Seek Out Identity Theft Protection

May 21st, 2009 | Posted in Identity Theft

It is compounding more and more family’s grief because con artists are digging up identities of the deceased. Lengthy obituary and death notices gives crooks more valuable information that they use to do more damage. Sometimes these scammers are not just out to take the money and run. They assume the identity of a deceased person and could live for years under that name before anyone finds out. Tone down the news obituary in the paper by not giving too much information.

The most common use is credit card fraud. Armed with personal information such as a name, date of birth, and Social Security number, thieves can impersonate someone else in order to open new lines of credit. Besides opening new lines of credit, identity thieves can use their ill-gotten information to take control of existing accounts. Ensure that all personal documentation for credit identity theft protection and identification data is shredded or burned and never give your personal details out over to the phone to somebody that you don’t know. Then the thief changes account details such as PINs, passwords, and billing and mailing addresses.

It seems as if every time you turn on the TV news these days, there is some story at least once or twice a week about some new identity theft scam. Such information would include items that would normally be used to open a new account somewhere such as your social security number, your driver’s license number, and with some accounts, even less information may be required, as surprising as that sounds. Some people claim that modern technology is to blame for the growing problem of identity theft crimes, but that is simply a knee-jerk reaction.

When others steal your identity they also have easy access to much of your personal data and, quite often, your financial affairs. Victims of identity theft can be affected in a number of different ways, but all of them are adverse. Luckily, most financial institutions and credit companies are aware of the scourge of identity theft throughout the world.