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The Five Sorts Of Identity Theft
The biggest misconception is that identity theft only affects or involves your credit. If you, too, think that identity theft simply affects or involves your credit, then you may want to conyinue reading. In addition to credit related identity theft, there are at least four other categories of identity theft that will not always have a bearing on your credit, but can ruin your living. The following are genuine life stories. 1. Character identity theft. Someone impersonates you and commits a crime inside your name resulting in warrants issued in your appoint, arrests made, and time spent in jail. Three years ago, Debra's purse ended up being stolen by someone she knew. The identity thief bought a vehicle with Debra's ID and committed other crimes within Debra's name (writing bad checks and burglary). Nobody in law enforcement believes Debra when she says she is not the criminal, not even the District Attorney that's charging her with the crimes. George, a man from San Francisco, traveled to Germany to see his relatives. On his way back home, he was stopped and told that there seems to be an arrest warrant issued in his name. Seemingly, someone had been committing crimes in his identify and using his Social Security number. George was arrested and taken to San Diego where he spent 10 days in jail. After finally convincing a police officee that he hasn't been the criminal, George was released and left stranded without the money. Someone having a criminal record stole John's wallet. Unbeknownst to John, the thief then committed several crimes in John's title. Unfortunately, this criminal activity was entered into the database of any background check company that provides data to prospective employers. John lost his job and has been unable to find work due to the false information. Charlene has been impersonated by her sister for quite a while. Unfortunately for Charlene, her sister has an extensive criminal records. In order to clear her name, Charlene has was mandated to hire an attorney. She has been told that once your name is associated with a crime, it can never come off. 2. Social Security Number (SSN) identity theft. Someone steals your SSN and obtains employment with your name. The thief's employer reports wages earned towards IRS under your SSN leaving you to fork out income taxes on these earnings. Further, an identity thief's use of your SSN can lead you to lose life sustaining benefits. Jeffrey lost his wallet, and he never bothered to report it towards the police. In 2005, he filed his tax returning and expected a refund. Instead, he received practically nothing. The IRS withheld his refund check to repay back taxes he owed from 1999. Apparently throughout 1999, someone had used Jeffrey's SSN to make wages in Jeffrey's name. This "unreported income" left Jeffrey that has a $7000 tax bill. Daryl received a letter through the IRS stating that he had earned additional profits in 2001. Daryl never earned this additional salary. An identity thief used Daryl's SSN and won wages in Daryl's name. Now Daryl's credit is usually ruined, and the IRS wants to be given. Dan applied for unemployment benefits, but your dog was denied because records showed that he appeared to be actually working. Apparently, someone in another city were being using his SSN to earn wages in his name. Dan was told that he had to prove that his identity was stolen. Someone had been using Jill's SSN in order to earn wages. Jill, who had been receiving AFDC (Aid Families with Dependent Children) benefits, lost her benefits because income records show her as developing a salary. 3. Driver's license identity theft. Someone commits traffic related offenses in the name. When the identity thief fails to show up in court, warrants are issued in your name. In 2005, Adam's driver's license was revoked because he had another driver's license in another state revoked because of criminal charges. In addition, Adam had warrants out for his arrest while in the other state. After about a year of trying to clear his name, Adams driver's license was reinstated. 4. Medical identity theft. Someone steals your identity and either obtains medical insurance in your name or uses your current helath insurance policy to obtain treatment or prescriptions. You might be denied health coverage or lose your current health coverage due to false information placed in your medical record. An identity thief using a poor driving record obtained a copy of Thelma's driver's permit. Now, because of the identity thief's poor cruising record, Thelma's license has been suspended, and she's in danger of losing her auto insurance. An identity thief received treatment for an accident to his hand using a stolen identity. Today, the identity theft victim has been receiving letters demanding payment for drugs and services rendered for the thief. 5. Consumer credit identity theft. Someone uses your information to attain loans, goods, or services and does not pay off the bills. The accumulating unpaid bills end up likely to collection, which can affect your credit. For more than five years, Darla has been a victim with identity theft. Even a fraud alert placed on her credit rating has not stopped the identity thief. As a result, Darla can not purchase a home because of bad credit. An identity thief wrote bad checks and opened several mastercard accounts in Sally's name. Consequently, Sally's application to open her own banking account was denied. Sally has had to hire an attorney to clear her name. This has expense her over $7,500. You can ensure once an identity thief has your identity, he/she can do anything including ruining your life. Don't think you will be immune. According to the Identity Theft Resource Center, there have been at least 111 disclosed incidents of data breaches since January 2005 which could potentially expose 53 million individuals to identity thievery. This number is steadily increasing. Further, according for the FTC, over 27, 000 people per day have their identities stolen in the us. Your information is not safe. As long seeing that others (employers, credit card companies, medical facilities, etc. ) have your private information, you are always at risk for identity theft. All it takes is for an employer to not win your information or give it away or one person/employee to steal the information. A cellular phone company experienced just that when employees used customer data to make fraudulent accounts. The bogus accounts were used by the thieves and their friends to ring up thousands of dollars in calls. When it comes to protecting your identity, being proactive is the only practical most viable option to avoid the frustration, time, and expense associated with restoring your identity and name. Some things that you can do to prevent identity theft include not giving out your existing information, shredding unwanted mail, and not carrying your SSN card to you. Also, continuous credit monitoring is an easy, effective and often inexpensive way of keeping an eye on your credit all the time to help prevent credit related identity theft. Moreover, according to the FTC, over 27,000 persons a day have their identities stolen in America. Your info is not harmless. As extended as others (employers, credit card consorts, medical services, etc.) have your private info, you are always at risk for identity theft. All it takes is for an employer to lose your information or give it back or one person/employee to steal the data. A cellular telephone company knowledge of just that when employees used client data to produce fraudulent accounts. The bogus accounts have been in use by the thieves and their friends to ring up thousands of dollars in calls. Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com At first from Romania, Anghel Delato is a nurse in Brooklyn, where she had her identity stolen. She learned identity theft laws and ways to prevent identity theft. Get more infromation regarding identity theft and the way to prevent it at http: //www. identityguardreview. net/. |
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