. You probably have seen them and have maybe even fell for them, but thousands of scam emails claiming to be from the IRS, banks and Paypal are circulated throughout the internet every day.

Inside these emails, they want you to submit personal information such as a credit card number or your social security number. The purpose of the email is to get you to submit your information to renew your account or check your bank status. All they are doing is trying to get your personal information and use it against you, thus identity theft.

As hard as it is to believe, it is possible for you to make purchases without truly making them. It is vital that you check your credit card statements every month and look for any unidentifiable purchases. If you make any purchases online, there is the potential for your credit card number to be hacked and for the hacker to go on a shopping spree.

Identity theft is a scary crime because it is possible for you to be a victim of it without even realizing it for several months. By that time it may be too hard to find the person. Although you are not held responsible for any of the unauthorized charges, it is a major pain to work everything out. You have to work out your credit report, replace your credit cards and even potentially close and open a new bank account.

Identity theft is just as bad of an inconvenience for the credit card companies as it is for you. Every year credit cards experience losses of 50 billion dollars a year. In an attempt to solve this, many credit card companies are coming out with new software that can better detect identity theft and internet identity theft. Some software now checks for unusual purchases, such as large expenditures in a short amount of time.

While there are various ways you can fall victim to identity theft, internet identity theft has become increasingly troubling over the past few years. With a rise into the number one crime in the U.S., it is vital that you are careful when purchasing or submitting any personal information because you never know if you may be the next victim of identity theft.



By: David Tanguay

About the Author:

Everyone should be well educated in identity theft protection. They should also know what their options are when it comes to identity theft protection services. Being a victim of identity theft is something that we all should dread. It is no fun, time consuming to clean up and has serious consequences if not taken care of in a timely manner.

When your identity is stolen, your personal information can be used for all types of crimes including the theft or money (definitely the most common). When your identity is compromised, a criminal can establish a new life and possibly a career with all of your information. It pays to take the necessary steps to keep your identity safe and to protect yourself from becoming another victim. Identity theft protection services are a great way to help assist you in this never-ending battle.

Keep in mind that you need to take an active part in fighting and protecting yourself identity theft as well. If you ever see any strange transactions or unusual behavior in any of your financial details or transactions, you should look into it immediately. If you find that your identity has been compromised, you need to keep calm. There are definitely ways to get things cleaned up and back to normal.

The very first thing that you need to do is repot it to the proper authorities. If you reside in the United States, you need to immediately report it to the Federal Trade Commission. By telling them that you have become a victim of identity theft, they will notify the other agencies and future problems and issues will be eliminated.

You will also need to contact one of the credit reporting agencies. They are Equifax, Experian, and Transunion. Once you have notified one of these agencies, they will notify the other two and your accounts will be immediately frozen from further activity.

If you are curious to know how many accounts have been opened without your knowledge, you can order a credit report from each agency. Once you know this, you can take whatever action you need to close any of those account that have been opened by the thief.

You should also take a few minutes to notify your bank, credit card companies, and the Social Security Department that your identity has been stolen. They will be more than happy to help you with whatever information you need to begin the clean up process.

It is never fun being a victim of identity theft. By taking the proper precautions and educating yourself, you can prevent identity theft from happening to you!



By: Greg Shuey

About the Author:

Yearly Reports of Identity Theft to the Federal Trade Commission:

In 2007 identity theft accounted for 36 percent of the 674,354 fraud and identity theft complaints (reported to the Federal Trade Commission.

In 2005 -255,565 cases of identity theft were reported to the FTC

In 2004 -246,847 cases of identity theft were reported to the FTC

In 2003 215,177 cases reported of identity theft were reported to the FTC

In 2001 CBS News reported that someone became the victim of identity theft every 79 seconds (CBSnews.com, 1/25/01)

Between 1997 and 2005 the Federal Trade Commission reported that over 3 million cases of fraud and identity theft were reported to over 1400 law enforcement agencies in 19 nations. Identity theft crimes are not limited to the United States but are committed world wide.

Facts every consumer should know:

- Credit card fraud (26%) was the most common form of reported identity theft followed by phone or utilities fraud; (18%), bank fraud (17%), and employment fraud (12%). Other significant categories of identity theft reported by victims were government documents/benefits fraud (9%) and loan fraud (5%). (Federal Trade Commission Complaint Data)

- the majority of cases go unreported to Federal or local authorities

- the most common age group affected by identity theft is 18-29

- the top 10 metropolitan areas affected by identity theft include: Phoenix, AZ; Las Vegas, NV; Miami, FL; San Francisco, CA; and Dallas, TX (2005)

- California had the most reported cases of identity theft with a total of approximately 45,000 cases of identity theft (2005)

- the most common method of retrieving information for use in identity theft is through lost or stolen wallets, theft of mail, dumpster diving, and information obtained through friends, family or consumer providers

- another common method of obtaining your information is by “stealing” it at a business that you may you frequent

New, Harder to Detect Form of Identity Theft

Synthetic identity theft occurs when bits and pieces of several people are used in order to create an entirely new identity. Information may come in the form of an address from one person, the social security number of another and employment or banking information from a third or fourth.

Your Damages resulting from Identity Theft:

In a study conducted of 173 victims of identity theft by The Identity Theft Resource Center specific damages were explored. In each case the victim’s damages included:

- an extended period of time to correct their credit status;

- 85% of the victims found out about the theft when they attempted to apply for a job or credit;

- victims are currently spending over 600 hours attempting to repair the damages to their credit

- victims are spending money in the approximate a amount of over $16,000 per victim to repair their credit

- it is taking longer to remove negative, incorrect or falsified information from their credit reports

- many victims equate the emotional impact of identity theft with that of a violent crime - in some cases similar to a **** as the violation can be that personal.

Identity theft is a serious crime. Damages result to individuals, banks, and businesses as well as families. Imagine going to purchase your new home to find out that your credit is damaged and now you are unable to. Imagine the time and money you will spend to correct the problems associated with identity theft. Millions of dollars and Hundreds of thousands of people in the United States and millions worldwide are affected each year by identity theft. Victims, both personal and business must use valuable time, effort and resources to correct the situation, which in some cases is beyond total repair. Damages are not only to your credit and your finances but also to your emotional, physical, and psychological well being.

Reporting suspected identity theft is essential to protecting yourself further and protecting others. Reports should be filed with local authorities, your State’s Attorney General’s office and the Federal Trade Commission. Consumers need to not only protect their information but by reporting efforts at identity theft may be able to stop it from happening in the future.

Consumers can report ID theft to the FTC by calling the agency’s toll-free number: 877-438-4338.



By: Lisa Carey

About the Author:

Identity theft is one of the fastest growing crimes in the world. One out of every four households will be plagued by this crime and a new victim’s freedom and privacy will be compromised every 4 seconds. Thankfully, preventing identity theft from creating havoc in your life is not as hard as it sounds.

The most important thing is to understand identity theft and how it occurs. Contrary to popular belief, most identity thieves are not computer hackers. Less than 12% of the identity crimes that take place actually originate online. Instead, thieves use your garbage, stolen credit cards, and other traditional methods to access your personal information and assume your identity.

Preventing identity theft from occurring is the only way to protect yourself from this emotionally and financially devastating crime. Most victims are not even aware that their identity was stolen until they are denied credit, housing, or employment because of the crime and less than 5% of the thieves are actually arrested, leaving victims to spend hundreds of hours, not to mention thousands of dollars, to repair the damage on their own.

Protect yourself from the horrors of identity theft with these simple tips:

Guard your personal data. Avoid giving your social security or bank account numbers to people you don’t know. Never give out information over the phone or computer unless you initiated the contact. Keep credit cards, account numbers, pins, and passwords in a safe place at home.

Invest in a shredder. A small home office paper shredder is a must if you hope to prevent identity theft. Shred bank statements, pre-approved offers, and other sensitive documents before throwing them away. It’s a good idea to opt out of special credit offers that come in the mail.

Protect your mailbox. Make a habit of mailing checks and other personal data directly from the post office rather than leaving it in your home mailbox and try to check your mail as quickly as possible to prevent mail theft, a common method for identity thieves.

Avoid using checks, whenever possible. Not only is all the personal data a criminal needs to assume your identity printed right on the face of your check, your bank account number and the bank routing number are in plain view. This is an ideal opportunity for a thief.

The best way to prevent identity theft is to stay active and aware. Review your bank accounts and credit card statements each month for any suspicious activity and immediately investigate anything that may seem odd. Watch for your statements to come in the mail and contact your financial institution if it is not received on time. Many banks offer electronic statements that can help you protect yourself. A Credit Monitoring Service can save you time and trouble by continuously monitoring and reviewing your credit reports for you and notifying you of any changes, new accounts, or other activity not initiated by you.



By: Yo Fujikawa

About the Author:

Identity theft is the act of stealing ones identity including the name, address telephone number, credit cards and mother maiden name.

In most cases, it is not only the identity stolen. Identity thieves also steal properties secured over the accounts of the owner. This is serious case and is recognized as a fraud.

You can be a victim of this crime as there are no particular requirements for identity theft. Even small companies including college students are also victimized by this crime. However, you need to take the proper action once you are victimized.

It is important for you to know who stole your personal information in your computer. You need to identify the thief who opened your new account without your permission.

It is very important for you to know the thief of your account as quickly as possible to avoid more problems to come.

The law has been changed allowing anyone to review all their account or credit report annually without requiring payment for such. This law was established in 2005. You can have a free credit report when your previous credit is denied within 60 days.

With this monthly review, you will have the chance of identifying whether there has been a huge unauthorized use of your accounts. You will be able to identify them more quickly and implement an early intervention as well. There are many services that offer monitoring of your accounts and business that are affordable.

What happened if your identity has already been stolen? You will need to report this matter. However, you will also need to take different systematic steps before you can report this particular crime.

Police look after the criminal side of the matter. You will still need to do much paperwork. You will need to complete forms and send them to all the companies and agencies that are responsible.

Where are you going to report the crime? Do you have the knowledge that you need to fill out some forms for this kind of report? Where are you going to send them?

You may report it to the police. However, you will not receive that advance action to the crime. There are special agencies that entertain crime like this. It will be discussed on the later part of the article.

You have to undergo many stages in order for you to clear your name. It can be the most difficult part, as you will be clearing a mess that you did not make. It will take time for you to clear name and battle with bureaucratic red tape.

There are many numbers of federal and state agencies that have jurisdiction, depending upon the type of crime committed. Federal Trade Commission has different agencies that can treat cases like identity theft issues, but you will still need to contact these agencies.

It will take time to clear out all the errors made in your name that is why you need to start with the process as soon as you figure out that a crime has been committed with your identity.

Start reporting the crime to the different agencies, companies, credit bureaus and investigators to process the clearing of your name and correcting the errors.

You will need to keep all the relevant files of all the contact and record all the relevant conversations and written correspondence. For you to have an easy to understand history of the relevant data, you may need to make a chart of all of these including the date, agency, contact person, company and summary of all the information discussed.

Keep originals and the send out copies. You must keep your originals safe. They will be relevant in the investigation of the crime. You can also send copies through certified mail, return receipt requested. In this way, you will have a record of the date the letters were received.

It may take time to clear your name but you will get there in the end. You will start a new life full of confidence that you will never encounter crimes like this anymore.

Remember that patience and determination is the key to the resolution of this crime.

For more information on Identity Theft Click Here



By: Lucas Heijn

About the Author:

On April 27 2007 the Associated Press reported that the Caterpillar Corporation of Peoria, IL had been the victim of massive identity theft. The theft came in the form a stolen laptop containing employee information. Caterpillar employs over 90,000 people worldwide. All of them, in that instant, became potential victims of massive Identity Theft. The potential cost of that Identity Theft could be in the millions of dollars. The result? On the day the theft was announced Caterpillar’s shares rose 76 cents on the NYSE.

Depending on which source one listens to the number of incidents of Identity Theft range from 100 million to over 300 million every year… and the problem is increasing. Now, the previous sentence is filled with qualifiers, uncertainties and suppositions… and that is part of the problem. It is almost impossible to determine the severity of the problem of Identity Theft. One of the major difficulties in determining the severity of the problem is that a significant number of incidents of Identity Theft, some experts say even the majority, goes unreported.

What is needed is an identity Theft Scorecard. This Identity Theft Scorecard would be a tool that could be used to develop a series of Identity Theft countermeasures. The Identity Theft Scorecard should be a tool that provides solid, objective, impartial and rational KPI (Key Performance Indicators) to what can be a very emotion laden issue. With the information provided from these Identity Theft Scorecards an “Identity Theft Metrics” could be developed. This Metrics would be an empirically accurate measurement of not only the costs associated with Identity theft, but also the number and type of victims and, perhaps, the number and type of perpetrators. An Identity Theft Metrics would quantify threats and vulnerabilities and provide a means to begin to address those areas of risk. It would also, hopefully, provide a tool that could be used to determine the perpetrators of the crime and curtail their activities.

Any accurate Identity Theft Metrics will have as its core KPI a measurement of risk, not uncertainty. Risk is manageable, uncertainty isn’t. Once areas of risk or vulnerability are known they can be quantified and proactively addressed. What cannot be measured is the unknown, the supposed or the hypothetical. It is possible to become so obsessed with the “what ifs” that the primary task, the combating of the actual and real threats, is neglected. Thus it is vital that a central premise of the KPI deals with real, not imagined, risk.

As the economy is increasingly digitized and the vulnerability of people and corporations to Identity Theft increases, quantify the risks. Only by developing a real, measurable, empirical Identity Theft Metrics with measurable KPI at its core can we hope to deal with the issue of Identity Theft in an effective manner.



By: Sam Miller

About the Author: