Identity Theft Crisis

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Identity theft, or simply ID theft, is the fastest growing crime in America. The reason is simple; it pays and often the criminals off with light sentences. This article offers ways to prevent identity theft.

You should also know that that there are different forms of identity theft. Some of these are as follows:

1. Full identity theft: someone steals your data and then goes on to live as you. He/she will pose or disguise his/herself as you, obtain an identification documents and then clean you out – that is bank account, credit lines etc.

2. Credit hijacking: The thief will simply use your name and good credit to open new credit lines and then go on spending sprees, of course, without paying the bills. You only realize when you either get denied credit, get a call from your bank or some other bank or creditor, or receive a bill you have no idea about.

3. Synthetic identity theft: This involves using bits and pieces of personal information from several victims to create a whole new identity. This is perhaps the most difficult form of ID theft to detect.

There are the obvious precautions anyone can take and often offered as preventive ways. These will probably stop a petty thief, but the modern ID thief is much more sophisticated.

These mundane identity theft prevention ways include advice such as “shred your documents”, “don’t carry your social security card in your wallet”, and “don’t throw documents in the trash” and the like. Good measures, but the sophisticated thief would laugh at these.

You can stop most ID thieves on their tracks by placing a fraud alert on your credit file with the three major credit bureaus. Unlike credit monitoring, which alerts you after the fact, with a fraud alert you get contacted before any new credit lines are opened.

A fraud alert is only good for three months. After three months, you have to renew it, which the bureaus are not enthusiastic to do as they make money by selling your information to third parties for marketing purposes (which they cannot do if you have a fraud alert on your file).

You should also invest in a good antivirus and spyware remover for your computer. Keystroke loggers can get downloaded into your system, without you realizing it. Keystroke loggers track everything typed into a computer and then report back to the scammer via the Internet.

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Are you thinking of subscribing to an Identity Theft Protection company? Given the growing crime rate of identity theft, it is definitely wise to take this particular action in protecting yourself from identity theft. Here?s what you should know before subscribing to an Identity Theft Protection company.

An Identity Theft Protection company usually offers the following services:

1. Tracking of credit report, police report and medical records. Whenever your credit card is used or whenever your social security number is included in an application form, your Identity Theft Protection company will notify you. If the transaction was unauthorized, the company would then make a trace to find out who tried to use your identity. The company will also track down any unknown addresses that are affiliated with your name and will also take a look at the DMV records in your state.

2. Alerts in case of any suspicious activity. Once detected, your account will be frozen and you will have to confirm if it is indeed unauthorized. If it is unauthorized, your account will continue be frozen and the company will notify the authorities. If it is authorized however, your account will be reactivated immediately. This is very helpful as normally the only way you would know of this is if you are already harassed by collection agencies or when you try to get credit only to find your credit rating has been thrashed.

3. Assistance in the process of clearing credit. Should the thieves be successful in using your identity, the company will help you with the police regarding warrants, as well as assist you in getting collection agencies to stop harassing you for debts that aren?t yours.

An Identity Theft Protection company offers various plans:

The basic plan usually covers tracking of your credit report and alerts in case of suspicious transactions. You will also receive notifications every time a new account is opened or a new inquiry appears on your report. Given the rise of competition in lending, note that many lenders offer this basic plan for free.

Meanwhile, in a more detailed plan, you can receive monthly reports (as compared to yearly reports in a basic plan) and counseling services. Some Identity Theft Protection companies also cover out-of-pocket fees in case you become an identity theft victim. This detailed plan usually charges a reasonable fee of $100 per individual or $150 per household annually.

There are also comprehensive plans available which covers each and every cost the consumer incurs through identity theft. Obviously, this service would warrant higher fees.

A few examples of top-notch Identity Theft Protection Companies include LifeLock Identity Theft Protection and Equifax Credit Monitoring Service. Note that Lifelock offers $1,000,000 Identity Theft Protection Service Guarantee.

Subscribing to an Identity Theft Protection company is just one of the ways you can protect yourself from identity theft. There are other simple steps you can take like being more cautious in all your transactions and being more careful with regards to your personal information. You certainly can?t go wrong with taking extra precautions when it comes to protecting yourself from identity theft.

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ID Theft and Identity Theft Prevention

Identity theft affects over 9 million Americans alone each year. As the degree of damage varies from individual to individual, the lasting effects are nearly the same. ID theft ultimately affects your credit score. And in many cases ID theft can cause major damage without the victim even realizing it at first. Identity theft can occur simply by a ID thief obtaining a person?s identifying information such as their name, Social Security numbers, credit care and other account numbers and more.

There are many ways thief can use a person?s identity and not just so they can steal money and buy home theater systems or take lavish vacations, like the recent college-aged thieves caught after years of stealing credit to finance expensive vacations, but many will even steal such information for paying their own rent, telephone bill or even checking out books at the public library.

There are many ways in which an identity thief can obtain your information. Many of the methods used more frequently include going through your trash, going through your mail and stealing a credit card statement in order to obtain your credit card number, email scams, stealing purses and wallets, and even an employee at a restaurant or store jotting down your credit card number as they are running your card.

These events and more can really damage a person?s credit report and overall score which could take a while just to get back in order.

So how can a person protect themselves from identity theft? The most effective way to combat identity theft is to check your billing statements regularly as well as monitor your credit report regularly. Monitoring ones credit does not have to occur daily. But, if done on a monthly basis, one can see any discrepancies on their credit report soon after a potential identity theft occurrence appears on their credit report or billing statement.

Despite the fact that the ID theft occurrence may not be entirely the credit holder?s fault, the lasting effects become that victim?s responsibility to discover and fix. However, there are now services that provide identity theft protection which can be found in more detail at our site. These services can help you keep a close eye on your credit and all identifying information and help prevent identity theft overall.

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Identity theft is a growing problem that has reached worldwide, astronomical proportions. Internet identity theft is on the rise and can have a huge, detrimental affect on your life by destroying your credit score and even leaving you open to criminal charges for crimes that are committed in your name.

When someone else assumes your identity for illegal or otherwise unsavoury purposes, this is known as identity fraud and is growing at a frighteningly rapid rate throughout the United States and the rest of the world.

These unscrupulous characters make a living by stealing your identity and impersonating you to commit crimes such as bank fraud, credit card fraud, mail fraud and more. Criminals abound in this lucrative field and they are quite skilled at rapidly conducting a myriad of illegal operations once they assume another person’s identity. Not just a local crime, instances of Internet identity theft have been linked to organized crime and drug trafficking as well as pornography, money laundering and alien smuggling.

The Internet, while providing an efficient and easy to use marketplace for users, is also a domain that is fraught with identity theft opportunity. However, recognizing and protecting yourself from identity fraud is possible. If you use due diligence when conducting business over the Internet, you will be able to give your identity a blanket of protection, thus saving a great deal of heartache and headaches later.

In order to ensure safety in your Internet transactions, you should adhere to the following:

- Always use the same “stored-value” card for all Internet transactions. Stored value cards are ones that are issued by your financial Institution with specified dollar limits.

- Establish an account with an Online Payment Service whose primary service is geared to protecting their clients’ financial transactions over the Internet.

- Use a browser that has built in encryption capabilities, which will scramble any sensitive information transmitted via the Web. If the URL address begins with “https” and you see a small “lock” icon in the status window, chances are your browser is equipped with the latest technology to protect your personal or financial information.

- Strive to conduct business with sites that have been authenticated with digital certificates. Click on the authentication logo to ensure you are on a legitimate, protected site before you provide any sensitive information.

- Read the “privacy policy” of the web page you have accessed to ensure that your personal and financially sensitive information will not ever be released to third parties. Sites that have been verified as safe will usually prominently post the logo of the company they have hired to ensure that they have adhered to industry standards for consumer protection.

- Never disclose passwords or your identification information unless you are positive of with whom you are dealing. Legitimate Internet Service Providers will never solicit this information from you via e-mail, so you should promptly report any correspondence of this nature to the original site owner and then delete the mail. Never, click on a URL contained in this type of e-mail, as this is just a scam artist’s way of accessing your private information — commonly referred to as pshishing.

- Maintain records of all Internet transactions and routinely check your credit card statements for accuracy.

- Most legitimate online merchants will provide confirmation e-mail once you place your order. Be wary of those that do not offer this service.

Technological advances provide more and more protection to Internet shoppers; however, as quickly as the innovations are put into place, there are criminal elements that are diligently working to thwart these efforts.

When dealing with merchants on the Internet, you must practice common sense and be security conscious. Should you fall victim to Internet identity theft, you must take action to protect your self immediately.

As soon as you suspect your identity has been compromised through Internet identity theft, contact the service provider. Next, get in touch with your credit card issuer and immediately close your account. Your credit card company will be only too happy to issue you new cards with a different account number. Ensure that your old account contain the notation “closed at consumer’s request” so that there will be no harmful consequences to your credit score. Follow up all verbal communication with your credit card company in writing so you have a hard copy record of the transaction.

Next, call all of the three credit reporting agencies to report the fraudulent activity. Request that they review your records to make sure no additional credit cards have been opened in your name without your authorization. Ask that all your accounts be flagged with “fraud alert”, so that no accounts can be opened in your name in future without your express permission. Provide the reporting agency with all your contact information, including phone number, so that you can be readily reached should your account show any ongoing, problematic activity.

All this may sound a bit like “over-kill”, however Internet identity theft is a thriving underworld activity and your life will change dramatically for the worse if you fall victim to it’s evil hold. Therefore, protecting yourself ahead of time in order to avoid Internet identity theft is a smart, sensible move. As the old adage goes: there’s no sense locking the barn door after the horse gets out.

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Are you concerned about identity theft? The fact is that you really do need to be concerned about identity theft at this juncture in time. The fact is that identity theft remains one of the most significant types of crimes that are being committed around the world today. In short, if you are not appropriately concerned about identity theft and the impact that it can have on your life, you need to be. In this regard, you may want to consider the benefits of engaging the assistance of an identity theft protection service.In general terms an identity theft protection service generally offers you to a person like you assistance in two areas:1. An identity theft protection service will monitor your credit reports constantly and report to you anytime there is an inquiry made in regard to you and your credit history.2. Should you become the victim of identity theft, a identity theft protection service will work to deal with and resolve the various issues that have come about because you have been the victim of identity theft.You do need to keep in mind that when it comes to what is offered by a typical identity theft protection service these are steps that you really can take on your own. Of course, it can be time consuming to have to clean up after you have become the victim of identity theft. But, again, you certainly can undertake on your own the services that are provided by an identity theft protection firm.Generally speaking, a typical identity theft protection service does not charge a considerable amount of money for its services. Moreover, there are companies that actually guarantee that they will prevent you from becoming the victim of identity theft. And, if you do become the victim, they cover all of the costs and expenses of getting your credit history and record back into order. They deal with cleaning up the aftereffects of your becoming the victim of identity theft at no charge whatsoever to you.Finally, you cannot underestimate the importance of peace of mind. For many people the engagement of a identity theft protection service actually does raise their comfort level and does provide a peace of mind that previously may have been lacking when it comes to matters relating to identity theft protection. Therefore, you also will want to take this into consideration if you are weighing the pros and cons of an identity theft protection service.

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