The Facts About Identity Theft
Identity theft is a crime. Identity theft and identity fraud are terms used to refer to all types of crime in which someone wrongfully obtains and uses another person's personal data in some way that involves fraud or deception, typically for economic gain. Anyone with personal identification is at risk of identity theft and fraud and should take careful steps to protect themselves. As a responsible and careful consumer, you can take precautions to protect yourself from identity theft.
A Backdoor into Your Finances
Your fingerprints are unique to you and cannot be given to someone else for their own personal use of gain. The same cannot be said of your personal data. This includes your Social Security number, your bank account or credit card number, your telephone calling card number, and other forms of valuable identifying data. Your personal identifying information can be used alone or together when they are stolen and used for personal profit and at your expense . This information is easily harvested from multiple areas of your life, even something as simple as your garbage can at work or home.
Also referred to as identity theft, identity fraud or stolen identity, it is a problem of large proportions and not soon to vanish. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) tells us that this is and will continue to be the fastest growing crime in the United States. It will effect one in five U.S. Citizens this year alone and cost the economy billions in lost revenue.
Steps You Can Take To Protect Yourself From Identity Theft
While all identity theft, especially as these criminal outfits increase their sophistication and data mining efforts, is impossible to eliminate; there are steps you can take today. Follow these simple points to help keep your identity and private information guarded:
Shred all mail before trashing. Remember to do this both at home and at the office.
Do not reply to or complete unsolicited offers for anything such as credit cards, sweepstakes, etc. Be aware this rule applies both online and in the mailbox.
Check your credit report often and scrutinize it diligently for accounts that may possibly be fraudulent. Staying on top of your credit report not only can avoid identity theft, but will also help you stop it before it inflicts significant damages to your life.
Do not use un-secured wireless networks such as those found in malls and some coffee houses. While convenient, everything you are looking at can easily be recorded by someone else such as email accounts, online banking, etc.
Try a well-reputed credit monitoring company to keep a 24-hour watch on your credit profile. A small investment for sure-fire identity protection.
The Potential Damage of Identity Theft
It is well known that internationally, there are daily reports of unauthorized persons taking funds out of their bank or financial accounts, or, even worse, people have taken over their identities altogether. At your expense these criminals are running up vast debts and committing crimes while using the victim's names. And the expenses are large, too. This includes out-of-pocket financial losses and, also substantial financial costs. This is the result of the victim attempting to restore his reputation in the community and correcting the false information that the criminal has stolen and used.
In America, there are thousands of people each year who report that they have been the victims of identity theft. On top of this fact, there are many identity theft-related crimes that are not even reported! Believe it or not, because of the huge cost associated with fixing this crime, the victims are embarrassed to claim that this has occurred. To date, victims who have reported this crime have spent more than 175 hours and more than $10,000 per incident just to resolve these problems. It is obvious by these facts that the consequences of identity theft and fraud can be staggering! There are many steps that you can take today to protect yourself from ever having to deal with this crime.
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