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Identity Theft – The fastest growing
crime in America
Identity
theft occurs when someone uses your personal information without your permission
to commit fraud or other crimes. Who
is at risk? Everyone!
What if you have never used a computer or entered any personal data on
the internet? Still at risk!
What if you have never lost a wallet or had it stolen.
Still at risk!
Over 10,000,000 people are victims annually at a cost of $50 billion. In
the past ten years, identity theft has increased 250% to 300% each year.
Identity theft will destroy your credit and ruin your good name.
·
It takes approximately 175 hours
of time to restore your identity.
·
The emotional price
cannot be tallied.
·
There is only a 1 in
700 chances the identity thief WILL be apprehended.
·
On average, it takes
14 months to discover your identity has been stolen, plenty of time for the
damage to be done.
You
cannot entirely control whether you will be a victim, but there are safeguards
to minimize your risk. Here are a
few:
·
Shred
financial documents and paperwork with personal information before you discard
them.
·
Protect
your Social Security number. Do not
carry your card or give out your Social Security number unless necessary.
·
Do not give out personal
information on the phone, through the mail, or over the Internet UNLESS you know
whom you are dealing with.
·
Never click on
links sent in
unsolicited emails; instead, type in a web address you know.
Use firewalls, anti-spy ware, and anti-virus software to protect your
home computer; keep them up-to-date.
·
Don’t use
obvious passwords like
your birth date, your mother’s maiden name, or the last four digits of your
Social Security number.
·
Keep your
personal information in a secure place at
home, especially if you have roommates, employ outside help, or are having work
done in your house.
·
Inspect
your credit report. The law requires
the three major nationwide consumer reporting companies (Equifax, Experian, and
TransUnion) to provide you with a free copy of your credit report, at your
request, once every 12 months.
For
more information on safeguards and victims recourse see http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/microsites/idtheft/.
Are
you an employer? Effective June
1, 2005 new safeguards were established attempting to prevent identity theft.
A provision of the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACTA)
requires anyone who retains consumer information to destroy it before discarding
it.
What does that mean?
Documents, disks, CDs, DVDs, flash drives, etc. must be destroyed before
they are discarded if they contain personal information such as social security
numbers, credit card account numbers, Internet sales, credit reports, etc.
Does this apply to you?
Whether you are a home business or an international corporation, if you
possess any of the above-mentioned personal information, this applies to you.
Failure to comply can result in lawsuits, fines or federal and state
penalties.
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