Some Information You Need To Know Regarding Identity Fraud

by erin on October 4, 2010

Before the advent of the digital age, back when the computer was a comic book concept, people stole from other people manually. They still committed theft, but to do so they risked being physically accosted and captured. With the aid of the electronic era, only an Identity Truth Review may be able to let you even know that you are being targeted.

One of the reasons it is so difficult to protect the data a thief can use to target our electronic footprint is the number of places the pieces and parts of or electronic demographic existent are stored. From social networking sites, personal web pages, to email correspondence, there are many ways for the criminal element to obtain all they need to know to gain access to your identity.

By stealthily acquiring bits of information about us piece by piece, a criminal can put together our identity, and then the chaos really begins. In the beginning, they are content to apply for credit in your name, running up balances on as many cards as they can obtain and leaving it to you to clean up. The speed with which transactions can be conducted allows them to even exceed the limits of the cards they obtain.

Most of these people with ill intent avoid the obvious targeting of a bank account until the last step in their plan. Criminals are well aware of the methodology of financial institutions, and that they will allow credit users to temporarily exceed the established credit limits, happy to charge you a fee for the privilege. Then when they have exhausted the available credit and the banks are freezing the accounts, they will execute the withdrawal of funds directly from your bank accounts, since discovery is imminent at that point anyway.

As if the loss of money is not bad enough, there are other ways identity thieves can cause you trouble. Once they have your identity, they can resell it many times to other individuals, be they illegal immigrants or people who have destroyed their own identity and need another to continue to live free, such as those who have committed crimes and have had warrants for their arrest issued. If these individuals then commit further crimes in your name, you can be in for some real trouble.

An increasingly devastating result of identity theft is the use of your identity by other people in the pursuit of medical care. Using your name and data, people who are in need of a wide range of treatment can use your insurance benefits to get it. The difficulty of trying to explain that anything from childbirth to major surgery is not your responsibility is a complicated process, and can leave you without coverage. Worse, the data the hospital now has on you may be wrong, which could be life threatening if you need emergency care.

Still more complicated is the notion that identity of your children could be compromised. In addition to the unbelievable credit damage they could cause, their entire history could be stained. Imagine how complicated it could be for your child when they first get to the age where they want to open a checking account, buy a car or apply for a loan to go to college when the discover that they have a criminal record, extremely poor credit, and even have numerous suspended or terminated driving privileges.

No matter how an identity is stolen, or what it is used for, trying to get back to normal for the victim is a long and difficult process. The specter of a lack of integrity is hard to disprove, especially to financial institutions that do not know you personally and do not have the time to care. It is the reason why identity protection services are such an important protective resource.

Comments on this entry are closed.

Previous post:

Next post: