B. Carson asked:




Shocking statistics are clearly showing that identity theft is on the rise. This crime affected almost 10,000,000 victims in 2008. And this is a 22% increase from the previous year. And 71% of id fraud happens within the week of a persons personal data being stolen. And with this crime being known as the silent crime what can you do to protect yourself?

What a lot of people tend to do when they feel that they might be at risk of this crime is that they believe it is better for them to use their credit ATM card restaurant and pretty stop shopping online with their cards. This is a common misconception for many people that are paranoid about identity theft. Even though there might be some minor risk to using your personal information online, however using your personal information in the restaurant can actually be even more dangerous.

The reason why is because some of the smart thieves target those that works as waiters in restaurants. They offer money to these waiters that work in restaurants in order to collect your personal information. And since in some cases these waiters might often take your card to locations where you might not be able to see them swipe your card they can easily swipe your card twice.

The first swipe is for the transaction for your meal and the second time is on a pocket-sized instrument used to store your personal information onto. This poses quite a major risk personally and financially. So what can you do to safeguard yourself from this problem? What is the best way to protect your personal identity from prying eyes? Some people might resort to shredding documents and they think this is enough to protect themselves.

This is not effective enough especially with the advancement in technology in this day and age. The best way is to get proven guarantee protection from trusted organizations. you will be informed of any sudden changes made on your credit report and as well as any inquires immediately made.

This allows you to stay ahead of the game in the battle against identity theft. At this moment you’re still vulnerable to getting your identity stolen until you take action to protect yourself immediately. The sooner you get yourself protected from this personal crime the better off you will be personally and financially. And the right protection will allow you to sleep easy at night.

Kathryn

Matthew Stanton asked:




We are living in the information age today but one of the drawbacks of easily accessible data is that your personal information may be just lying out there waiting to be snatched by identity thieves. Identity theft has grown to be pervasive and is now one of the dominant white collar crimes today.

The Federal Trade Commission reports that identity theft is the largest consumer complaint and the fastest growing crime in America. In 2007, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) reported that identity theft affected 9.91 million Americans. In addition, there are probably many more cases that went unreported. Identity theft has accounted for $52,600,000,000 in losses in 2007. Most identity theft victims never know their identity has been stolen until they get phone calls and letters from collections agencies or even the IRS telling them they owe money.

ID theft victims usually experience that fixing the problem can be a nightmare. On average, victims spend up to 600 hours and thousand of dollars in expenses just to prove they are innocent. Worse, contrary to judicial practice, most creditors consider the ID theft victim guilty until they prove otherwise.

The problem is that many people do not take ID theft seriously and do not take the necessary ID theft protective measures. There are many precautionary measures you must do in order to protect yourself from ID theft. The first thing you should do is to check your credit reports at least once a year from all three credit bureaus in order to make sure you do not have accounts you do not know about. The major credit reporting agencies include Equifax, Experian Information Solutions and TransUnion.

In addition, you should shred or burn papers with credit card or bank account numbers, Social Security numbers, etc. These documents may fall to unscrupulous individuals and the personal information might be used to commit ID theft. You should also avoid putting your Social Security number on anything, unless it is legally required. Some checks have the issuers Social Security number on them and some drivers license routinely use Social Security number. This is a big mistake. You should check with the local DMV and bank to see if they offer another option.

In todays information age, physically stealing mail and papers is not the only way to get information.One of the disturbing trends that identity thieves use is phishing. This is a criminally fraudulent process of attempting to acquire sensitive financial and personal information by masquerading as a trustworthy entity in an electronic communication. Phishing uses spam, email or pop-up messages to deceive Internet users into disclosing credit card numbers, bank account information, Social Security numbers, passwords, and other sensitive information. These e-mails appear to come from a legitimate company, usually a financial institution or credit card issuer, urging you to immediately reply with personal information so your account is not deactivated.

Vigilance is the key to ID theft protection. Always file a police report promptly after discovering ID theft as you will need it in disputing fraudulent charges.

Irene

Harmon asked:


I have asked this question twice now and gotten nothing but advertisements, and people speaking about how great their experience is with this or that company – ya, they all sound like the bait in a con job to me.

So my question still stands – if I start working for one of these companies (one that is not a con/scam) and discover that I am doing- what?

Some say marketing, some say mass marketing, but none say of what. Which tells me right off that they are a scam looking for mooks to get sucked in.

Also- interestingly, none of the companies sited give contact information until after they have SS# (I make one up just to get in to look around), name, and other stuff.

These sites also tack serious spyware into their sites, so I know they are scams and cons for ID theft.

Problem is that there are real sites out there, that really hire people to do things on line, and I would like to know more, but none are forth coming with that information.

What do work from home people do?
To those of you that gave an answer- thank you.

To those of you that tried to sell some site- “I made just $200 in the first two days- here’s how!” Thank you, but you did not answer the question.

Good luck, and take care of yourselves.

Frances

AND369 asked:


Ok my mom won’t let me buy it casue there is SC in it….. but i really want it! is there a way to downlad it from a website or somthing to my PS3 id wanna brake the law so if u could tell me legal things it would be great!

Gordon

bdog93 asked:


last week I believe my wallet was stolen. As in fell in bus and no one turned it in. My six flags pass was in there and my school id. I dont know why they arnt turning in id’s that they obviously cant use

My main question is, will six flags give me a free new pass. please answer soon because i want to go to fright fest with my friends in a couple weeks.

Gerald

dante s asked:


If I had a warrant (for ID theft) would this prohibit me from joining the national guard?

Pauline

Bernard Pragides asked:




You must be hearing that every year number of identity theft victims has been rising exponentially. There are already millions of identity theft victims so far. With “Nobody is spared” situation, you are as much likely as anybody else. As you can not ignore the possibility of your identity theft, you are left with two ways either to protect your identity yourself or hire professional service in this regards.

What Statistics says?

It is claimed that the identity theft is the fastest growing crime. It is worldwide but more prevalent in developed countries. Considering details of USA for year 2006 only, there were close to 10 million people were victimized fro their identity theft. You can compare it with figures of year 2004 to find that the number of victims has grown almost 10 times. The striking fact of the identity theft report shows in most of the cases the thief comes out to be a relative or a friend of victim. On an average identity victim loses around $500. If you are lucky, you may not pay anything as most companies no longer hold customer you accountable for any charges made through identity theft. At the same time you should not feel sheltered from statistic only as you can be the ‘unfortunate’ to lose much more in some worst situations. Statistics also warn that with the continuous changes in the cases of identity theft, you can not fully assured by the companies providing identity theft protection service.

What is offered under ‘Identity theft protection service’?

1. Tracking of credit report, police report, medical records

2. Alert in case any suspicious activity shows up

3. Assistance in the process of clearing credit through financial formalities

While you are seeking assistance from the company, the company may require some sensitive information from you.

Different plans offered for Identity Theft Protection

The basic of all plans is “Tracking of credit report & alert in case suspicious transactions”
Some companies offer basic service while some offer in-depth service.

o Under the basic plan you will receive alert whenever there is a new account is opened or a new inquiry appears on your report. You can get this basic plan free from many lenders.

o More detailed plan for identity theft protection – you are charge a fee: This plan includes monthly reports (against yearly report in basic plan) and counseling services. Some companies also cover of out-of-pocket fees in case you fall victim to identity theft.

o There are also comprehensive plan available which covers each & every cost consumer incur through identity theft. Obviously these plans charge much higher fees.

With all this information, you will be in a better position to decide if you should pay for identity theft protection or just being careful is sufficient.

Thomas

bobrekrabold asked:


Does this mean theyre going to get caught? How good are my chances that these guys will get caught and be brought to justice? Chances are theyve been arrested before and when I supply the precinct with the two different locations where they tried to use my card this week, theyll get the tapes and look at who tried.

This all leads back to when I was jumped on August 6. They got $18, my social security card, and my addresses. I never thought they’d be dumb enough to use the card, or smart enough to hold onto vital information for this long. I’m fearing ID theft is possible, but with the information I told you, what are the chances of them being caught? I mean, they ARE ON TAPE!
This happened to me in nyc but the area where it occurred is of small proximity and the criminals tried to conduct some of this acitivity less than a quarter mile from where I was robbed. In addition to this, the local police jurisdiction has some significant crime but doesn’t cover a wide area. I’m hoping this will help me.
I thought the cops didnt care and THATS why I never reported it but now that I have Hard evidence against these assho!es tehyre expressing an interest in me so fu*k off to the guy that asked “do you think they really care?”

Willie

Clara Ghomes asked:




Identity theft is a term given to an occurrence where an individual obtains the personal information of another person to obtain some illegal benefits. The obtaining of personal information is done through privacy breaches. In case of consumers, this can also happen if they provide their own information to anyone else. Many times the thief obtains (or tries to) personal identification information or documents by physical crime such as home invasion or vehicle break in.

Many sites and agencies (such as Canadian Phone busters and US Federal Trade Commission) address identity theft and recommend intervention strategies. One of the most common of those strategies is the guardianship of the documents or information of personal identifiers. The guardianship issues involve suggestions as to what should consumers do to avoid their private data getting into a criminal’s hands.

Not identifying at all is the best protection against any mishappening of identity theft. This ensures that the personal information can’t be used again to allow impersonation. Identity theft is caused due to too much identification or too little privacy. Many institutions/organizations and activities require consumers to provide their personal information like credit card number, drivers licence number, Social Security number etc. This information is treated as a proof of the individual’s identity but it makes it difficult for people to protect themselves from identity theft. Many online retailers and companies suggest their consumers to ensure regular updates of their operating system and computer’s security to protect them against identity theft online.

Many times impersonator also tries to steal identity of a dead person. The crime can be stopped the personal information is cross referenced with the death certificate of the individual. Recently, many companies have started providing protection services to people against identity theft for a monthly or an annual fee. These services basically work either by monitoring the credit report of the individual and setting fraud alerts on person’s credit files. The credit reporting agencies disclose the credit and personal information to a wide client base and the restrictions on the disclosure can vary from customer to customer.

Also, many times people have been exposed to risks of identity theft through poor supervision of the data which results in data breaches. The corporate mistakes which can lead to data breach include not providing adequate network security to the data, not shredding the data (confidential and private information) before throwing in dumps, giving personal information of consumers to other businesses which do not provide enough security to the data.

Having strong encryption on computers, laptops and any other portable media which contain large amount of personal information of consumers ensure that the data won’t get into wrong hands. Having finger identification or any other biometric information can prevent data breaches but there are limitations to it also.

Cecil

greatful RK asked:


I use to be really heavy into drugs and have now turned my life around. I am very intrested in law expectally family law and what to know if having a felony charge on forgery and 2nd degree id theft would not allow me to persue my dream…

Shannon