Learn What Identity Theft Criminals Do With the Personal Information They Have Stolen
By now, almost all Americans understand how common the crime of identity theft has become and should also realize that they are prone to becoming a victim of this horrendous crime. While most have probably heard of the many problems that can result from identity theft, many may not truly understand what a criminal does with personal information once they have access to it. Protecting yourself means understanding what a criminal may do once they have your personal information so you can monitor suspicious activity. Once your personal information has been compromised, thieves can commit many crimes including bank or credit card fraud, utilities fraud, governmental documentation fraud, and even criminal fraud. This article will discuss the...
Identity Theft – Guard Your Childrens Social Security Numbers
Identity theft is a growing concern among Americans, and rates among the top five complaints received by states' Attorney General's offices. A stolen identity can lead to tens of thousands of dollars worth of debt in the victim's name and it can take years to completely undo the damage done to the victim's credit report.
Fraud Alerts and Identity Theft: Is This Enough?
Note: You have a one in ten chance of becoming the victim of identity theft this year With this in mind, you need to make sure that you take all reasonable steps available to you to protect yourself from becoming the victim of identity theft
Identity Theft The Threat Of Our Times
The numbers on identity theft demonstrate how many thousands of people are affected, and these statistics also show that large numbers of dollars are lost per annum. The banks and financial institutions lose huge amounts of money, and individual people lose vast sums of money and reputations. Both lose time that cannot be recovered investigating the crime and trying to redress the damage done.
What To Do If You Are A Victim Of Identity Theft
Have you ever been a victim of identity theft or know someone who has? If so, you realize full well what a royal pain in the backside it is, and the damage that was done to your reputation and your credit report will take years to resolve.
How To Protect Yourself Against Identity Theft
Identity theft is a serious crime that continues to grow. If you
become a victim of identity theft, you may spend months, or
years, trying to repair the damage.
Identity Theft ? Are You A Victim?
In today's world, the crime of identity theft is growing astronomically and in fact it reported to be one of the fastest growing crimes of this decade. The biggest reason for this seems to be that most people do not understand what identity theft is, or as is the case with many other crimes, simply refuse to believe that it could ever happen to them. But the reality of the situation is that if you are not taking many more precautions with your personal information, you are leaving yourself wide open as an easy target, and it might just be YOU featured as the latest identity theft victim on a future report on the 6 o'clock news.
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A Better Way To Stop Identity Theft
Just five years ago, hardly a single American had ever heard of Identity Theft. In recent years, however, it has permeated every aspect of our culture. It is now the fastest growing crime in America, and thousands of victims have their identity stolen every day. The price? Vicims have to spend thousands of dollars, and countless hours, fixing their credit and getting their life back in order.
Of couse, with every problem comes a solution, and in recent years literally hundreds of companies have popped up around the country offering to help protect people from Identity Theft. But disappointingly, it seems that just about every company offers the exact same solution: "credit monitoring."
The idea behind credit monitoring is simple - when an identity thief opens a credit card in your name, there is a short time delay from when they open the account to when they can actually use it. The time delay allows a window of opportunity for you to cancel the account. So, credit monitoring services look at your credit report daily - when a new account is opened in your name they notify you immediately, and, if it is not your account and has been illegally opened, you can report it as fraudulent and have it cancelled before the identity thief is ever able to use it.
Does it work? Yes, usually it does. But is it also fraught with problems? Yes, absolutely, it is.
The problem with "credit monitoring" is that potential victims have to wait for an identity thief to steal their credit before they can do anything about it. It is true that once someone steals their identity they can quickly cut the account off, but think about it, wouldn't it be better if an individual could prevent identity theft from ever happening in the first place?
The key to doing this is to consider how identity thieves get information about you. If you can keep that information secret, you are a lot less likely to have your identity stolen in the first place.
So, where do we look?
The average American never thinks about it, but when you buy a home, there is an incredible amount of information about you that is published in your local county tax records. Tax records are a breeding ground of opportunity for identity thieves, and they contain:
* Your full legal name
* Any nicknames or aliases you may have, including your nicknames and maiden name
* Your home address
* Your mailing address, if it is different from your home address
* Your phone number and your contact information
* The type of mortgage you have on your home, and information as to whether you refinanced your home or pulled cash out, and if so, how much you cashed out
And this is just a small, small sample. When you own a home, you are not only easy prey for identity thieves, but also for snooping neighbors, "friends," co-workers, and anyone else who wants to do a little bit of research about you and find out all sorts of juicy information about your personal finances.
So, what can you do about it?
Believe it or not, there is a solution that is quite simple, and has been around for decades. "Land Trusts," as they are called, allow individuals to own their homes anonymously and keep their name out of the public records.
The way a land trust works is simple. Once you form it, you take your home out of your name, and put it in the name of your trust. You can call your trust anything you like. As an example, lets say you form the "ABCD Trust". When someone searches through the tax records, they find the ABCD Trust, not you, making it virtually impossible to find the crucial information they need to steal your identity.
While land trusts have been used for years, individuals had to pay thousands of dollars in legal fees to set them up. In recent years, though, as people have increasingly recognized the need to keep their personal information private, a number of companies have sprung up which have made the process a whole lot cheaper and easier. What used to be a complex procedure is now quite simple and affordable. My favorite of these, whom I also consult with, is called The Privacy Professionals(http://www.theprivacypros.com), and the company will do just about everything for as little as $295!
Anyone who owns a home and is concerned about Identity Theft should consider using a Land Trust. Simply "monitoring your credit" does nothing to prevent your identity from being stolen in the first place, and does even less to protect your personal privacy. In "The Information Age," individuals need to work proactively to keep their information out of the public eye if they hope to truly protect themselves and their identity.
Jeffrey Ellerman, Esq. has spent over 7 years as an attorney focusing on real estate law. He works as a consultant with The Privacy Professionals theprivacypros.com as well as a number of other organizations that protect the public from the hazards of Identity Theft.
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