Identity Theft in America

From LoveToKnow Creditcards

Identity theft in America is a serious crime. It is also one of the fastest growing crimes in the country. In 2008, nearly ten million Americans became victims of identity theft. The financial cost of this was nearly $5 billion. Victims come from all lifestyles and many of them thought they were safe.

Identity Theft in America Is a Threat to Most

Identity theft is a threat to many individuals. While law enforcement works hard to track and stop identity theft, there are many cases that aren't caught until the damage has been done to an individual's credit and finances.

Identity theft happens when a thief takes on the identity of another person. There are several types of identity theft:

Thieves get their information from various sources. Four percent of identity thefts happen when thieves steal the mail of an individual to gather personal information, according to the United States Postal Service. Most people never know how the perpetrator got their personal identification.

There are several reasons thieves use identity theft:

  • It can have a lucrative payout when accomplished
  • Many credit card issuers don't prosecute identity thieves, especially if the amount of debt is not high enough. Instead, they may just write off the debt.
  • Laws are not as strong as they could be in many states, allowing thieves to get away with the crime. Law enforcement often calls identity theft a low risk, but high reward, type of crime.

Protecting Yourself from Fraud

Identity theft in America is a very real theft to millions of individuals. The United States Postal Inspectors give a few tips to protecting yourself from identity theft:

  • Remove mail from your mailbox as soon as possible. Avoid leaving it in your mailbox overnight or over the weekend.
  • Shred documents rather than throwing them out. You should destroy all unwanted material if it contains your name, address, Social Security number or other identifying information.
  • When mailing documents that contain personal identification information, place the mail directly into the United States Postal Service collection boxes or directly at the post office.
  • Check your credit report annually. This will help protect your identity since you can spot activity that is not your own and potentially stop it from continuing.
  • Ensure that you only enter personal information on a secure website. A good indication of a secure website is to look for "https" in the website's URL.
  • Carefully review your statements as soon as possible. Match up your receipts with your credit card statements and protect your credit rights by immediately reporting any activity that is not yours to your credit card issuer.

You can protect yourself from identity theft by being proactive:

  • Don't hand over your credit card if it will leave your sight.
  • Maintain good, organized records of all financial information.
  • Follow up with credit bureaus if you see any activity on your credit report that is not accurate.

Help for Victims of Identity Theft

There are many services available to someone who becomes a victim of identity theft:

  • Credit Bureaus - Start by contacting the three major credit bureaus and review your credit reports. If you notice any type of problem on your credit report, each credit bureau offers a systematic approach to file a claim right online.
Credit Reports
  • Credit Card Issuers - If the claim is on a credit card, call your credit card issuer as soon as you notice the problem. They will:
  • Help you report the claim to your local police department
  • Remove the charges and work with authorities to investigate identity theft cases

For more help, the following agencies can be particularly helpful:

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