IdentityTheft

Time to be Afraid of Your identity // "The anxiety and stress of trying to recover from identity theft can be like a vicious game of Whack-a-Mole; but instead of playing for imaginary points, you are playing for your credit." //



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The ABC's of Identity Theft
Say that your everyday routine is to go to a café and get a coffee before work. You order your drink and reach for your wallet and suddenly realize it is not there. You set out looking for it and never find it, and soon you discover that thousands of dollars have been charged to your credit cards and there is not a penny left in your checking account. It appears that you have been a victim of identity theft. The term “Identity theft” is an oxymoron because someone’s identity cannot be stolen or lost. The real crime is the impersonation leading to fraud; the thief imitates a victim in order to deceive financial institutions for their own personal monetary gain, and he impersonates the victim, to be able to fool the police, while the real victim is going through emotional struggles. No one’s identity is stolen; it is just being misused to commit fraud. You are not alone. Identity theft affects about 9 million people a year. The negative information that may follow you for the rest of your life may prevent you from job opportunities and receiving loans for houses or cars. Laws have been made and solutions have been proposed but unless people are made more aware of these resolutions, identity theft will continue to be a part of everyday life. Identity theft is like a closed treasure chest, until the “evil twin” discovers the victim’s gold.

Existence of ID Theft
There are high technological ways to steal someone's identity, such as computer hacking and software crashing and much simpler ways such as credit card theft social security theft. Most of these instances are not your fault. For example, there are six main types of identity theft; Credit Card Fraud, Utilities Fraud, Bank Fraud, Employment Fraud, Loan Fraud, and Government Fraud. All of these together form the major issue that we are experiencing today. __ //Real People, Real Facts// __ 
 * It has been observed that every 13 seconds there is a person in the world who becomes a victim.


 * The Better Business Bureau has recorded that identity theft is their top consumer complaint for the pas media type="youtube" key="PVZqNSWvdj8" height="282" width="347" align="right" t five years straight.


 * The average person who has been victimized spends around 600 hours to resolve the financial destruction. The mean amount of money that people lose while dealing with this issue is $16,000. This could be time spent with families and loved ones, but no, because of this issue you must spend all of this valuable time with your financial adviser.

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 * Some people even have to take off work to resolve this. If the employees do not have Payed Time Off will lose an even greater amount of money.
 * Victims of credit identity fraud go through a difficult and time-consuming ordeal to convince lenders and credit reporting agencies that they have been the victim of identity theft, have the erroneous information removed from their credit reports and prevent future damage from the perpetrators.


 * Over 85% of victims discover their identities have been stolen while they were applying for a loan, or attempting to purchase an apartment //

// ** *Please click on the flags to learn more info. about ID Theft around the world. ** // *Identity Theft is big business in Australia. Australia had an estimated $6 billion in losses due to identity theft in 2003. Estimates by the Australian Institute of Criminology report that 38% of this country’s $5.88 billion annual fraud bill involves identity fraud or theft. In the year of 2006, Computer Crime & Security Survey, Australian cyber crime watchdog AusCERT handled more than 2000 Identity Theft incidents in the 12 months to March 2006 – a 27% increase on the previous year.
 * //__Identity Theft Around the World__//**


 * In 2002, Canadians reported over 8,000 complaints of identity theft amounting to nearly $12 million dollars. In 2004[[image:canadian-flag.jpg width="136" height="93" align="right" caption=""Id Theft In Canada"" link="http://www.spendonlife.ca/blog/high-cost-identity-theft-canada"]], there were just under 12,000 complaints, totalling $19 million dollars.Head of the RCMP's criminal analysis unit at the Canadian Anti-Fraud Center, Louis Robertson, stated that in 2006, 212,859 Canadians were victimized by identity theft and their losses totaled to $15,731,00. In 2006, totals were down in complaints at 7,778 but the dollar amount was just about $16 million.The federal goverment on November 21, 2007 designed to target identity thieves and stop the number of fraud-related crimes hoping to decrease the costly growing problem.

*The UK has the highest incidence of identity theft in the European Union.In Britain more than 100 thousand people fall prey to identity theft every year and the number is increasing fast day by day. The Ireland directory reports a similar alarming statistic for id theft. In 2007, the UK's losses were estimated at around $ 1.7 billion annually and rising.


 * Many Asian countries are also experiencing increasingly large losses to identity theft. Figures on identity theft are inconclusive and difficult to gather, however.

// ** "It wastes our precious time and ruins some of the living quality that the world struggles to maintain. " ** //

How Thieves Operate?
*Stealing mail or rummaging through rubbish (//du__mpster diving)__//


 * Stealing payment or identification cards or the information on them (//__pickpocketing__//)


 * Eavesdropping on public transactions to obtain personal data (//__shoulder surfing__//)


 * Stealing personal information in computer databases (//__Trojan horses, hacking__//)


 * Infiltration of organizations that store large amounts of personal information


 * Impersonating a trusted organization in an electronic communication (//__phishing__//)


 * Obtaining castings of fingers for falsifying fingerprint identification


 * Browsing social network sites online for personal details that have been posted by users


 * Simply researching about the victim in government registers, at the internet, Google, and so on


 * Or simply calling an individual, posing as someone else, and have them give up some personal information without realizing it.

Financial and Emotional Train Wreck
 //"Someone is using my name and Social Security number to open credit card accounts. All the accounts are in collections. I had no idea this was happening until I applied for a mortgage. Because these 'bad' accounts showed up on my credit report, I didn't get the mortgage ".//
 * In the modern world, stealing someone else’s good name can enrich the criminal and impoverish the victim through identity the**ft. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) estimates that as many as 9 million Americans have their identities stolen each year. Many of these people suffer significant financial loss. An imposter can change your mailing address with your identity, and then run up charges on your account; therefore, new credit card accounts have been opened without paying the bills and as a result, the delinquent accounts are reported on your credit report. The victims of identity theft will receive unexpected calls from credi[[image:identity-theft-01.jpg align="left" caption="(“How Identity Theft Can Ruin Your Good Name.” )"]] tors, and long lasting damage to their credit rating. The Federal Trade Commission published one of their recent complaints:


 * This will affect your ability to write and cash checks, and you may end up with a warrant out for your arrest if fraudulent checks are written.** The thief has drained out your account, leaving negative balance fees and major problems to fix. On average, the devastating crime that a thief has done is not discovered until 14 months later. By this time, victims spend from 3 to 5,840 hours repairing damage done by identity theft. The victim’s financial life has toppled down for a possibility of several years, making it difficult to obtain loans, get a job, an apartment or even write a check.


 * The feeling of guilt and resentment sets in if your identity is stolen due to a result of carelessness on your part. You may feel overwhelmed, stressed, and confused about how to resolve this dark nightmare once you have been victimized.** In such cases, it is common to feel violated since your privacy has been swiped away from you. Turning to professional experts to help you resolve identity theft issues will relieve some of the stress that comes from worrying about what’s going to happen next, and how much time it will consume away from your personal and work life.

 //*40% of victims say they feel an increased strain on family relationships
 * It is no surprise that some psychologists are labeling the emotional effects of severe identity theft cases as post-traumatic stress disorder.** It may be a bit of an overstatement comparing the emotional struggles of ID theft victims to those of much more serious cases, but it is proven that identity theft can be an intense psychological battlefield, not just a financial one.
 * __According to Spamlaws:__** 
 * 85% feel angry and depressed
 * 45% feel defiled
 * 60% feel hopeless and unprotected by the police
 * Over 30% of victims have to repeatedly dispute the same information on their credit report to have it removed//

The Unknown Crime
Imagine you move into a new neighborhood and your children meet new friends whose parents have checked the sex offender list and your name comes up as a redistered sexual offender. Identity thieves not only gain money out of their target, but they commit crimes under the victim’s name. If a criminal commits a crime, it will go on the victim’s record unknowingly. In many cases, an ID thief is arrested for traffic or misdemeanor violation and is released from the arrest. The imposter signs a citation and promises to appear in court; however, if the imposter does not appear in court, the magistrate will issue a warrant of arrest under the victim’s name. The victim may unexpectedly be detained after having a simple contact with the police and then subsequently arrested because of the bench warrant. On the other hand, the imposter may plead guilty without the victim being aware of this event. The imposter provides detailed information of the victim and is then recorded in the nationwide system; State’s criminal records date base, and possibly the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) depending on the level of the crime. <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; line-height: 115%;">The identity thief can easily create a trail of crimes that are under your name which unfortunately may be very hard to figure out. Sometimes you are treated as a criminal. If you become a victim of identity theft, it can be very difficult to clear your record. It may affect getting a good job, loans for housing and education, and land you in jail. As the FTC Assistant Director for Planning and Information, Betsy Broder, quoted, “the process for regaining victims’ good names will always be a hard process." //<span style="color: #000000; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; text-align: center;">
 * "Look at yourself in the mirror, and out there in the world, could be a person using your identity."** //

The Solutions
//<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> FRAUD.” ** //
 * "Reduce or minimize the risk of becoming a victim of identity theft or fraud, there are some basic steps you can take. For starters, just remember the word

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**__ Solutions across the Globe __** <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;"> -T <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 115%;">he government in Canada has produced an anti-identity theft kit for businesses that shows companies how to distinguish attempts of identity theft and how to secure consumers’ personal information. - Identity theft was officially made a crime in the United States in the Identity Theft and Assumption Deterrence Act in 1998. - The gathering and sharing of personal information is restricted by law in Europe. - European countries use computer strips with credit cards rather than magnetic strips to keep thieves from easily collecting the information off a credit card using a device known as a “skimmer. -Since the smart card was introduced in France has decreased by 50% since the smart card was introduced. -Debit cards are issued by European banks making it less likely that a criminal will spend the thousands. Credit cards are more difficult to get. -In many European countries credit bureau information is limited to participating banks of dollars. In France, Spain and Denmark only negative information may be reported -Europe and the United Kingdom do not use social security numbers for anything other than social security benefits. Credit bureaus create an “account" number for each individual and do not use the Social Security number as identifying information. As a result, your government identification is not as easily available or accessible as it is in the United States <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">.


 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 18pt; line-height: 115%;">__Solutions at Home__ **

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 115%;">- Only use personal information when you know how it is going to be used, you are positive that it will not be shared, and when you become familiar with the person that you are dealing with. - Monitor your personal information on a regular basis. - Shred documents that contain personal information as well as credit cards. - Take the mail out of your mail box as soon as you can and store all of your information in a secure and concealed place.

- As soon as you detect accounts that have been used illegally, immediately contact your creditors. - If you are a victim of checking account fraud, place stop payments on any checks of exceptional value that you did not write via your financial institution. - Close all of your current checking and savings accounts and open new ones and obtain new passwords. - Review future account statements for evidence of fraudulent activity. - Contact the Federal Trade Commission which will provide crucial information to national law enforcement officials to trace identity thieves and stop them. **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 18pt; line-height: 115%;">__Credit Cards and Computers Solutions__ ** <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 115%; text-align: left;"> - When you go out, only carry those cards that you need and cancel unused credit accounts. - When you are at an ATM or swiping your card check to make sure that no one can see what you are doing. - . Checking your credit card statements and checking accounts, monthly, are good ways of checking for any fraudulent activity that might be going on. (Balance) - Use firewall programs on your computer to prevent it from being available to hackers and ever download files or hyperlinks from an unknown person. (Balance) - Make sure your passwords are extremely complex and hard to figure out and remember to log off when you are done using a laptop and never use the automatic log in feature.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16pt; line-height: 115%;">__Solutions for a Victim of Identity Theft__ ** <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 13pt; line-height: 115%; text-align: left;">

<span style="display: block; font-family: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; font-size: 130%; text-align: center;">Real Life Stories and Crimes
**<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">35-Year-Old Identity Theft Case Finally Ends With Arrest **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;"> “In what has to be one of the longest cases of identity theft on record, the Associated Press (AP) recently reported the shocking story of a 66-year-old man who has suffered from identity theft for 35 years– in other words, over half of his life. According to the AP report, Tom Lesh, 66, of Coos Bay, Oregon, said he has known since the 1970s that his identity was stolen by a friend of his brother and he has spent “thousands of hours” over the decades repeatedly trying to clear his name and correct his financial records and credit history by writing letters to credit card companies, banks, and government agencies – and even appealing to the alleged identity thief’s mother for help. “ -//Ezine Articles//

"Becky -Yes. In July 2005, I had closed on a home in Marietta, Ga. About nine months later, I received a phone call asking me if I would like to prevent my home from going into foreclosure. That’s when I learned that one month after I bought my home, someone had begun to buy homes using my personal information they had stolen. I checked my credit and, much to my horror, discovered two homes on my credit reports that were not mine."- //Ezine Articles//
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">The call of the day **<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">



**<span style="font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">Central District of California: **<span style="font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;"> A woman pleaded guilty to federal charges of using a stolen Social Security number to obtain thousands of dollars in credit and then filing for bankruptcy in the name of her victim. More recent, a man was indicted and then found guilty of federal charges and was sentenced to 27 months imprisonment for obtaining private bank account information about an insurance company's policyholders and using that information to deposit $764,000 in counterfeit checks into a bank account he established.


 * <span style="font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">Central District of California: **<span style="font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;"> Two of three defendants have pleaded guilty to identity theft, bank fraud, and related charges for their roles in a scheme to open bank accounts with both real and fake identification documents, deposit U.S. Treasury checks that were stolen from the mail, and withdraw funds from those accounts.


 * <span style="font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">Middle District of Florida: **<span style="font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;"> A defendant has been indicted on bank fraud charges for obtaining names, addresses, and Social Security numbers from a Web site and using that data to apply for a series of car loans over the Internet.


 * <span style="font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">Southern District of Florida: **<span style="font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;"> A woman was indicted and found guilty of federal charges involving her obtaining a fraudulent driver's license in the name of a victim, using the license to withdraw more than $13,000 from the victim's bank account, and obtaining five department store credit cards in the victim's name and charging approximately $4,000 on those cards.


 * <span style="font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;">District of Kansas: **<span style="font-family: 'Tahoma','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;"> A defendant pleaded guilty to conspiracy, odometer fraud, and mail fraud for operating an odometer "rollback" scheme on used cars. The defendant used false identities, including the identities of deceased persons, to obtain false identification documents and fraudulent car titles.

Reference
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"ID Theft in Canada".Photograph

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