You can hardly read the newspaper or watch the evening news these days without hearing about another case of identity theft. This is one of the fastest growing crimes of this decade and continues to increase. The Federal Trade Commission reports that reported cases of identity theft have been near or at the top of their list of consumer complaints, accounting for more than 40% of all FTC complaints filed.
But even more than the number of reported cases is the financial loss associated with this crime. For the sum total of both business and consumer identity theft, the financial loss is estimated to be greater than $ 50 billion per year, which makes it one of the most expensive crimes on the record books.
Identity theft is not limited to the simple act of using your credit card to make an online purchase. In fact, the Internet is frequently not even associated with this crime, despite what some doomsayers claim about online transactions. But it is surprising to note that as much as 70% of cases are an inside job for business cases, meaning that the thief is an employee of the business, perhaps even a business you shop at today.
Another surprising fact is that in almost 27% of reported cases of ID theft, the victim of the theft either knew the thief or were related to them in some way. Keep in mind that these are actual reported cases of identity theft, as opposed to a misunderstanding amongst relatives or family members, or in other words, was done in a malicious manner.
People today are far too free with giving out their personal information to whoever claims to need it, like even the clerk at the grocery store checkout. They do not need nor have any right to know your personal information, and if you give it to them, ask to see their written policy as to how that information will be used.
The key to your personal information is your social security number, and you should never carry your social security card in your purse or wallet in case it gets stolen. There are very few occasions when you need to have that information available if you don't have your number memorized, so do not carry your card with you.
If you have an email account, you have probably seen the emails allegedly from your bank stating they have had a security breach and need you to click a link to verify your personal information. NEVER click that link. The site you end up at may look official, even with your bank's graphic logo, but it is all a mockup, and if you divulge your personal information there, you have just become a victim. If you question the reality of that email, call your bank and talk to someone in the fraud department, who can verify whether or not the bank really sent that. I can almost guarantee that they did not.
There are a variety of additional things you should implement to protect yourself from identity theft, and the key to it is to NOT provide your personal information to people who do not have a right to it or do not need it. Safeguard your information and avoid become an identity theft statistic.
Jay Anderson follows identity theft and has written many articles about Identity Theft Protection, get more information at his web site at http://www.idtheftprotectiontips.com
Orignal From: Identity Theft Protection Facts And Tips
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