Think your money and peace of mind are safe from thieves? Think again. Identity theft is one of the fastest growing types of robbery today. As many as 300,000 people are defrauded each year by crooks using stolen identities. Guess who ends up paying for the millions of dollars that stores and lending institutions lose in this way? That's right. You and me.

Identity theft occurs when a thief gets your identifying information and poses as you to run up your credit cards, open new credit cards and bank accounts, drain bank accounts, apply for jobs and housing, get loans, open utilities and long distance phone accounts, get false identities and write false checks. Identity thieves can even commit crimes then give their fake identity (your name) to police when they are arrested.

Unfortunately, the way that most people discover that their identity has been stolen is by getting a collection call from a company they never did business with or by being denied a loan because of a bad credit rating, when they have always paid their bills on time. Although the victim of identity theft may not be responsible for the actual debt, he or she may be left with a bad credit report that can take years to correct. This bad credit report affects a consumer in every facet of his life - the ability to get loans, the cost of insurance, mortgages, bank accounts, rent apartments and it can even destroy job chances. Victims spend hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars straightening out their credit records.

Thankfully, Congress listened to the victims of identity theft and, in October 1998, enacted the Identity Theft and Assumption Deterrence Act. The Act gives victims a weapon against identity thieves and a single place where they can file a complaint and get consumer information. The Federal Trade Commission maintains a Web site where victims of identity theft can file a complaint at www.ftc.gov. It also criminalizes fraud in connection with theft and misuse of personal identifying information. Anyone who steals another person's identity, and gains $1,000 within one year from misusing that identity, is subject to a fine and imprisonment of up to 20 years.

Some states have also criminalized identity theft. Check your consumer protection or consumer affairs office to see if your state has such a law and how it can help you.

IdentityTruth

How does a thief get my identity information?

It is very easy for a thief to get important information from you. A thief can get information from you by:

  • Reaching into your mailbox and sifting through your mail and stealing your bills, credit card applications, pre-approved cards, bank or credit card statements or credit cards
  • Looking through your trash for credit or debit card slips, checks, credit card applications or other documents with identifying information
  • Stealing your wallet
  • A merchant's employee stealing your identification from a check or credit card slip
  • Filling out a change of address card to divert your mail to the thief's address
  • Relatives, roommates, friends, household workers, ex-spouses using your identity without your authority
  • Obtaining a copy of your credit report by pretending to be someone with a "legitimate business purpose" to the information under the Fair Credit Reporting Act
  • Watching you punch in your Personal Identification Number ("PIN") at ATMs or public telephones

The personal information that thieves want and that you should be very careful about protecting is: your Social Security Number, your mother's maiden name, your passwords and PINs for debit and long distance telephone cards, credit card numbers, old and current addresses and your birth date.