The Threat of Identity Theft

Identity Theft is becoming an increasing problem in the United States in recent years. Criminals are finding new ways to use your personal information to destroy your life. Identity theft is a fairly easy crime to commit, the majority of identity thieves, less than 5%, are actually caught and convicted. It is a huge strain on law enforcement offices because they simply do not have the man power to dedicate to your individual case.

I protect my personal information, I shred my documents, so I can't be a victim to identity theft, right? Wrong, this is what most people believe to be true, but in reality, identity theft can happen to anyone.

* Do you hand your credit card to servers at restaurants?
* Do you sign your credit card?
* Do you supply personal information over the internet?
* Do you leave mail at your home or business for the postal carrier to collect?
* Do you shred unwanted mail containing personal information?

Of course, regular monitoring of your credit can greatly help early detection of identity theft. But what do you do from there, who do you contact if you find out you are a victim? If the police are too busy to help you, who can, and at what cost?

Identity theft can do much more than destroy your credit. That is just one of the five areas of identity theft, although it's the one we hear about most often. The five area include, Financial, Criminal or Character, Medical, Driver's License, and Social Security.

Someone I know was pulled over for a simple traffic violation. When the officer ran his driver's license he found that my friend was wanted for rape and battery charges. He was arrested and taken to jail. He was released soon after because they realized the man they were looking for was black and my friend was white. So?eone had taken his information and committed these crimes in his name.

According to recent government regulation in health care, known as HIPA, it's now even easier for someone to steal your medical identity. If someone walks into a hospital and tells the receptionist that his name is Fred, and the receptionist knows he is lying and his name is really Bill, she can not tell anyone, due to HIPA regulation. So what happens when you are Fred, and Bill stole your medical identity and is using it to get treatment? All Bill's medical information gets recorded as yours, Fred's. Then what happens when you are involved in a serious car accident and are rushed to the ER for a blood transfusion and Bill's isn't compatible with Fred's. You could die.

I know another couple who recently retired after putting in 30 years with Ford Motor Company. They decided to take advantage of their employee discount and purchased a new Lincoln. Well, when Ford Motor Credit ran their credit report they found out that the couple owned a house in Dallas they didn't even know about. Someone had stolen their identity and purchased a house, which was now in default.

There are thousands of illegal immigrants coming across the border every year all looking for work. Well what do you need to work any job in the United States...a Social Security number. There is a huge market right now for the sales of Social Security numbers. Organized crime is placing people in cleaning companies that can gain full access to your personal information stored at your doctor's office, your insurance agent, your mortgage broker, etc.

You may do an excellent job protecting your personal information, but what about everyone else who has access to it? Can you trust them to be as careful as you are?

So what can you do to stop identity theft? Nothing, you can't stop identity theft, but you can takes steps to find it early and get it cleared up.