Identity Theft Victims

Everyone has heard about identity theft and what happens to the victims. Who are the victims though? How did they even get into that terrible situation?
Most of us naturally assume this could never happen to us because, let's face it, we live pretty boring lives. Why would anyone want to be us right?

It is this thinking that puts everyone at risk.

The usual goal of the average identity thief is to get cool stuff. They might be unskilled in a trade and make just enough money to skim by in life and decide they will risk jail time in the pursuit of living good for even just a little while.

Many identity thefts get solved because the thieves aren't terribly good at it, or they learned how to do it from some other criminal.
Most stores in the US have some type of surveillance so once the thief maxes out a credit card, they are tracked down within a couple of months. They might enjoy their new Playstation 3 for a while but in the end, they will spend a long time in jail.

So how do you know if you are prime victim? Identity thieves look for easy targets. If they wanted to put effort into something, they'd have a real job.
Thieves look for average people that wouldn't expect it to happen to them. The elderly are prime targets for identity theft. Many elderly people don't have many friends and love to talk to just about anyone.

On the phone or even in person, someone can offer to help them with finances or pretend they won a contest or inheritance and if the person is trusting and believes the con artist, they might give out their personal information.

Not just elderly people do this. You may know someone or even be someone who is naturally trusting of other people. Educate yourself and loved ones on how these thieves operate and you will be a lot safer. Read more...

Identity Theft With Social Security Numbers

One of the most damaging types of identity theft is more common than you think. Do you make sure you don't have your social security card in your wallet or purse?
Do you shred every document you have with your social security number on it after you don't need it anymore? Not many people do.

I'm sure in my garbage right now are papers with my social on them. This number alone allows people to amass huge debts with your name on them.
This might sound like it would take a lot of work but just call a phone company and ask them what they need to open a new account. They need an address, social security number, name, and birthday.

All it takes is someone to call you up, confirm your social security number and say you won some type of prize. People get really excited and will offer all kinds of information.

Name and birthday are always just spit right out. Now, someone just ordered a modem, phone, cable, and every single accessory a phone company offers and you are the one responsible for the bill.

Sure, this can easily lead to an arrest but often, these thieves only rent a room somewhere until they get all this stuff and leave.

Depending on the motivation and intelligence of the identity thief, they can create complete identities to get illegal immigrants across the border, rent homes, get utilities, and even get legal employment all pretending to be you.

It could take months or even years to realize there is someone out there screwing with your life. The end result could be devastating. Imagine the IRS thinking you have 3 homes even if they are rentals and nowhere near the income to pay for them.
The IRS would take a very close interest in your life and nobody likes that.
Read more...

Medical Identity Theft

Medical identity theft is often overlooked on television and newspapers but is growing extremely rapidly. People are unable to get medical coverage easily and desperate times can drive many people to take very desperate measures.

Unless you have a medical condition, you could keep your insurance card in your wallet or purse and rarely ever use it. You might not even notice if it happened to disappear.

When medical identity theft occurs, you may never even know it happened until it's way too late. The complications it can cause can threaten the life of you or your loved ones.

Blood types can be changed, diagnoses you never actually got can be put into your records and much more very scary things could happen.

Imagine getting into an accident and losing a lot of blood not realizing an identity theft had occurred and now your records show your blood type as A instead of B.

If you get a pint of the wrong type, serious problems or death may occur. You also may end up with extremely high medical bills. If someone bills your insurance for a broken leg, you may be responsible for much of the bill.

Repairing medical identity theft errors can be a very long and complicated process. If someone got treatment somewhere, that information may be shared all around the country.

Even if you change it, it could take a very long time to correct everywhere and that puts you at great risk in case of an accident.

To prevent all of this, keep detailed records of your medical bills and insurance statements. Read more...