Know The Facts About Identity Theft Protection
Posted on September 7, 2008 | Filed Under
Identity Theft Fraud
You can hardly read the newspaper or watch the evening news these days without hearing about another case of identity theft. This is one of the fastest growing crimes of this decade and continues to increase. The Federal Trade Commission reports that reported cases of identity theft have been near or at the top of their list of consumer complaints, accounting for more than 40% of all FTC complaints filed.
In addition to the crime aspect of identity theft, the amount of money lost as a result of identity theft is estimated to be over $50 billion dollars every year, making it one of the most costly crimes on record to date. This includes identity theft losses from businesses as well as individual consumers.
When most people think of identity theft, they may associate that with using one\'s credit card for an online purchase over the Internet. But in reality, the Internet is not associated with this crime in a surprisingly high number of reported cases, and that as much as 70% of ID theft cases stem from being an \"inside job\". What this means is that an employee or former employee of a business or company is the thief, and this could even be at places where you normally shop today.
Further investigation into this crime shows that in more than 25% of reported cases, the victim knew or was related to the thief. This is not merely a misunderstanding between family members, but rather are actual reported cases where the crime was committed with malicious intent.
The foremost rule for identity theft protection is that you must be very careful who you share your personal information with. How well do you really know the person that you are sharing your data with? What do they need it for? In almost all cases, there is not a need to provide as much information as most people freely give out.
This is particularly true for your social security number, which is the key to the lock for virtually every piece of personal information about you. Do not carry your social security card in your purse or wallet, because if your purse or wallet gets stolen, you have also given away a critical piece of personal information.
If you have an email account, you have probably seen the emails allegedly from your bank stating they have had a security breach and need you to click a link to verify your personal information. NEVER click that link. The site you end up at may look official, even with your bank\'s graphic logo, but it is all a mockup, and if you divulge your personal information there, you have just become a victim. If you question the reality of that email, call your bank and talk to someone in the fraud department, who can verify whether or not the bank really sent that. I can almost guarantee that they did not.
Keep your eyes open and consider what information you are giving out and ask yourself if that person really needs that information about you. Your identity is your business, and the months of hassles you will endure if you are a victim of identity theft is not worth the risk.
For more insights and additional information about Identity Theft Protection please visit our web site at http://www.idtheftprotectiontips.com
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