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Thousands of people will find out that they have become a victim of identity theft each year, and the numbers are growing. Unfortunately, there is really no sure way to protect yourself from becoming a victim. There are steps that you can take to help safeguard your personal information, and watch for early indications that you may have someone using your information. Educate yourself on what measures you can take to help protect your financial and personal information, learn what the signs of identity theft are, and what to do if you think someone has your information.

One thing that everyone should do at least once a year is request an updated copy of their credit report. Not only should this be checked by you for accuracy, but also as an early warning system of possible identity theft. Federal law now states that you can receive a copy of your credit report at no charge one time a year. There are other circumstances in which you are allowed to get a free copy of your credit report, such as being denied credit, turned down for a job or insurance coverage based on information obtained from your credit report, or if you suspect it is incorrect due to previous identity frauds.

Another way to protect your information is to password protect all of your credit cards and bank accounts, so that no information can be gleaned without first supplying the correct password. When you fill out applications that ask for personal information that anyone could have access to, such as your mother’s last name before she was married, ask if you can use a password instead, for security purposes. In the event you are allowed to use a password, use something that no one else would be able to think of. You don’t want to use your social security number, your date of birth, anniversary dates, phone numbers, or a set or pattern of numbers. A mixture of both numbers and letters works best.

Any company that you have to give personal information to, such as your bank or doctor’s office, should be able to tell you what precautions they take in safeguarding your information, ask them. Find out exactly who in the company has access to it, what the policy is regarding sharing your information with affiliates or third parties, and how paperwork is disposed of.

Be very leery of giving out any of your personal information either over the telephone, or while on the internet. Identity thieves have to constantly think up new ways to get you to help them get your information, and they often pose as people you do business with to try to get what they need to steal from you. You have no way of knowing who is calling your house on the other end of the line, no matter who they may say they are.

When disposing of documents or mail that contains your personal information, it is a good idea to use a cross cut shredder to safeguard the information they contain. Retrieve your mail promptly from your home mailbox, so that credit applications and invoices don’t fall into the wrong hands. Many identity thieves will steal your mail to try to get information they can use.

You should take steps to protect any information that may be stored on your computer’s hard drive. It is a good idea to have a secure firewall, updated antivirus and spy ware all installed on your computer. Run it frequently to spot any potential viruses or programs that can retrieve your information and send it back to someone else. If you do business online, such as bill pay or online banking, make sure the website you use is a secure site that takes measures to protect the information you give them about yourself.

You can also subscribe to credit monitoring services that guarantee to monitor your credit report, and immediately alert you of any suspicious activity, and help you take care of any potential problems. This does cost you a monthly fee, but can save you the time of checking your credit report yourself.

Many of the companies you do business with, especially credit cards and banks will have programs in place to help protect you in case you do find yourself a victim of identity theft. Inquire about them, and if you don’t feel that they are up to par, consider taking your business elsewhere.

If you do think that someone has gained access to your personal information and has already begun to use it, you should contact the credit bureau and have them flag your report. This requires any potential creditors to speak with you personally before they can open any new accounts in your name. If you have unauthorized charges that are posting to your existing account, file a fraud claim with the companies, and the credit bureau. You will most likely also need to file a police report, and give a copy to all creditors, so that you are not held financially responsible for the fraudulent charges. Have activity suspended on all of your existing accounts, or open up new ones altogether, so that no more charges can be occur.

Identity thieves are constantly coming up with new ways to get your information for their financial gain, you just have to learn to make things harder for them, and what to do if it ever happens to you. You should not live in fear of identity theft, just be aware that it does happen, and can happen to you. Keep your head; know who you are giving your information to, and what they plan to do with it.

John Taylor
http://www.articlesbase.com/finance-articles/identity-theft-it-can-happen-to-anyone-anywhere-anytime-57294.html

Oh, I can hear the gasps. “What do you mean Identity Theft cannot be prevented?”

I hate to be the bearer of this bad news. But, someone had to tell you.

I know for the past five years the media has used the term ‘prevent’ when covering Identity Theft. That is to no fault of their own, they don’t understand the true nature and scope of this crime.

Prevention is a myth. Maybe someday it will be preventable. So, for now we need to understand this crime a bit better in order to mitigate the damage that can be done. Stated simpler, we can take measures to lessen our exposure to the thieves.

I know there are people that will read this and say, “My company can prevent this crime” or “I have a service that says they prevent Identity Theft”. Sorry, that is just called marketing. I actually work with a product called the Identity Theft Shield. Guess what, I am not going to tell you that the service I work with can prevent identity theft, because it can’t. What a quality Identity Theft product should do for you is act as your early warning system for trouble on the horizon. Next step would be to do the restoration for you, and provide top-notch lawyers to defend and guide you throughout the crisis. I’ll cover more on products within the market in another article.

Back to the business at hand.

My reasoning for making the bold statement of prevention is a myth, is because: Your information is already out there in the public domain! If you were ever born, obviously you were; you are reading this article, your personal information is out there. It is in the realm of 0’s and 1’s. Everything is digitized, and placed in databases. Databases for which, you have no control over. Databases are hacked on a daily basis. Back-up tapes are ‘lost’ and stolen. As of this writing there has been more than 246 Million US residents personal (Non-Public Information) exposed to potential Identity Theft*.

Let’s look at an example of information in the public domain. Arizona: This state has the highest occurrence of Identity Theft in The United States.

Would you like to know one of the reasons why?

Several years ago, about the same time Identity Theft appeared on most peoples radar screens, the state decided to put all court records online (that would be the World Wide Web). Court records are gold mines of information for thieves, like Social Security Numbers, Dates of Birth, and Mother’s Maiden Name. You get the picture?

Oh, you don’t live in Arizona. That’s ok, most states and counties have followed suite with this practice. Congratulations, you are included in the mess.

I’m pretty sure you don’t have that warm and fuzzy feeling right now.

So, what do you do from here?

First, stay tuned for future articles from me on this topic. There will be plenty more.

Secondly, I’m not going to put you on edge without offering some hope. I like to use metaphors to make a point. I find this to help most everybody. Interpret it as you see fit:

If I were to feed you a fish, you would receive nourishment for the day. If you venture out to sea on your own, you will learn to survive.

To be continued…
*Privacy Rights Clearinghouse

Mark A Priganc
http://www.articlesbase.com/home-and-family-articles/identity-theft-cannot-be-prevented-696821.html

what exactly is an identity theft? please give specific examples. thanks

Identify theft: When your ID is stolen
ID Fraud: When you make up an ID that didnt exist in the first place.

Like many people these days, I’m interested in protecting myself from identity theft and the problems that result . There are always con artists who are trying to find out somebody’s bank account number, etc . If somebody has my information, could they empty out my bank account long distance ? My question might interest a lot of other people besides myself, so it’s worth asking . How can I protect myself from identity theft ? Thank you in advance for your answers .

If you live in the United States, I use this program called Debt Watchers created by partnership between Primerica and Equifax. Basically it will pull all your information from Equifax instantly when you sign up. It will then show you a game plan on how to pay off all your debts in the most effective way with the lowest possible cost (cost is the interest you pay to the banks). They also provide 4 FICO Score reports in a 12 month period and a FICO score simulator. It also includes identity theft Insurance for coverage up to $25,000 with no deductibles. You can also setup email and text message alerts too to any sudden changes to your credit file such as new accounts being opened or a large purchase was made on one of your credit cards.

I pay $14.95/month for this service.

Identity theft is now a pandemic, and a scourge for its victims. Is the federal government finally ready to fight back? The Identity Theft and Restitution Act of 2008 was recently signed into law by President Bush. The new law is supposed to make it easier for the government to convict those charged with pursuing computerized identity theft. Supporters tout this legislation as allowing federal prosecutors to be more aggressive in cracking down on identity theft cyber crime. But will it work to protect millions of future victims? The new law provides for the following:
1. Discarding the requirement that damage to a victim’s computer exceed $5,000 over a one year period before charges can be asserted for unauthorized access to a computer.
2. Eliminating the interstate jurisdictional requirement, thus allowing prosecution of those who steal personal information from a computer, even when the victim’s computer is located in the same state as the thief’s computer.
3. Allowing victims of identity theft to seek restitution for an amount equal to the value of the time reasonably spent to fix their problems.
4. Adding the charge of a conspiracy to commit cyber crimes. (The prior law only allowed for charges related to the actual crime, and made no provisions for conspiracy to commit the underlying charge.)
5. Adding the remedies of civil and criminal forfeiture to better allow federal prosecutors to combat cyber crime. Individuals found guilty of violating the act can be forced to forfeit both property used in commission of the cyber crime, as well as property obtained from any proceeds gained from the cyber crime.
6. Making it a felony to electronically damage ten or more computers no matter the value of the damage caused.
7. Making it a crime to threaten to steal or release information from an individual’s computer. (Prior law only permitted the prosecution of those who seek to extort companies or government agencies by explicitly threatening to shut down or damage a computer.)
It is intended that the new law will allow federal prosecutors to be much more aggressive in prosecuting identity theft criminals. Elimination of both the $5,000 damage requirement and the interstate jurisdictional requirement should make it easier for prosecutors to bring charges. But will it really help? The federal government has tried to keep up with identity theft for years with few results. If the feds are truly interested in stamping out the pandemic, it is with the enforcement of the laws, and not just new laws, that will turn the tide. Still, there are encouraging signs that a wide ranging effort is being made. The IRS is helping out by allowing in this next year all but the last four digits of taxpayer ID numbers to be blocked out on 1099’s, W-2s, and other informational returns. There is privacy in that move.

Garrett Sutton
http://www.articlesbase.com/criminal-articles/the-new-identity-theft-law-will-it-work-754586.html

Are there really safety nets that protect you from credit card fraud?

Identity card theft has cost millions of Americans about $5 billion. The worst thing about identity card theft is that you don’t realize the crime is being done to you until you get your bills. And until then, it will be too late to do something about the theft and there is little consolation for those whose identities have been stolen.

identity theft happens when another person has access to your personal information and then use these in fraudulent acts. Your name, credit card account, and other things that are used to identify you are used to pay for the thief’s purchases and bills. Most of these transactions go unnoticed at first; a small fee for a couple of items from the grocery store and then it balloons into something bigger like a fee for classes that you don’t even take.

Most banks have taken steps in assuring their clients that their accounts are secure and safe from fraud and theft, however, you should not just rely on these assurances. Take for example a prank from Zug that tested a store’s measures against credit card identity theft has proven the system very very faulty. If a prankster can get away with purchases by using crazy signatures, that means that stores don’t really check if the signature on the card matches the one on the receipt. If your credit card was stolen and you didn’t realize it until the end of the day, everything that the thief has bought and paid for will be charged to your account.

And yet in another prank (or maybe an attempt to prove how lax credit card identity security is,) it’s shown how name of those who sign for the purchase aren’t really checked! Sure, it’s funny that a guy can get away with buying stuf and then paying for them signed with strange phrases, but what does this say about the safety of your information and the effort banks and other establishments make in order to protect your information?

According to banks, you should take care of your own credit card identity safety. There are several sites, blogs, and how-to’s in preventing identity card theft but what do the credit card companies and their affiliates do to protect you? Granted that you’d hold your end of the deal and do everything to protect your personal information, what happens if your card is stolen before you realize it?

The pranks may be really funny but it paints us reality: credit card thieves could get away with several purchases without being noticed. As far as credit card security goes, keep personal information to yourself and keep your credit card under lock and key. Don’t leave the information lying around and don’t write it in your planner or address book since these items can get lost or stolen. The best thing to do is to write or print all of your passwords and information and store them in a safe with the key left in your drawer at home.

Shelah Jenkins
http://www.articlesbase.com/finance-articles/credit-card-identity-theft-protection-731447.html

Identity theft is one of those crimes that most people have heard of, but not everyone understands how it occurs. The act of committing this malicious crime may be simple or complex, and can bring great financial pain to its victim. Don’t let that victim be you.

Identity theft occurs when a person uses another person’s identity as well as personal financial information as their own. Purchases are typically made using the identity of the victim, with the intent to leave the victim responsible for the bill. This crime is done without the knowledge of the victim. When the victim finally becomes aware of the crime, the criminal has disappeared into oblivion, leaving behind a victim with ruined credit, a mountain of debt, and a tainted reputation. Not a pretty situation to be in.

In extreme cases, the implications of identity theft can result in the wrongful arrest of the victim. On the face of the evidence, it is easy for the police investigator to assume that the victim made multiple expensive purchases having absolutely no intention of ever paying. Criminals who engage in identity theft are clever and know the credit card system intimately. They know ways of charging far more than a credit limit on a single card. Without actual proof that identity theft has occurred, it can be assumed that the victim is guilty of the crimes committed under his name. Identity theft is a serious crime, and victims can suffer the implications and consequences of the crime for years to come.

Identity theft takes many different forms. Some cases involve a thief repeatedly withdrawing large sums of cash from another person’s bank account, until the account balance is nil. Other cases may involve the thief assuming another person’s name and using their personal information to obtain a loan.

Armed with the victim’s personal data, an identity thief can obtain a driver’s license, open new lines of credit and bank accounts, and even buy a car and get a mortgage. All paperwork, bills and financial statements from these transactions are sent to the thief’s temporary address, so the victim initially does not know that a crime has been committed in his name. Once the plan has been activated, the thief uses the victim’s credit line for all it is worth in the form of cash advances, loans and credit card debt without the intent to pay. All of these crimes occur with the thief hidden in a shroud of anonymity. Who is the criminal? All merchants assume he who he represents himself to be, but he is representing himself to be the victim. The actual identity of the criminal isn’t revealed. When the debts come to light, the victim is left holding the bag of bills and the thief has long since disappeared into complete anonymity. It can take years to recover, both financially and emotionally, from identity theft.

Here are some warning signs that you may have fallen victim to identity theft:

• You are billed for a credit card that you did not open, although wiser criminals will not have the bill sent to you.

• There are unauthorized notice charges on your credit card statement.

• Bills or credit statements fail to arrive when you expect them. This can indicate that the address has been changed without your knowledge. The criminal does not want you to be aware while he is in the process of using your accounts, so he has the statements sent somewhere else, by going through the proper change of address procedures.

• Unauthorized transfers or withdrawals show on your bank statements. This is a huge red flag and should be investigated immediately.

• Collection agencies call about accounts you never opened. Again, this does not usually happen until after the criminal has disappeared and/or moved on to victimize another person.

• You receive calls or notices about merchandise you did not buy.

• Debts appear on your credit reports that you did not file. This is significant. Even though the criminal might have your statements mailed to a different location, you know your personal information and can check your credit report at any time. The criminal has no way to stop you from doing this.

AS you might imagine, identity theft is a nightmare come to life for the millions of people who have fallen victim to this horrendous crime. Sadly, despite stricter financial transaction processes, higher public awareness of the crime, and the imposition of state and federal laws, the number of identity theft victims continues to rise each year.

In the United States and Canada, many people have reported unauthorized persons withdrawing funds from their personal bank or financial accounts. More serious cases have seen victims reporting a thief who has totally taken over their identities. In these cases, thieves have run up huge debts and committed crimes, all under the name of the victim.

The United States Congress created a new federal law against identity theft in 1998. In spite of the tough laws now on the books, identity theft is more prevalent than ever. Once you have fallen victim, it is obviously too late to prevent the crime from being committed against you. In this instance, grandma was right: an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. And that is an understatement.

Here are some steps to help you avoid being a victim of identity theft.

1. Shred any documents with personal information on them. Thieves are known to dig through household trash to find this information. Shred it to foil their attempts.

2. Be vary careful about giving out your social security number. Guard it like you would guard your life, because in a sense, you are guarding your financial life. Only give it out when absolutely necessary, and only to parties that are entirely trustworthy.

3. Be careful about storing personal financial data on your computer and sending it over the internet. Use passwords that do not make any sense. Most people use their birthdays, names of children, or other easy-to-guess types of passwords. Don’t make it easy for a criminal to get into your account info electronically.

4. Never place your tax return in your mailbox, stamped, with the flag up to let the postman know to pick up mail! Criminals are known to drive around neighborhoods during tax season looking for flags. Your tax return contains vital financial information. Always bring it to the post office to mail it.

5. Check your credit report regularly. Sign up for a plan if necessary. However, make sure that your inquiries will not be counted against your credit score. Too many inquiries in a short period will negatively affect your score, so make certain that your own inquiries to verify the safety of your file will not be counted against you.

Our personal records are stored in many different places in today’s world. Banks, hospitals, employers, government agencies, brokerage accounts, etc. all have our vital financial information within their records. Put into practice these five steps above, and only give your information to companies that you fully trust. By doing so, you’ll greatly decrease the odds that you’ll fall victim to identity theft.

Greg Roy
http://www.articlesbase.com/finance-articles/identity-theft-how-to-protect-yourself-53990.html

What have states done to reduce the growing crime of identity theft?

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Identity theft cannot be 100% fully prevented. To do so would require a policy of never sharing financial information with anyone, anywhere, anytime. You would not be able to conduct financial transactions in society with that policy. And even if you were able to, your information is already in the records of your physician, bank, the IRS, department of motor vehicles, etc. There is no way to remove this information. Therefore you could become victim to identity theft. However, there are steps you can take to reduce those chances.
Internet mail is one of the main sources that perpetrators of identity theft are using to gain access to your personal information. The perpetrator may send threatening emails, or emails that seem appealing. Emails requesting personal financial information are linked to identity theft and arrive in millions of mailboxes worldwide each and every day.

In most cases, no one person is being specifically singled out to become the next victim. It is just not worth the effort involved. Identity thieves are not interested from whom they are stealing the identity from. Instead they focus on targeting as many people as possible as it is a numbers game. The more people they target the higher are the chances that someone will be tricked into volunteering personal financial information.

The senders of these emails are challenging the receiver by using deception, hoping the receiver will give out personal information, such as bank numbers, PIN and passwords, Social Security numbers and other precious information that the thief can use to gain control over your identity. Often these emails state that a bank account or Paypal account has been frozen until information is verified. The victim, being worried that pending transactions will not clear properly, will follow the demand of the email that account information be “updated”. The criminal who sent the email will always include a handy link to click on for updating the requested information. Never click on those links.

If you want to avoid identity theft, there are several emails that you may want to bear in mind are SPAM, and you should completely ignore them. One is the forzen account along with a request to update your personal financial information. Another is a claim that you have won x amount of cash, and to act now to receive your prize. If you have not joined a contest, then chances are you have not actually won a prize. A third is an email claiming that you could receive scholarships or grants to attend such and such a college; to earn your degree act now by providing your personal information. These are all fake and designed by criminals to steal your personal financial information. Delete them without a second thought!

Companies that already have your personal information, such as your bank have no reason to ask for this again in an email. In fact, most banks clearly state in their Terms & Conditions that they will never send electronic mail requesting information from the customer at any time. Giving your personal information to someone that sent an email that has your bank name listed in the header is only asking for trouble.

Identity thieves are extremely creative when it comes to stealing identities, including sending emails in respected names. The prestigious FDIC was targeted by thieves; the sender sent emails to recipients of the bank requesting that they provide personal information to avoid closure of their accounts. Microsoft was also targeted by thieves when emails were sent to various inboxes requesting the receiver to download patches to protect their computers. Once the receiver downloaded the attachment, a dangerous virus took control of their computer, leaving a backdoor entry that would give the hacker access to the information stored on the computer.

EBay is also a target for thieves. EBay scams abound. False Paypal payments are common, as well as false or counterfeit checks. Be very wary of anything purported to be from EBay that seems fishy. If you have to think twice about the legitimacy, it is likely a scam. Beware.
Here are some helpful tips for you to avoid identity theft as much as possible:
1) Do not open emails if you do not trust the sender.

2) Never give out your personal information over the internet, unless you know that the company can be trusted and is using encryption to secure the web page(s). If Paypal or EBay request your information, which they never have done to this author. go directly to their home page, log into your account there, and see if the request is associated with your account. Never click the link in an email requesting information.

3) Do a background check on any site you are thinking of giving your information to or you are considering buying from. This includes calling the state attorney general’s office.
4) Change your PIN numbers and passwords regularly, at as minimum every 6 months.
5) Do not post even general financial information on forums, bulletin boards or discussion boards online.

6) Conceal your personal information at all times, including at home.
7) Never give your personal information over the phone line.
When using ATM or other machines to make deposits, withdrawals, or purchases make sure no one sees you type in your PIN number.

9) Do not just throw personal information, such as bank statements or letters containing your postal address, account numbers or any sensitive information in the trash. This is a favorite place for criminals to search. Put it through a shredder first. 
10) Never mail your tax return by putting it in your mailbox with the flag up. Criminals will drive neighborhoods during tax season searching for tax returns. These are the ultimate sources of information for identity theft.

Greg Roy
http://www.articlesbase.com/finance-articles/tips-to-prevent-identity-theft-56824.html

There is a problem plaguing corporate America today. And it is a serious enough problem that could have repercussions on the very nature of our economy. This is a problem that can strike any one of us who ever held a credit card or a bank debit card or ever shopped online. The problem is one that has come to be known as Identity Theft.

The repercussions are more than mere identity. Estimates of the financial fall out of identity theft range from a few billion dollars a year to as much as 480 billion dollars! And experts in the field of identity theft only claim that it is growing by the day.

Identity theft first made an appearance in the news headlines when the odd shopper or credit card holder reported the loss of a small amount of money. Frequently, this was discovered to be related to fraud more than identity theft. One particular case that made the headlines pertained to a man who had been buying pornography on the Internet and had used his wife’s credit card. When he was found out, as he ultimately would have been found, he cried identity theft and lodged a complaint. Turns out the man had not even bothered to cover his tracks. The IP address of his computer was tracked to the websites he had visited and the hoax of identity theft was quickly discovered and plugged.

But there are several genuine cases of identity theft that occur on an alarmingly frequent basis. A recent news report mentioned the theft of a lap top from the home of a retired banker that had the credit card details of over one thousand of the bank’s clients. Why the retired banker had the information was irrelevant. What was relevant was that the theft was discovered in time to prevent any large scale identity theft. But the thieves have been getting smarter and better.

One of the more common methods of identity theft nowadays involves fraudulent retailers who set up dummy retail outlets on the banking network and try out stolen credit cards for nominal charges. Once they are approved, they typically make a large withdrawal from a nearby automated teller machine.

But as the perpetrators of identity theft get smarter, the banks too have begun installing security features that make it more and more difficult for the fraudsters. Today’s network security systems are smart enough to enable bankers to spot the first instances of identity theft almost as soon as the theft occurs. But a lot more needs to be done to restore the faith of the general public in the infallibility of their credit cards.

Identity theft will always be with us but, there are steps you can take to minimise your risk. Have a look around the web and you will see there is a plentiful supply of free information. InternetBankingRevealed.com specialises in preventing internet banking fraud. If you use internet banking then take a look: InternetBankingRevealed.com

John Reimann
http://www.articlesbase.com/finance-articles/the-growing-concern-of-identity-theft-62058.html