Identity Theft Myths
ID Theft is real, what you may or may not know is important listed below are four Identity Theft Myths you should understand if you value you identity!
MYTH #1: It’s only about money, and I watch my credit cards.
Financial Identity Theft accounts for less than a third of all identity theft. The second most reported Identity Theft is actually Criminal Identity Theft. This is when someone commits a crime in your name. Malcolm Byrd of Rock County Wisconsin is one such victim, and he has been arrested multiple times. A man arrested on drug charges gave the police his name and another man’s crimes have haunted him for years.
MYTH #2: I can’t lose any money.
If you have a “protected” credit card, read the fine print of the policy. A law known as FACTA was put into place in 2004, and it states that if you do not dispute a wrongful charge within 60 days whether you received the bill or not, you owe the money. Most people do not know they have had their financial identity stolen for 14 months. Good people are finding out that they owe money they cannot repay. Even when they can prove they did not get use of the money, it can ruin their lives and distract them from their purpose.
MYTH #3: I have bad credit. No one would want my identity.
Even minimally acceptable credit can be made worse. As mentioned before, this isn’t just about money. Say you volunteer in a church helping out with Sunday school. One man found out a criminal had taken out a credit card in his name, even paid the credit card off every month. The problem is the criminal used his identity to pay for a child pornography website. When officers went to arrest the person running the website, they found a very surprised person. Unfortunately it was the wrong man, but the identity theft victim was still arrested. If this happened to you, would people treat you differently?
MYTH #4: I am careful with my identity. It won’t happen to me.
This is akin to saying I am a good person, bad things won’t happen to me. If we followed the logic of this myth we wouldn’t have car insurance because we are safe drivers and we wouldn’t have virus software on our computers because we have nothing on our computer the virus makers would want.
We are told by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), who collects data on identity theft, that 1 in 5 is predicted to be victims. Every week we hear about data breaches from different companies and agencies. More than 50 million losses were reported last year. It’s not a matter of if anymore, it’s a matter of when something will happen. Even if you are proactive enough to monitor your credit, this will only take care of less than a third of the problem.
Why Steal an Identity?
Stealing has been around since ancient times. As a society we have become very good at taking a clear cut issue and muddling up the reason and logic. There’s petty theft and minor theft, misdemeanor theft and felony theft. Some kids today even make a game out of theft, and do it to see if they’ll get caught. Thieves will find a way to get something they have not earned.
So why steal your identity? It is really just a new means to steal. Until 1998 “Identity Theft” wasn’t considered a “crime” in the justice system. Since then the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has collected statistics, and it’s become the fastest growing “white collar” crime in America.
Why? Here are a few reasons: It’s easier than other theft. Why rob a bank when robbing a bank’s computer is quicker, easier and it provides access to the same or more money? Also, Identity Thieves are much less likely to be caught; according to the FTC, only 1 in 700 thieves are caught. The penalties are not as severe for identity theft as for other forms of stealing. Depending on the criminal, the thief may even use another person’s identity to evade the law.
Let’s look at this via each different type of identity theft. First, the form most of us have heard about, Financial Identity Theft. This is sometimes confused with financial fraud. Fraud is when someone steals your checkbook or bankcard and uses your account. Financial Identity Theft is when someone opens various new accounts based on your personal information. If your checking account changes dramatically, you’ll notice. If new accounts are set up that you are unaware of this creates another problem, namely, how you can deny the debt within the 60 days required by the 2004 FACTA law. One couple in Iowa found that the wife’s social security number had been used in 2 southern states to purchase 3 extravagant homes, 2 of which had been foreclosed on. They only discovered the foreclosure when they applied for a new equity loan, and now they are stuck with the bad debts as well.
The next most common form of Identity Theft is Criminal or Character Identity Theft. This is when a criminal uses your information when they are caught. Allison Curry, a 4th grade teacher from California, had her personal information stolen in 2002 by a teenager she had mentored. Later she got a letter indicating a warrant was out for her arrest for prostitution. It was just the beginning of the criminal charges she would discover on her record over the next few years, and her record is not yet completely cleared.
So when caught, why not use someone else’s identity? For example, a person has their driver’s license suspended. They get a license in another person’s name, so the next time they are caught for say, drunk driving or excessive speeding; provide the “fake” license tied to someone else. Even most of the 9-11 hijackers had illegitimate driver’s licenses.
Next there is social security identity theft. Why steal a person’s social security information? It is tied to nearly all of our essential documents, and therefore can be used to “create” a new identity. This may include disability benefits and employment (only the tax liability will now be the victim’s). Also, your education and military history is available via your social security identity. “Meth” drug dealers commonly accept names and social security numbers in lieu of cash.
Lastly a thief may want your medical identity, maybe to get your insurance benefits or to get treatment for a disease they don’t want on their record, like AIDS or an STD test. This could lead to insurance problems, even medical problems stemming from incorrect blood type or diabetic status in your records.
Stealing isn’t going away; the criminals are just becoming more sophisticated. Nothing can protect you from this crime. Just as it rains on the just and the unjust, if you have been a victim, you didn’t “do something wrong.” But why wait to be a victim, since the FTC says you’re chances range between 1 in 8 and 1 in 3? In today’s world we need new solutions to new variations on an age old problem, theft.
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Contact Biewer & Associates
Independent Associates - Pre-Paid Legal, Inc.
Certified Identity Theft Risk Management Specialists TM
Phone: 920.924.9928
Fax: 888.539.5962
Email: biewer@biewerassociates.com
Or contact us by mail:
Biewer & Associates
N5211 County Rd. Y
Oakfield, WI 53065
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