About Identity Theft
INTRODUCTION
Identity theft is the nation's fastest growing crime according to FBI statistics and identity theft/fraud is the fastest-growing category of Federal Trade Commission (FTC) complaints. 27.3 million Americans have been victims of some form of identity theft within the past five years according to a September 2003 FTC survey, including almost TEN MILLION people in 2002 alone. According to the survey, last year's identity theft losses to businesses and financial institutions totaled nearly $48 billion and consumer victims reported $5 billion in out-of-pocket expenses.
Identity theft was the number two most reported crime to the federal government in 2003. In their January 22, 2004 report, "National and State Trends in Fraud & Identity Theft, January - December 2003" the FTC announced that for the fourth year in a row, identity theft topped the list of consumer complaints, accounting for 42 percent of all complaints lodged in the FTC’s Consumer Sentinel database (up 40% from 2002). The actual number of victims is likely to be much higher, as the FTC only reported on the number of "formal complaints" filed by consumers. Also, over 60 percent of those who did file FTC reports indicated they didn't notify their local police department.
The FTC received more than half a million complaints in 2003, up from 404,000 in 2002, and Internet-related complaints accounted for over half (55 percent) of all fraud reports, up from 45 percent in 2002. Consumer advocates and security experts say identity theft crimes will only become more common and the criminals more daring as electronic transactions become universal. Identity theft occurs when someone uses your personal information to commit fraud or other crimes. It may also involve computer fraud, mail fraud, wire fraud, and financial institution fraud.Fortunately, there are preventative measures you can take to substantially reduce the chance of identity theft occurring, as well as steps to recover from any damage if you are a victim.
Common Practices
Thieves use a variety of illegal techniques to obtain identity information. They may:
• Take mail from a mailbox
• Divert mail to another location by filling out a change of address form
• Go through trash to find identification and financial documents
• Access credit reports by posing as landlords or employers
• Hack into personal computers
• Pose as legitimate companies or government agencies to request personal information
via email (called phishing)
• Steal hard copy or electronic files from your workplace
• Stand close to you at the ATM to learn your Personal Identification Number
• Work at restaurants, gas stations, or other businesses to steal money or information from credit/ATM/debit cards (called skimming)
Once identity thieves have your personal information, they may use it to:
• Charge on existing credit accounts
• Open new credit accounts in your name
• Use existing or open new checking accounts in your name and write bad checks
• Establish phone or wireless service in your name
• Use your debit cards or counterfeit checks to drain your checking account
• Take out loans to buy cars and other big ticket items
Preventing Identity Theft
There are many ways to protect your private information from fraud. Though some tasks take a bit of effort, be aware that cleaning up the mess identity thieves’ leave behind is far more difficult and time-consuming. You can start by installing “The Security Mailbox” to protect your financial, personal and confidential material 24/7.
Credit Reports
• At least annually, check your credit report from each of the three major credit bureaus for fraudulent activity
• Through the Annual Credit Report Request Service, you are entitled to one free report per year from each of the three credit bureaus. You may be entitled to additional free reports if you've been a victim of identity theft.
• Dispute inaccurate information immediately
Personal Identity Information
• Keep all identification and financial documents in a safe and private place
• Provide personal information only when:1. You know how will be used
2. You are certain it won’t be shared
3. You initiated contact and know who you’re dealing with• Make all passwords hard to guess by using a complex combination of numbers and upper and lower case letters
• If you don’t have “The Security Mailbox” installed you may request a vacation hold if you can’t pick up your mail
• Deposit outgoing mail in post office collection boxes or at your local post office
• Remove mail from your mailbox promptly
To learn more about how to prevent mail and identity theft go to:
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/microsites/idtheft/