Personal Finances - What is Identity Theft - There was a big discussion the other night when my son asked me, "Mom, what is identity theft, and how do thieves use it?" I was a little embarrassed when I couldn't answer that question, since this is not a new phenomenon.
What is Identity Theft
Identity theft has been going on as long as I can remember. When people could charge phone calls to your telephone number before the power of computers to cross reference your name, address, social security number, mother's maiden name, what color shirt you are wearing, - you get the picture.
We did what I told him to do when he asked where babies come from, went to the computer, and did a search. We were amazed to find the variety of ways a person is able to steal your identity to commit fraud crimes.
Social Security number identity theft is a major cause for concern since most all of us in the US are victims of compromised government or corporate database security problems with our online records. Anyone can fall prey to Social Security identity theft and the only way to combat it is to keep apprised of your own financial records and credit report on a regular basis.
Credit card companies routinely buy names and important information from Equifax, TransUnion and Experian. Then they send you "pre-approved" forms to fill out. This is one way for identity thieves to obtain your information.
Here is a list of regular hand-delivered mail that identity thieves actively seek and are able to use: bank account statements; credit and debit cards; credit card statements; applications for credit cards; car, life, or health insurance forms; tax information; phone bills; pay stubs or checks; pension account information; and driver license or passport, just to name a few.
Financial records identity theft is popular. Papers that we routinely throw in the garbage, contribute to a staggering 15 million companies and individuals' financial status being compromised every year.
Criminal identity theft happens when a criminal uses any piece of your identification when he or she is caught committing a crime. Indeed, why would they use their own name? You then can be sitting at dinner and receive a visit from an officer who has come to pick you up for your outstanding arrest warrant! As you cry "I'm innocent," and you are, your cries will go unheard simply because all criminals say the same thing.
Medical records identity theft - when a person obtains your identity, and using your name, creates a false medical record to obtain treatment, leaving you with the bills and possibly inaccurate medical information that could jeopardize your life.
Be wise, search out ways to protect your identity. The information is everywhere, because identity theft is everywhere.
If you could have been reading the technologies columns lately and you wonder about what exactly is identity theft, it's feasible your wandering mind may at some point wonder when you could already be a victim. There is usually a web page that assists you locate out if you happen to be: MyIDScore. This on-line tool continues to be close to for about a year now. Once you get to the web page, you just fill in your particular facts - name, date of birth, address and phone quantity, and your Social Security data. The website then attempts to place you and asks you a quantity of questions about who that you are; it goes via each digitized financial transaction record it has and finds out if anyone else appears to be utilizing your individual details. This technologies may be in use to get a while now, and it aids banks discover out how far to believe the private data that clients bring in when they apply for the new credit score card.
MyIDScore calculates your ID security by employing the identity database that belongs to ID Analytics. The database holds millions of pieces of private identity data - people's names, their contact data, their Social Security numbers - data they glean from change of address forms and other sources. You'll know that there's been fraud done, if it finds it there may be an application made for the loan or credit history card, and also the address listed is yours. Nearly all individuals get the safe low score of close to 300. Anyone who gets a higher score than that, will be asked to obtain in touch with a nonprofit organization known as the Identity Theft Resource Center to get a no cost investigation. This could be a great deal of aid if this is the initial time you're venturing in this direction wondering what's identity theft and how it can affect you. But for anything additional heavy-duty than that, you can find a lot more established approaches of checking. You could verify your credit score report from time to time, for instance.
Of course being able to verify your identity score on demand can possibly turn you a bit complacent, and have you lower your guard, which isn't a very good thing. But are other techniques too in which such an identity theft notification service may possibly be less than beneficial. For instance, MyIDScore isn't as comprehensive a search as it ought to be. It doesn't look at all the credit history card issuers or pay any specific attention to direct deposit account details. And medical identity theft doesn't show up either. There happen to be a few cases where individuals have had MyIDScore give them a cost-free pass, and still discovered that they've had instances of what's identity theft show up. Nothing is ideal though; even credit score reports from the major credit history bureaus are well known to go out with missing details. What you've here still is really a quite beneficial tool; ite gives you a totally free snapshot of how much you've to worry about.
Typical items that are stolen in identity theft cases are social security numbers, bank account information and credit cards. For the thief, the purpose behind identity theft is to use the victim's information to steal money and leave the victim liable to pay for it. This happens when the scammer is successful at opening loans in the victim's name, using a credit card belonging to someone else and other instances of financial fraud.
How Identity Theft Happens
Identity theft can happen on an individual or a corporate level. Individuals can become victims of identity theft when they have credit card statements stolen from their mailboxes, a purse stolen from a car or someone who they know and trusted uses sensitive personal data for their own gain. Another way it happens is when bank or credit card companiy employees use the personal information they are privy to about customers to open fraudulent accounts.
Companies are most often victims of identity theft through someone hacking into their computer system and stealing customer records or being billed for services they never purchased because someone has gotten a hold of their information. Unfortunately, it is impossible to stay on top of every method a thief may have to steal your identity, but the following information will help to lessen your risk.
How to Protect Yourself from Identity Theft
If you use a debit card to obtain cash from an ATM, never disclose your pin number to anyone. You should try to choose a number that has significance that only you would know so it is easy to remember. However, don't choose something obvious like your date of birth, because a thief can easily obtain that from your driver's license. If you must write your PIN number down, keep it at home and do not carry it in your purse or wallet.
To prevent credit card offers from arriving in your mailbox, you can go to the website OptOutPrescreen.com to stop receiving them, or call 888-567-8688 to request that you no longer be mailed pre-approved credit card offers. These are a haven for would-be thieves, especially if they already have your information. Another option is to invest in an inexpensive paper shredder and make sure that you run anything with sensitive data on it through the shredder before placing it in the trash.
Be cautious about emails or telephone calls requesting you to give out personal information because they claim you have won a prize of they need to update their company records. A legitimate business would not contact you in this manner. Finally, request a free copy of your credit report annually to see if there have been unauthorized accounts opened in your name.
Megan Perry is a writer who enjoys sharing her knowledge and advice with a wide variety of readers in various subjects and fields. For more information about identity theft, Moneyed Up offers readers advice for protecting against identity theft.
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What Is Identity Theft, identity theft definition, identity theft statistics, identity theft information, identity theft, Personal Finance, Personal Finances, types of identity theft,
What Is Identity Theft, identity theft definition, identity theft statistics, identity theft information, identity theft, Personal Finance, Personal Finances, types of identity theft,