Identity Theft on the Rise

Identity theft is now listed as one of the fastest growing crimes in United States of America, which affects victims in long term period of time.

The current statistic of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is showing 30.2 million adult Americans, which is equivalent to 13.5% of the over-all population were victims of various fraudulent schemes.

The very latest and probably one of the most sophisticated of them all happened last May, 2009, when a group of highly notorious thieves ripped off hundreds of New Yorkers by rigging various ATM machines to steal account and password information from bank account holders. The criminals were able to used all of the pilfered information and steal more than $500,000 to more than 250 victims.

But, how true that most of the cases actually originated from the internet and that technology made the crime more easy to commit?

There are more than hundreds of bogus schemes of identity theft. And, personal information were obtained through frauds or scams; phishing; shoulder surfing; hacking; lost wallets, palm pilots, etc; skimming, unsecured mailbox, bribery, home or auto theft and dumpster diving, this why some state now, like Hawaii have imposed new law prohibiting dumpster diving.

Below are the top 10 frauds listed by FTC:

• Fraudulent Weight-Loss Products (4.8 million victims)

• Foreign Lottery Scams (3.2 million victims)

• Unauthorized Billing - Buyers Clubs (3.2 million victims)

• Prize Promotions (2.7 million victims)

• Work-at-Home Programs (2.4 million victims)

• Credit Card Insurance (2.1 million victims)

• Unauthorized Billing - Internet Services (1.8 million victims)

• Advance-Fee Loans (1.7 million victims)

• Credit Repair Scams (1.2 million victims)

• Business Opportunities (.8 million victims)

When criminals obtain personal information they use it to open new credit under the victim(s) name(s), they establish phone, typically wireless service, and/or open a P.O. Box address under that same, then open bank accounts, apply for a bigger loan, pocket the loan, write bad checks, create counterfeit checks and drain that bank account to zero balance, or even in negative balance.

The crime is so easy for the thieves to commit but, it takes forever for the victims to recover their identity and credit. The investigation is not just costly but, very time consuming and prosecution sometimes seems elusive.

The best is to prevent the crime to happen by protecting yourself and all of your information, your identity and your credit.

Here's how:

MAIL:

• Secure your mail box by installing a lock;

• If traveling advice your local post office to hold all your mails, until you come back, or have someone you trust pick the mail for you;

• Shred mail that contains your personal information;

• And, closely monitor your bills and all financial statements;

• Contact the companies or bank is you noticed you miss any bill for a particular month.

TELEPHONE:

• Don't give your personal information to anybody not unless it is you who have initiated the call;

• Scrutinize, and ask question before giving any of your personal info;

• Ask why you have to give it to;

• How will the information be used?

• Who will be looking at your information?

• And, what will happen if you opt not to provide?

• Get the person's name, the company he/she represents, his/her title in the company;

• Ask for their company's business address, their telephone number;

• Log the date, time and your location.

FINANCES:

• Make sure you get your monthly statement from all the banks and utilities company, call them if you noticed that you haven't gotten anything yet for the month and ask them to send you a new statement;

• Obtain your credit report at least once a year, to check what credits are listed under your name;

• Check for inaccuracy and discrepancies on all your bank and credit card statements and credit report as well;

• Report or call their attention if you eyed one;

• Make a list of your credit cards; reflecting the account numbers, expiry dates and 3 digits security codes listed at the back, along with the banks' customer care phone numbers but, not pin numbers and passwords;

• Secure the list in a safe place, only known to you and copy that same list in your phone;

• Do not share pin numbers and account passwords to anybody;

• Change your passwords and pin numbers regularly.

INTERNET:

• Do not give out personal information over the internet, unless you initiated the contact and the website is secured, showing https (Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure) at the beginning of its URL (Uniform Resource Locator);

• If paying check if the current page where you at is also showing https in the address box and look for Secure Socket Layer (SSL) Certificate or secure padlock on the bottom of the screen;

• Change your email and online account password regularly;

• Use a firewall or virus protection to secure your data;

• Destroy hard drives if discarding the computer;

• Make it a habit to check website privacy policy;

• Watch for sudden switching of websites during your payment process;

• Check for Better Business Bureau stamp or TRUSTe to make sure you are dealing with someone legitimate;

• Be wary of baits of unreasonably low bargain prices or unrealistic promises.

Protect and keep your social security cards, passports and all of your financial documents in a secure place; never make a list of your passwords and pin numbers, use something that you can easily remember and change it regularly.

The FTC has more tips for all consumers, tips are as follow:

• Know who you're dealing with: Do business only with companies that plainly provide their name, street address, and phone number.

• Protect your personal information: Share credit card and other personal information only with companies you know and trust; never share it in email, regardless who is asking for it.

• Take your time: Resist the urge to act now. Most any offer that's good today will be good tomorrow, too.

• Read the small print: Get all promises in writing and read all paperwork before paying any money or signing any contracts.

• Free means free: Throw out any offer that says you have to pay to get a gift or for something that's called "free." If something is free or a gift, you shouldn't have to pay for it.

• Report fraud: If you think you've been a victim of fraud, report it. It's one way to get even with a scam artist who cheated you. Complain online at ftc.gov or by phone at 1-877-FTC HELP.

Anyone can be a victim. So, we need to extra careful in engaging business, especially on the internet. Don't get carried away by sweet talks and lucrative offers, be cautious!

If you are a victim of identity theft, FTC encourages that you place a 90-day fraud alert on your credit. Call all your creditors and then write to FTC, SSA and copy furnished all banks, credit card, even utilities companies of the fraudulent activity that you got victimized of. Call or fax a request to Equifax (1-800-526-6285), Experian (1-888-397-3742) and TransUnion (1-800-680-7289), for copies of your credit report. And, then close your financial account affected by that fraudulent activity and file a police report.

For more tips and information on identity theft, please visit www.ftc.gov.