subject: Identity Theft Protection Services [print this page] Alarming statistics show that among other crimes, identity theft is steadily increasing. A demand for identity theft protection is also. Identity theft can happen to anyone. A regular everyday working guy or gal. A child could be a victim. Even a business owner.
Did you know one of the easiest ways for an identity thief to gain access to your personal information is through your mail. Most people have no idea how easy and lucrative this is for experienced thieves. It is very easy for a thief to find your account numbers or social security number, just by going through your trash mail.
Identity theft happens when someone uses your personal information without your permission. This is personal information and identifies you. It includes but is not limited to bank account numbers, social security numbers, pay stubs, tax information, and credit card numbers.
There are several ways thieves steal information which can then be used to commit serious financial fraud against their victims. Stolen wallets and physical paperwork accounts for almost half (43%) of all identity thefts as of 2009.
Experienced thieves hack into online databases to obtain personal information stored there. With the internet becoming used more and more for banking and shopping, now is a better time than ever to have identity theft protection.
Phishing scams are widely used by these criminals as well. This usually involves an email of some sort allegedly from a financial institution. It might read that you have to click on a link in the email to update your financial information because it has been compromised or something to that effect. Never click on a link like this.
Identity theft protection might not seem like a big deal to some folks. However, the victims who have experienced first hand what it's like know that the cost of identity theft protection outweighs any skepticism about whether or not it's feasible to have.
Identity theft can indeed have a very big negative impact on your life. The damages could be long term. For example, take Dan Wheeler from Washington had his wallet stolen. Not only did the suspect destroy his credit. He committed sex crimes.
Wheeler found out some time later when he was arrested. A minor traffic violation caused police to run a search in their database. When he asked why he was being arrested, the officer said, "you are a wanted sex offender."
From then on Wheeler did everything he could to fight the identity theft case. Besides being denied job after job because of his background check, he's even been denied being a foster parent because of it.
If you are not monitoring your credit report, account fraud could go undetected for months, even years. Whether you've been an identity theft victim in the past or not, you should too take steps to detect and prevent identity theft.
