About Identity Theft
The average victim spends more than 500 hours and more than $3,000 to restore his or her credit and good name. Identity theft could damage your credit, future employment and personal reputation. Victims can be turned down for loans, held responsible for paying off accounts they never opened from a collection agency, and could also face jail time for crimes that were committed by someone else in their name. Victims spend most of their time filling out paperwork, making phone calls and notarizing affidavits to try to prove their innocence after finding out their identity has been stolen.
There are many ways a thief can use your personal information - to open new credit card accounts, apply for cell phone service, obtain a car loan, rent an apartment, or even receive medical care using your health insurance and benefits. The thief could rack up thousands or millions of dollars of debt in your name leaving you to deal with creditors and negative effects that can last for years.
Here are some facts about identity theft:
- An identity is stolen every two seconds in the US (FTC, 2006)
- 3.6 million adults have lost money in phishing attacks (Gartner study, 2007)
- 31% of identity theft subjects are victimized by friends or family (Idtheftcenter.org, 2007)
- Nearly 500,000 children each year are victims of identity theft (NBC News, 2005)
- Identity thieves can obtain a minor’s Social Security number and other personal information from many sources, including medical records, school files and online social networks.
- In 2005, 11% of Americans over 65 reported an identity theft crime (Consumer Credit Counseling Service)
A few examples of how your identity can be stolen:
- Dumpster diving: Thieves sort through your garbage looking for personal information and documents, such as credit card applications. In many cases, mail is simply taken from an unlocked mailbox.
- Phishing: Someone impersonates a company or important authority and emails you with an official looking request for important personal information, such as verifying your bank account number, Social Security number or passwords.
- Basic Theft: A criminal obtains your personal information by stealing a wallet or sensitive files from your home such as bank statement, medical records and Social Security cards.
- Hacking: Tech savvy thieves break into databases, computers and Web sites to retrieve your stored personal information. This can include everything from your name, address and birthday to highly sensitive data like Social Security numbers and account numbers.
- Spyware: This ill-intentioned software installs itself onto computers and captures information without your knowledge, such as account numbers and passwords.
- Shoulder surfing: Criminals look over your shoulder and watch you do things like fill out forms or enter ATM pins.
- Vishing – just like phishing, but performed over a phone.
- Credit Card Skimming: When criminals capture your credit card number. This crime can happen anywhere, from restaurants to tampered ATMs. Your information can then be sold on the black market and used to create new credit cards so others can withdraw cash and make purchases using your account.
