For example, it was news to me that only 20 percent of identity theft involves credit card fraud.  According to numbers recently released by the Federal Trade Commission, identity thieves use stolen information in a variety of ways.  Without giving criminals any new ideas, let me just say that becoming a victim of ID theft can mess up your whole life, not just your credit score.

Another surprising reality:  Only 11 percent of identity theft is committed by high-tech means.  In fact, 48 percent is committed by a person known to the victim.  Taken together these two pieces of information say that the secretary at your insurance agent’s office or your wife’s ne’er-do-well cousin is more likely to steal your identity than is some pimply hacker in former East Germany.  Even if you shred every piece of paper, always look over your shoulder at the bank, and touch a computer, you could still become a victim.  Unless you monitor everyone you do business with (and all their employees) and every person you know, you are vulnerable.

Identity theft become so common and continues to grow because it is an easy crime to commit and a difficult one to catch.  Incidents of fraud commited by persons using stolen identities increased by 22 percent between 2007 and 2008 alone. As a matter of fact, the occurence of identity theft has risen steadily for ten years.  With the economy being what it is, a continuation of this trend seems likely.  

People who commit this crime are not your standard criminal.  Often they see ID theft as almost a “victimless crime” since recent fraud protection legislation puts most of the financial responsibility on lenders.  Criminals — many of whom are just desperate — move quickly once they have your information.  The average fraud takes place within a week of the stealing of personal information.

The damage happens fast, but repairing it takes an average of 70 aggravating hours.  Sometimes the damage is never undone completely.  Some victims do not find out that they are victims until months or years after the criminal has stolen their identity.  Sometimes the IRS audits a victim for income earned by the criminal, perhaps a felon who used the victim’s identity to get a job.  Other victims get a rude awakening when it turns out that the thief has committed other crimes using their identity.  Can you imagine learning about a criminal record (yours) that you had no idea existed?  It happens.

Prevention is the best medicine.  Identity theft is a lot like a disease in that preventing it is preferable to treating it.  If you  are unlucky enough to get the disease, early diagnosis is essential to successful treatment.

That brings me to a bit of good news: Tools have been developed to help you protect yourself.  Look for those in a future article, or just click the link at the bottom of this article to try it for yourself for free.

Whatever you do, do not take this lightly!  If you have anything to lose, someone is trying to take it.

The data furnishers i.e. choice point now a lexis nexis company and the 3 national credit bureaus Experian, Trans Union and Equifax are selling consumer private records – operating below the radar of our nation’s legislature as well as the general public leaving many of us very vulnerable for serious problems-some can be life threatening like in the tragic death of Amy Boyer of New Hampshire.

None of us know or are informed that a data furnisher has sold our private record unless we know how to look or where to check. The datafurnishing companies don’t provide notification to consumers like you and me when they sell our phone bills for example nor do they contact consumers when they give away our employment information or any other private record for that matter. They “merrily” sell the records and leave the rest up to chance. This is a very dangerous practice that is having a dramatic impact upon the increasing number of cyberstalking, stalking and identity theft cases across our nation and beyond.  

Frequently, Cyberstalkers, identity thieves and domestic abusers are utilizing the datafurshing industry because today in the 21st century, the simple click of a mouse is all that is required for perpetrators to obtain all of the information that they need to succeed in the commission of these heinous crimes. For many victims of stalking and domestic abuse this information distributed to the wrong person becomes a matter of life or death. Sadly, this is business as usual for the data furnishing industry and the cases of identity theft and stalking are exponentially increasing.

I have been working diligently for 3 years promoting federal privacy protection legislation that will provide consumers with mandatory notification so that anytime a person or entity -like a data furnisher- inquires or provides a consumers information to a 3rd party all consumers will receive a notice by mail. This sort of notification system is not new. It is being utilized in the banking and Visa/MasterCard industry to help detect and mitigate fraud. For example, anytime you make a change on your Visa or MasterCard account i.e. a change of address or closure of an account a mandatory notice is mailed to your last known address advising you that a change has been made. With the notice a consumer will have a chance to “fight back” and protect their private information and records from criminal activity.

Seems like a “no brainer” to include within the existing legislation the data furnishing industry and credit bureaus doesn’t it?

For more information regarding the datafurnishing industry,  domestic violence, cyberstalking and identity theft contact Alexis A. Moore ,President & Founder of Survivors In Action. Alexis@survivorsinaction.com

One Person Can Make a Difference!