Free ID Theft News - Are You At Risk?

Identity Theft Answers - Researching ways to learn more about Identity Theft, and preventing it.

When Less is Best.

The strongest protection against ID theft is NOT to identify at all - thereby ensuring that information cannot be reused to impersonate an individual elsewhere. Identity theft is often a question of too little privacy or too much identification. How can so much information get out if you personally keep it private? A failure to shred confidential information before throwing it into dumpster's. The brokerage of personal information to others businesses without ensuring that the purchaser maintains adequate security controls. The theft of laptop computers being carried offsite containing vast amounts of personal information. If corporate or government organizations do not protect consumer privacy, client confidentiality and political privacy, the acquisition of personal identifiers to commit unlawful acts will continue to be a prime target for criminals.

A crime is considered identity theft when the deceit or intent to gain advantage for himself or another person, the intent to obtain any property or an interest in any property, the intent to cause disadvantage to the person whom he personates or another person, or is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment.

How are these people getting my personal identification?

Look in your trash can right now. How much information can you find that if in the wrong hands could work against you. So how much information is enough information that can harm you? Are there and credit card offers in there that you just discarded because you didn't want them? How about any billing statements, or reconciled bank statments that you finished with? Or some old records that have been in boxes for years up in your closet, and you don't want to take the time to shred all of them, so just this one time, you're going to tie them all up in several small bags and put them in the trash.

Let me ask you a simple question, "Has your social security number changed in the last ten years? twenty years?", no it hasn't. So the trash you threw out from old records, containing your social security number, is the same one that you would use on a credit card application now.

Or lets say one of those credit card bills that you just paid, is in the trash you set out tonight for the trash collector tomorrow morning. Once trash is on the curb, its public property. Someone may just collect your trash early, say tonight, and all that personal information you saved up for ten years, is in the hands of someone who just picked the night you picked to clean house.You may not notice any strange activity for some time, or your account may just be empty tomorrow.

With those credit card bills in the hands of someone else, they can send the paperwork back with an address change request, and now the bills that they're racking up go to that address, and you never see any odd purchases until months later when your account and credit starts accumulating late payments, and you're stuck for the bill trying to prove it wasn't you making the purchases.

How do I know if I'm ok, if my identity hasn't been stolen and used?

This may be one case where "No News is Good News". Just because your identity might have been stolen, doesn't mean that it was used. Remember the Lifelock commercial where the CEO has his Social Security Number plastered on the side of a truck in BIG BOLD LETTERS, well his number may now be in the hands of hundreds of possible thiefs, but if it isn't successfully used, he's ok, safe from his credit being damaged. To feel this confident, you must select a service that offers Prevention, not just Protection. To learn more about how Lifelock can prevent your credit and Identity from being damaged, click here.

How do I discover if my identity has even been stolen?

Get a copy of your credit report is one way. You can sign up today and find out either today or tomorrow if everything on your credit report is you, or from your family. Just because you find something wrong in your credit report, doesn't mean your identity has been stolen. Your name isn't going to be the only one like it in the world, and records accidently get merged, or added by error. Most credit reporting agencies will helpfully remove errors. They can see how data got added, and can see if it might have been added by error, and will remove it within days after being notified at no cost. It may take a few attempts, but it can be done.

Watch your bank statements, balance your checkbook, and credit card statements monthly. Go online to view your statement weekly, or at random, to notice quickly if the balance matches your checkbook. Most banks will work with you immediately if you report fraud, and will refund you any losses.

In some cases you may never know if your identity was stolen, it may just get misplaced by someone that took your wallet or purse. The important thing is have some form of protection in place to protect what you overlook.

Why can't I check my credit scores at any time?

You can. What you might have heard is that if you have been denied credit, you will get a letter from one of the three credit reporting bureaus letting you know you have been denied credit, and they will give you a list of reasons. This list is not always the full reason, just some blanket, generic statement that's supposed to cover everything. The real reason is probably only one of those listed.They also say this rejection of credit allows you access to your credit report from that reporting agency, for free, but you have a limited amount of time.

What you may have heard is that you can't access your credit report for FREE at any time. All of the credit reporting agencies offer a one-time, monthly, or annual credit report at a cost. This fee gives you unlimited access during that period. You can also access your Credit Score, for a cost, which is seperate from your credit report.

I would highly recommend accessing your credit report DIRECTLY from one of the MAJOR agencies, not a third-party service. The reason is that third-party reporting services are not updated regularly so your Report and Score won't be accurate, chances are.