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Strategies Used By Identity Theives
The digital revolution has helped give rise to some amazing advances. Alas, it has also created a new plethora of opportunities for criminals and identity theft represents one area where crime seems to be paying for the most part.
The digital revolution has helped give rise to some amazing advances. Alas, it has also created a new plethora of opportunities for criminals and identity theft represents one area where crime seems to be paying for the most part.
In this modern digital age, we are defined by our virtual personal profile in databases. Identity theft is simply the kidnapping of this virtual profile. Once obtained, the theif then uses the profile in a variety of profitable manners.
Stolen credit cards are the most common form of identity theft, right? Nope. Misused credit card accounts are the result of the swiping of the real prize. What is the real prize? Social security numbers, the gateway to your finances.
Whether you realize it or not, social security numbers are the foundation of our financial society. You must have one to play. By play, I mean open credit card and bank accounts, take loans and so on. This is exactly what happens.
Criminals make great capitalists. They can find multiple ways to use ill gotten gains to make a profit. A new approach is to sell your social security number to illegal immigrants. The immigrants often need to show them to hold a job.
The reselling of social security numbers has nasty aspect to it. The income from the secondary person appears under your social security number with the IRS. Guess what happens when your tax return figures don’t match theirs? A tax audit!
Another area where your social security number can be misused is at the bank. The thief will open a bank account using the number. The thief then writes bad checks against the account until the bank closes it.
Owning the latest mobile phone seems to be a must these days. Signing up for such phone services is simple and indentity theives are famous for doing it. The people at those kiosks in the mall just don’t check very closely.
As with any crime, identity theft is not something you want to experience. Unlike other crimes, you rarely realize you are a victim until things are really bad. Theives have bills sent to addresses other than yours, so you don’t know it is occuring.
So, how do most people discover they have been hit? They start getting calls from credit bureaus or collection companies. Alternatively, they find all their credit cards shut off and their bank account frozen.
Some people discount identity theft because it is not a crime causing physical pain. Obviously,they have never had it happen to them. It can take months and even years to resolve it, so take steps to prevent it.