"Police said an individual called the man, saying the call was being made on behalf of Judge John P. Wesley in Brattleboro District Court. The individual stated that the man had recently missed his court-ordered jury duty, and therefore the court had issued a warrant for his arrest with fines attached. The caller asked the man to verify his address, telephone number and Social Security number. "
The article goes on to say that the gentleman was careful and not compromised, but how many were compromised? Who was calling these people requesting this information? The police have not caught this perpetrator and according to identity theft statistics they won't catch them. So if the authorities can't catch the criminals and the crime is growing by leap and bounds, what can you do?
There are infinite ways to have your identity stolen. It seems that everyday a business is hacked and thousand or millions of personal records are stolen. You could be fooled by a tricky e-mail or phone call. Someone could steal your mail. This happen to me years ago and my credit card was charged for a pre-paid phone card. I luckily caught the charge in time to have it removed from my account, but it was my wakeup call to protect my credit. Later I learned that my credit was just a small part of the identity theft problem. Credit card fraud is only 28% of the problem. bank fraud is 18%, phone and utility fraud is 19%, employment related fraud is 13%, Government documents & benefits fraud is 8% and medical fraud is growing.
How can someone else using your identity create a criminal record for you? Imagine a drug dealer gets your name, address and say your drivers license number. They have a fake ID made with their picture, but your information. They are caught for their crime, but it is your information that is put into the system. They don't show for they're court date and a warrant is issued for your arrest. Yes, you will be cleared eventually, but only after being cuffed and processed. Do you really want to deal with that? Wouldn't it be much easier to get a notice that you showed up in a criminal database somewhere and could preemptively solve the problem? Would you know how to solve the problem? How much of your time and trouble would go into solving a false record against your identity? If it were possible to make a 10 minute phone call and fax some documents to an expert in this sort of thing and have them clear the problem up for you, would you be interested in that service? Would you be more interested if that service cost only pennies a day? If so, then please continue reading.
It is almost impossible to fully protect your identity. Most of the data you need to protect is not in your control. Did you hear the recent new story about the notebook computer stolen from an employee of Veteran Affairs? Millions of identities were compromised in an instant. If you were in that database what would you have done the minute you heard about the theft? I knew exactly what to do. I made one five minute phone call to Identity Theft Shield and then let them handle the rest.
There are multiple products on the market that protect your credit. There is identity theft insurance available too, but that only give you money and instructions to solve the problem yourself. Identity Theft Shield is a complete solution. This is not identity theft insurance where they provide you funds and instructions to fix the problem yourself. Identity Theft Shield actually does the work and fixes the problem for you!
Odds are you will be a victim of Identity Theft. It's almost impossible to avoid being touched by it. I sleep better at night knowing I have protection. Wouldn't you like too? Please do your research and look into every form of Identity Theft protection that is available. Ask the hard questions from the companies providing this service. Ask "if my identity is compromised, what exactly does your company do for me?" 99% of the businesses offering Identity Theft protection are only focused on your credit or are going to "guide you" through the process of fixing the problem and in most cases they don't cost any less then Identity Theft Shield.
Identity theft is one of the fastest growing forms of organised crime and can lead to heartbreak, financial consequences and legal problems. One of the most common forms is that of assuming the identity of an individual, ordering credit cards in their name and running up the bills which puts the victim in credit default. This can take months and great expense to rectify and this article teaches the tricks of the trade to [prevent this happening.
Someone cannot assume your identity unless they have access to personal details about you. One of the most common sources is from your refuse that is recycled or disposed of without shredding. You would be astonished with the intricate details you can discover from what people cast away. Old credit card bills, bank statements, insurance policies and tax information amongst many other documents can be gold for identity fraudsters.
By shredding any documents that you are recycling or discarding you can avoid or at least minimise this risk. If you see someone rummaging or loitering with intent to rummage through you are your neighbours refuse then report it to the police immediately. Do not mistake the person for a homeless person and invite him in for a wash and bowl of soup, much of the time identity fraudsters are organised criminals and potentially dangerous.
After the acquisition of certain details such as credit card numbers, passport numbers, tax registration numbers, mother's maiden name or date/place of birth then they are in a position to gain access to certain restricted services such as internet or phone banking. They will complete a change of address form which will divert mail to a temporary of ghost address which means that they are now in control of your identity.
The first thing that usually happens is that a credit report is requested, so one way of potentially catching the process early if you have any suspicions is to contact the credit agencies and enquire when the last credit repost was issued. This might come after you have seen someone loitering around your premises, your files have been accessed at work, you have recently had a purse or wallet stole or you have recently had a break in.
If you have not been shredding your documents then fraudsters can obtain the credit report and see how much they can get out of you. With this personal information they can find out where you work or shop and obtain more records by hacking into computer systems or stealing files. After this ground work has been laid the thief has the foundation to build on and if they are good then there are very few warning signs.
Good thieves will not focus on existing cards and accounts, they will attempt to get new accounts, loans, finance, ect registered on the new address as they need the long con to build up the identity at the address. This does mean however that will need to redirect one of your current billing systems to the new address, meaning that it will not come to you. If you have missed a bill that you usually receive you should follow this up immediately and check the address they have.
After this stage things can get pretty nasty if you have a half decent credit rating . They can open accounts, credit cards, store cards, car finance, loans and basically anything within their power. Then one day, good thieves will shut up shop and walk away before any real evidence can be gathered. It can all be avoided simply by using a shredder.
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