subject: Some Things You Should Know About Identity Theft [print this page] Before the advent of the digital age, back when the computer was a comic book concept, people stole from other people manually. They still committed theft, but to do so they risked being physically accosted and captured. With the aid of the electronic era, only an identity and credit protection company may be able to let you even know that you are being targeted. If these services sound like a good fit for you, this Identity Truth Review can provide you with more information.
The very means we use to communicate with one another, conduct banking transactions and do research in the modern world places us at risk for identity theft. Every time we log on to an information system that is connected to the internet, either hard wired or thorough Wi-Fi, we are vulnerable. Certainly we take care to employ security, but the strength of those security measures against a dedicated identity thief is inadequate.
The damage that an identity thief can cause is greater than the funds you may have in your accounts. By applying for credit in your good name, they can receive through the mail a large number of different cards from many institutions more than happy to get you as a customer. Then simultaneously executed, they can get cash, products and services well in excess even of the amount authorized on these cards. Be sure to research identity theft insurance as much as you can, as this is the best way to avoid becoming a victim.
These types of criminals have the scam down to a science, ensuring they get the maximum amount of funds from you they possible can. Instead of taking your money up front, which you would probably discover sooner rather than later, they begin with the credit accounts that have a month long cycle. They can run these to beyond their maximum, since your credit makes the bank forgive such transgressions temporarily, then when the financial institutions finally become alarmed and freeze the accounts, they go after the funds you have in the bank.
Money is not the only objective for identity thieves. These evil individuals can also sell your identity to someone else for their use. With the aid of electronic photograph manipulation, your name and data can be superimposed with their physical likeness and for all intents and purposes, there is now more than one of you. Any further disreputable action taken by these alter egos can come back to haunt you.
Stealing your identity can also provide other individuals access to medical treatment under your name. Because our system is not set up to recognize individuals, only the data as recorded in the system, someone can easily be treated for any malady if they have your identity. This has more than one complication, not only do you get stuck with bills for treatment you never received, your medical history can now have inaccurate information attached to it, which could leave physicians with inaccurate information about you in critical emergency care situations.
A fast growing and particularly disturbing facet of identity theft is that perpetrated on minors. By stealing the identity of a child, the criminal has the ability to use that identify for many years. Handled well, it can be used by many people for over a decade. Handled poorly, it can still generate an enormous amount of money for the thief, with the damage not discovered for long after it is done.
