Now that we are past the holidays, many of us are expecting to "return to Earth" for the next 11 months or so. However, many of us will receive a small reminder of the fun we just had via our credit card bills. Right now we're all thinking that we didn't go overboard or spend excessively, so any charges should be manageable. Imagine your surprise when you get the bill and discover a balance that is far beyond anything you ever spent. After inspecting for a few minutes, you realize that there are a lot of big-ticket items that you never purchased. Like a bolt out of the blue it hits you: someone stole your identity!
Identity theft occurs when someone uses the personal identifying information of another person in order to commit a crime - usually a fraud of some sort. It has been hailed in the media as the fastest-growing crime in the country, with an estimated 60,000 people becoming victims every month. Small wonder, then, that scenarios like that above will probably become truth in fact for many people over the next month.
Identity theft activity tends to pick up over the course of the holiday season. Although it may be a reflection of thieves having their own shopping to do, it is probably more indicative of the fact that this is a time of year when we are not only utilizing our check books and charge cards more, but we are also distracted by the non-stop activity taking place around us. Simply put, identity thieves may not have to put in the same level of effort as they would at other times in order to get their hands on your information.
Once they have your personal information, criminals will often use it to open up a new line of credit. This is fairly easy to do - especially if you have a good credit history. In addition, you may not discover that this has been done until well after the fact. (This is one of the worst things about identity theft: the crime is so insidious that you can be completely oblivious to the fact that you are a victim for a long, long time.) Thus, it probably comes as no surprise that the most prevalent form of identity theft is credit card fraud.
In brief, identity theft is a prevalent and growing crime. It is insidious by nature, often making it hard to detect. Thus, it's probably in your best interest to take preventative measures beforehand rather than curative measures afterwards.
Identity theft occurs when someone uses the personal identifying information of another person in order to commit a crime - usually a fraud of some sort. It has been hailed in the media as the fastest-growing crime in the country, with an estimated 60,000 people becoming victims every month. Small wonder, then, that scenarios like that above will probably become truth in fact for many people over the next month.
Identity theft activity tends to pick up over the course of the holiday season. Although it may be a reflection of thieves having their own shopping to do, it is probably more indicative of the fact that this is a time of year when we are not only utilizing our check books and charge cards more, but we are also distracted by the non-stop activity taking place around us. Simply put, identity thieves may not have to put in the same level of effort as they would at other times in order to get their hands on your information.
Once they have your personal information, criminals will often use it to open up a new line of credit. This is fairly easy to do - especially if you have a good credit history. In addition, you may not discover that this has been done until well after the fact. (This is one of the worst things about identity theft: the crime is so insidious that you can be completely oblivious to the fact that you are a victim for a long, long time.) Thus, it probably comes as no surprise that the most prevalent form of identity theft is credit card fraud.
In brief, identity theft is a prevalent and growing crime. It is insidious by nature, often making it hard to detect. Thus, it's probably in your best interest to take preventative measures beforehand rather than curative measures afterwards.
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Learn more about identity theft defense by visiting Sherman Wills's site where you can find out all about protecting yourself from identity theft.
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