It Can, It Does, and It Will
Identity theft is happening and it goes much further than your bank account or credit card.
As believers we are living in this world and must be wise about the dangers that we face and identity theft is one of those dangers.
Identity theft is a huge problem and it is growing. While there are many things that you can do to minimize your risk there is nothing you or any one can do to completely prevent identity theft. Here are just a few facts to give you an idea of the size of the problem. It is often difficult to detect identity theft and it is even more difficult and costly to recover from the occurrence. Only very recently has identity theft crime slowed just slightly and it is still the fastest growing crime in America with millions of estimated victims each year. Thieves continue to find increasingly clever ways to steal your personal information. They steal your mail, go through your trash, and even snatch your wallet when you’re not looking. Some thieves use electronic devices to steal your credit card information in legitimate transactions. Other thieves hack into the computer systems of companies you’ve done business with and take your personal information. Here are just a few statistics about the magnitude of the problem.
Victims
Discovery
Recovery
Costs
Methods
Thieves continue to find increasingly clever ways to steal your personal information. They steal your mail, go through your trash, and even snatch your wallet when you’re not looking. Some thieves use electronic devices to steal your credit card information in legitimate transactions. Other thieves hack into the computer systems of companies you’ve done business with and take your personal information.
There are some things you can do on your own to detect and prevent identity theft. For example, checking your credit reports at least once a year will give you a heads-up on any suspicious accounts that have been created in your name. The federal government has worked with the credit bureaus (Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion) to create annualcreditreport.com, a central site you can use to receive a free, government-granted credit report each year. For a comprehensive solution you can check out this link.
You may decide to go beyond checking your free credit reports to protect your identity.
A credit report security freeze offers the most identity theft protection of any solution out there. With a credit freeze, businesses cannot check your credit report because it’s locked. Therefore, would-be thieves couldn’t open new accounts in your name because the banks can’t review your credit to approve the application. When you need to make applications for credit, you can temporarily unlock your credit report by giving a password or PIN to the credit bureaus.
You can set up a credit report freeze directly with the credit bureaus. Because the process can be cumbersome, there are some companies that provide credit freezing services for you.
If you hire a company to freeze your credit report, make sure you understand the cost of the service, any additional services the company provides, and how you can cancel the service. Ask how you will be able to confirm that the credit freeze was successful.
Credit freezes aren’t 100% foolproof because, in rare cases, credit card accounts are given without a credit check.
Credit monitoring services
Credit monitoring services continuously check your credit report and alert you when there is suspicious activity on your credit report. For example, you may be notified if a new inquiry is placed on your credit report, if a new account is opened in your name, or if an account balance increases by a certain amount. These are all signs that your identity has been compromised.
You can monitor your credit at a single credit bureau or at all three credit bureaus. For complete protection, your credit monitoring service should check all three of your credit reports. This is important since some businesses only report to one of the credit bureaus and the bureaus don’t share information.
When you’re choosing a credit monitoring service, you should check all the benefits offered and compare them among other services.
Credit monitoring services don’t always alert you as soon as identity theft happens, since it takes a few days to a few weeks for information to show up on your credit report. Be advised that credit monitoring only allows you to react to identity theft that has already occurred. It doesn’t necessarily allow you to keep identity theft from happening. But by cluing you into account-opening identity theft as early as possible, you can then take the necessary steps to stop it before too much damage is done.
Data sweep services
If your personal information makes it onto the internet, your risk of identity theft is greatly increased. Data sweep companies comb the internet, checking to see if your personal information has been published and potentially traded on black market “carding” sites. You’ll receive an alert letting you know if your social security number or financial records have been put on the internet. The sooner you know about this information has been published, the sooner you can begin taking steps to have it taken down.
Identity monitoring
Identity monitoring provides all the features of credit monitoring plus additional services that help you prevent identity theft. For example, identity monitoring might offer additional notifications for things like address changes, account information posted on the internet, and other symptoms of identity theft.
When you’re choosing an identity monitoring service, you want to be notified of as many signs of theft as possible and as quickly as possible.
17-year-old Josh Goldman was shocked when he was turned down for both a student loan and a job due to bad credit history. He didn’t know he had any credit in his name, let alone bad credit. As it turns out, someone had used his personal information to buy a $40,000 houseboat when Zach was only 7 years old. Of course, the identity thief never paid back the loan, and Zach’s credit has been in ruins for the past ten years without his knowledge. It took Zach and his mom weeks on the phone trying to explain his innocence to creditors and credit bureaus. They never learned who had misused his personal information – it could have been anyone who had access to his files at school, a medical or dental office, or any number of other businesses.
Who steals a child’s identity?
This is just one child identity theft case of the 20,000 reported each year to the FTC. And that number doesn’t even include the many cases in which parents and relatives are the perpetrators. Family members, sadly, are most often responsible for stealing their children’s spotless credit report, usually in order to turn on water, electricity, or other utilities in the home.
Undocumented workers who need a valid Social Security number to obtain a job are also often responsible for a child’s stolen identity. The recent Flores-Figueroa Supreme Court case, for instance, involved an illegal immigrant who offered (albeit unknowingly) an American minor’s SSN as his own to his employer.
What are the consequences for victims of child identity theft?
Child identity theft can have serious consequences for the victims and their families. Parents of victims may be unable to file their children as dependants or as exemptions with the IRS if someone else has already used the child’s Social Security number, like when the perpetrator gives the child’s SSN to an employer. The employer reports the worker’s earnings to the IRS and the worker may even file a return with that SSN. Cases like this are becoming so prevalent that the IRS has actually set up an Identity Protection Specialized Unit.
Children who have been targeted by an ID thief will most likely encounter problems when they grow up. They may find that their ruined credit means they are unable to apply for a credit card, lease an apartment, or sign up for utilities. But this delayed discovery is exactly why many identity thieves target children: Their crime will go unpunished, and usually unnoticed, for years. By the time the theft is realized, it becomes nearly impossible to track down the thief.
Your child’s spotless credit record can be a target for identity thieves who need access to credit, utilities, or employment.
Identity thieves can obtain a child’s personal information in a number of places. Follow these tips to help keep your child’s information from getting into the wrong hands.
As believers we are living in this world and must be wise about the dangers that we face and identity theft is one of those dangers.
Identity theft is a huge problem and it is growing. While there are many things that you can do to minimize your risk there is nothing you or any one can do to completely prevent identity theft. Here are just a few facts to give you an idea of the size of the problem. It is often difficult to detect identity theft and it is even more difficult and costly to recover from the occurrence. Only very recently has identity theft crime slowed just slightly and it is still the fastest growing crime in America with millions of estimated victims each year. Thieves continue to find increasingly clever ways to steal your personal information. They steal your mail, go through your trash, and even snatch your wallet when you’re not looking. Some thieves use electronic devices to steal your credit card information in legitimate transactions. Other thieves hack into the computer systems of companies you’ve done business with and take your personal information. Here are just a few statistics about the magnitude of the problem.
Victims
- 1 in every 10 U.S. consumers has already been victimized by identity theft (Javelin Strategy and Research, 2009).
- 7% of identity theft victims had their information stolen to commit medical identity theft.
Discovery
- 38-48% discover someone has stolen their identity within three months, while 9-18% of victims don't learn that their identity has been stolen for four or more years (Identity Theft Resource Center Aftermath Study, 2004).
- 50.2 million Americans were using a credit monitoring service as of September 2008 (Javelin Strategy and Research, 2009).
- 44% of consumers view their credit reports using AnnualCreditReport.com. One in seven consumers receives their credit report via a credit monitoring service. (Javelin Strategy and Research, 2009).
Recovery
- It can take up to 5,840 hours (the equivalent of working a full-time job for two years) to correct the damage from ID theft, depending on the severity of the case (ITRC Aftermath Study, 2004).
- After suffering identity theft, 46% of victims installed anti virus, anti-spy ware, or a firewall on their computer. 23% switched their primary bank or credit union, and 22% switched credit card companies (Javelin Strategy and Research, 2009).
- Victims of ID theft must contact multiple agencies to resolve the fraud: 66% interact with financial institutions; 40% contact credit bureaus; 35% seek help from law enforcement; 22% deal with debt collectors; 20% work with identity theft assistant services; and 13% contact the Federal Trade Commission (Javelin Strategy and Research, 2009).
Costs
- Businesses across the world lose $221 billion a year due to identity theft (Aberdeen Group).
- On average, victims lose between $851 and $1,378 out-of-pocket trying to resolve identity theft (ITRC Aftermath Study, 2004).
- 70% of victims have difficulty removing negative information that resulted from identity theft from their credit reports (ITRC Aftermath Study, 2004).
- Dollar amount lost per household averaged $1,620 (U.S. DOJ, 2005).
Methods
- Stolen wallets and physical paperwork accounts for almost half (43%) of all identity theft (Javelin Strategy and Research, 2009).
- Online methods accounted for only 11% (Javelin Strategy and Research, 2009).
- 38% of ID theft victims had their debit or credit card number stolen (Javelin Strategy and Research, 2009).
- 37% of ID theft victims had their Social Security number stolen (Javelin Strategy and Research, 2009).
- 36% of ID theft victims had their name and phone number compromised (Javelin Strategy and Research, 2009).
- 24% of ID theft victims had their financial account numbers compromised (Javelin Strategy and Research, 2009).
- More than 35 million data records were compromised in corporate and government data breaches in 2008 (ITRC).
- 59% of new account fraud that occurred in 2008 involved opening up new credit card and store-branded credit card accounts (Javelin Strategy and Research, 2009).
Thieves continue to find increasingly clever ways to steal your personal information. They steal your mail, go through your trash, and even snatch your wallet when you’re not looking. Some thieves use electronic devices to steal your credit card information in legitimate transactions. Other thieves hack into the computer systems of companies you’ve done business with and take your personal information.
There are some things you can do on your own to detect and prevent identity theft. For example, checking your credit reports at least once a year will give you a heads-up on any suspicious accounts that have been created in your name. The federal government has worked with the credit bureaus (Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion) to create annualcreditreport.com, a central site you can use to receive a free, government-granted credit report each year. For a comprehensive solution you can check out this link.
You may decide to go beyond checking your free credit reports to protect your identity.
A credit report security freeze offers the most identity theft protection of any solution out there. With a credit freeze, businesses cannot check your credit report because it’s locked. Therefore, would-be thieves couldn’t open new accounts in your name because the banks can’t review your credit to approve the application. When you need to make applications for credit, you can temporarily unlock your credit report by giving a password or PIN to the credit bureaus.
You can set up a credit report freeze directly with the credit bureaus. Because the process can be cumbersome, there are some companies that provide credit freezing services for you.
If you hire a company to freeze your credit report, make sure you understand the cost of the service, any additional services the company provides, and how you can cancel the service. Ask how you will be able to confirm that the credit freeze was successful.
Credit freezes aren’t 100% foolproof because, in rare cases, credit card accounts are given without a credit check.
Credit monitoring services
Credit monitoring services continuously check your credit report and alert you when there is suspicious activity on your credit report. For example, you may be notified if a new inquiry is placed on your credit report, if a new account is opened in your name, or if an account balance increases by a certain amount. These are all signs that your identity has been compromised.
You can monitor your credit at a single credit bureau or at all three credit bureaus. For complete protection, your credit monitoring service should check all three of your credit reports. This is important since some businesses only report to one of the credit bureaus and the bureaus don’t share information.
When you’re choosing a credit monitoring service, you should check all the benefits offered and compare them among other services.
Credit monitoring services don’t always alert you as soon as identity theft happens, since it takes a few days to a few weeks for information to show up on your credit report. Be advised that credit monitoring only allows you to react to identity theft that has already occurred. It doesn’t necessarily allow you to keep identity theft from happening. But by cluing you into account-opening identity theft as early as possible, you can then take the necessary steps to stop it before too much damage is done.
Data sweep services
If your personal information makes it onto the internet, your risk of identity theft is greatly increased. Data sweep companies comb the internet, checking to see if your personal information has been published and potentially traded on black market “carding” sites. You’ll receive an alert letting you know if your social security number or financial records have been put on the internet. The sooner you know about this information has been published, the sooner you can begin taking steps to have it taken down.
Identity monitoring
Identity monitoring provides all the features of credit monitoring plus additional services that help you prevent identity theft. For example, identity monitoring might offer additional notifications for things like address changes, account information posted on the internet, and other symptoms of identity theft.
When you’re choosing an identity monitoring service, you want to be notified of as many signs of theft as possible and as quickly as possible.
17-year-old Josh Goldman was shocked when he was turned down for both a student loan and a job due to bad credit history. He didn’t know he had any credit in his name, let alone bad credit. As it turns out, someone had used his personal information to buy a $40,000 houseboat when Zach was only 7 years old. Of course, the identity thief never paid back the loan, and Zach’s credit has been in ruins for the past ten years without his knowledge. It took Zach and his mom weeks on the phone trying to explain his innocence to creditors and credit bureaus. They never learned who had misused his personal information – it could have been anyone who had access to his files at school, a medical or dental office, or any number of other businesses.
Who steals a child’s identity?
This is just one child identity theft case of the 20,000 reported each year to the FTC. And that number doesn’t even include the many cases in which parents and relatives are the perpetrators. Family members, sadly, are most often responsible for stealing their children’s spotless credit report, usually in order to turn on water, electricity, or other utilities in the home.
Undocumented workers who need a valid Social Security number to obtain a job are also often responsible for a child’s stolen identity. The recent Flores-Figueroa Supreme Court case, for instance, involved an illegal immigrant who offered (albeit unknowingly) an American minor’s SSN as his own to his employer.
What are the consequences for victims of child identity theft?
Child identity theft can have serious consequences for the victims and their families. Parents of victims may be unable to file their children as dependants or as exemptions with the IRS if someone else has already used the child’s Social Security number, like when the perpetrator gives the child’s SSN to an employer. The employer reports the worker’s earnings to the IRS and the worker may even file a return with that SSN. Cases like this are becoming so prevalent that the IRS has actually set up an Identity Protection Specialized Unit.
Children who have been targeted by an ID thief will most likely encounter problems when they grow up. They may find that their ruined credit means they are unable to apply for a credit card, lease an apartment, or sign up for utilities. But this delayed discovery is exactly why many identity thieves target children: Their crime will go unpunished, and usually unnoticed, for years. By the time the theft is realized, it becomes nearly impossible to track down the thief.
Your child’s spotless credit record can be a target for identity thieves who need access to credit, utilities, or employment.
Identity thieves can obtain a child’s personal information in a number of places. Follow these tips to help keep your child’s information from getting into the wrong hands.
- Keep your profile on social networking sites free of private information, like your address, family member names, and date of birth. Make sure your children are doing the same by regularly monitoring their profiles. Make sure all of the privacy settings on social networking sites are set so that your profile can only be viewed by friends and family, not the general public. Visit OnGuardOnline.gov to learn more about your parental rights on protecting your children’s information online.
- Make sure anti-virus software and spyware is installed on your computer, and monitor your child’s internet usage and e-mails. StaySafeOnline.org has some good tips for staying safe on the internet.
- Resist giving out your child’s Social Security number unless absolutely required. This includes to schools, which can sometimes use an alternate set of digits to identity your child. Places like the local recreation center, summer camps, and other organizations do not need your child’s SSN. Leave the SSN field blank on forms, and only supply it if the organization follows up.
- If a relative asks for your child’s personal information to set up a monetary gift fund in their name, ask for documentation of the account before handing over the SSN and other required info.
- Don’t carry your child’s Social Security card or number with you. Keep it locked up, and only access it when you need it.
- Shred any document that you no longer need that contains your child’s private information.
- Check your child’s credit every few years. Children under 13 years of age shouldn't have a credit report in their name, so ideally there won't be anything to check.
Posted by Daniel Harsh at 3/30/2010 1:07 PM 
Categories: Identity-Theft Cybertheft
Tags: Identity-Theft Cybertheft Children internet
Categories: Identity-Theft Cybertheft
Tags: Identity-Theft Cybertheft Children internet
Hi!
There are a few questions on your site.
How can I contact the administration?
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