What you need to know about: IDENTITY THEFT PREVENTION AND RECOVERY
RECORDS THEFT
“Thousands of military personnel facing deployment for a possible war with Iraq are also confronting a threat on the home front — the risk of identity theft after burglars stole computerized records from a health care company in Phoenix last month. The names, addresses, telephone numbers, birth dates and Social Security numbers of about 562,000 troops, dependents and retirees were on laptops and computer hard drives stolen from a nondescript building in an industrial park on Dec. 14, company officials said. Some medical claim records for people on active duty were also stolen from the company, TriWest Healthcare Alliance. Even without the medical records, the information stolen is enough for criminals to use in creating false identities. TriWest, a Pentagon contractor handling medical claims for military personnel and dependents, warned the 562,000 customers in 16 Mountain and Western states that their identities might be stolen. It also posted a $100,000 reward.”
A GROWING PROBLEM
To make matter worse, offenses are growing rapidly and cut across all portions of our society. The National Criminal Justice Reference service notes:
· The Federal Trade Commission's Consumer Sentinel collects information about consumer fraud and identity theft from the FTC and over 150 other organizations, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation, U.S. Secret Service, fourteen Attorney Generals Offices, and various State and local law enforcement agencies. According to the FTC report, National and State Trends in Fraud & Identity Theft, January-December 2004 (2005), the Consumer Sentinel received over 635,000 consumer fraud and identity theft complaints between January and December 2004. Findings from an analysis of those complaints include:
· Of the more than 635,000 complaints received during calendar year 2004, 61% represented fraud and 39% were identity theft complaints.
· "Credit card fraud (28%) was the most common form of reported identity theft followed by phone or utilities fraud (19%), bank fraud (18%), and employment fraud (13%). Other significant categories of identity theft reported by victims were government documents/benefits fraud and loan fraud."
· "The percentage of complaints about “Electronic Fund Transfer” related identity theft more than doubled between 2002 and 2004."
Identity theft ruins lives. It creates a seemingly infinite number of short term problems and can then have massive impacts that can linger for decades.
We should rethink our habits. Even if the risk of identity theft is relatively slight (and as you will see, it is actually more likely than you would like to think), the impact of the crime is so incredibly severe that we must take efforts to protect ourselves.
Don’t assume it won’t happen to you. Consider this observation from U.S. Senator Diane Feinstein:
“Identity theft is one of the fastest growing crimes in the new economy, where cutting edge technology has increased public access to what has traditionally been thought of as personal information.”
She continues:
“In 2001, the Social Security Administration reported it had received 65,220 complaints regarding misuse of Social Security numbers, most of which had to do with identity theft. This figure is almost eight times greater than just five years ago, when the number totaled 7,868 in 1997.”
This ebook is designed to provide you with an overview of identity theft, how to avoid it, and what to do if you have already been victimized.
Although all of the provided information is based on extensive research and is believed to be wholly accurate, this ebook does not provide legal advice and should not substitute for the word of governmental authorities or an attorney’s counsel.
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