• Identity Theft – Top Scams Used to Steal your Identity

  “Phishing” – Internet scams, usually through email, requesting personal and financial information

  “Dumpster Diving” – Information taken from bank, credit card, and other financial statements that have been improperly disposed of and retrieved from you garbage

  Telemarketers – Imposter phone representatives that request personal and financial information

    

  Facts & Figures

  9.3 million fell victim to identity fraud within the last twelve months, according to privacyrights.org – 27.3 million victims in the last 5 years

  Identity theft has cost businesses and consumers $56.6 billion in 2006, up  from $54.4 billion in 2005

  In 2006, the mean theft/fraud amount per victim was $6,383, up from $5,429 in 2004

  In 2006, the mean time spent to clear identity theft from a victim’s record was 40 hours, 12 more hours than in 2005

  Law enforcement across the U.S. agree that Identity Theft is the “fastest growing crime in the nation”

  One out of four identity theft victims have no clue how their identity was stolen.

  Half of all identity thefts go unnoticed for over 1 month

  One in ten crimes remains unnoticed for more than two years.

   

  According to the 2005 FTC report, forms of identity theft include:

  Ø        Credit Card Fraud – 26%

  Ø    Home/Utilities Fraud – 17%

  Ø    Employment Fraud – 12%

  Ø    Government Document/Benefit Fraud – 9%

  Ø    Loan Fraud – 5%

  · Effects of identity theft include:

   

  Ø        Lose job opportunities

  Ø        Refused for education, housing, or cars loans

     Ø        Suffer deficiencies at work

     Ø        Detention for crimes not committed

   

  Prevention

               Shred all documents with personal information, including:

  bank statements      

  receipts

  canceled checks

  credit card offers 

              medical bills

              insurance documents     

             credit card “convenience checks”

  
   

  ·      Keep your PINs in a secure place – away from your checkbook, ATM, or debit   cards

  ·      Do not carry your social security card in your wallet or purse

  ·      Place passwords on credit cards, bank accounts and phone accounts

  ·      Be careful with whom you share your personal information with, especially your social security number – Don’t email personal and financial information

  ·      As of June 2005 everyone is allowed one free credit report from each agency. Ladder requests so that you receive a free credit report every four months from each agency.

   www.annualcreditreport.com

  ·     Update computer virus protection software and firewalls

  ·     Use a “wipe” software program before getting rid of a computer

  ·     Protect incoming and outgoing mail - change

  ·     Try not to store financial information on a laptop unless absolutely    necessary   

  ·     Pay attention to billing cycles

  ·     Carefully review financial statements

  ·     Find out who has access to personal information at work

  ·     Remove name from mailing lists

Recovery

        The Federal Trade Commission recommends following these four steps if you fall victim to identity theft:

                 Additional recovery actions:

   Fight Identity Theft. (2006). Get free tips, tools, and information. Retrieved October 5, 2006, from http://www.consumer.gov/idtheft/.

   Federal Trade Commission. (2006, January). Consumer Fraud and Identity Theft Complaint Report: January – December 2005. Retrieved October 5, 2006, from http://www.consumer.gov/sentinel/pubs/Top10Fraud2005.pdf.

   Federal Trade Commission. (n.d.) Your National Resource About Identity Theft. Retrieved October 5, 2006, from http://www.consumer.gov/idtheft/.

   Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. (n.d.). Identity theft. Retrieved October 19, 2003, from http://www.bos.frb.org/consumer/identity/index.htm.

  Mayer, C. E. (2003a, July 1). Congress told to target identity theft [Electronic version]. The Washington Post, p. E01.

   http://www.consumer.gov/idtheft/