Identity theft, one of the most insidious forms of white-collar crime, is a federal crime under the Identity Theft and Assumption Deterrence Act. It occurs when charlatans steal your personal and/or financial information to use your credit accounts, tap your bank accounts, get new credit in your name, file fraudulent tax returns, get cell phones in your name, access your insurance benefits, and so on. When someone steals your personal and financial information, your life may become a living hell, particularly if you don’t realize what has happened right away and the imposter has siphoned off funds using your name. This makes adopting strategies for identity theft prevention all the more essential. The steps to take for prevention are really simple.

Identity theft crimes make headlines more and more every day. You hear about them on the news or read about them in the papers. The Federal Trade Commission, the leading governmental agency addressing the problem of identity fraud, has reported a dramatic increase in the incidence of this crime. Recently, FTC released a survey that revealed identity fraud claimed a whopping 27.3 million victims over the past five years and result in over $53 billion annual losses to businesses and financial institutions. Accurate and up-to-date information is the most critical element in any identity theft prevention measure. For this reason, Federal Trade Commission launched a website annualcreditreport.com where all consumers are eligible for a free copy of their credit reports. By getting a free copy of your credit report you should be able to spot suspicious activity.

The old adage “Prevention is better than cure”, is very much applicable for identity theft prevention. While state governments, local and federal law enforcement agencies, and private organizations are taking new steps to minimize this threat, it is also crucially important for citizens to take responsibility for protecting their personal information. As an identity theft prevention measure, individuals can hire credit-monitoring services that alert them when there are changes in their credit report. Proper disposal of personal information and other sensitive material is a vital identity theft prevention technique. This could be accomplished by shredding documents. Do not allow intact documents to be thrown in garbage. To thwart phishing attacks, do not reply or click on links in the email that asks you for your account or billing information. Instead, contact the company cited in the email by telephone or by website you know to be genuine, to verify the contents.

Keith Londrie II is a well known author. For more information on Identity Theft, please visit Identity Theft for a wealth of information. You may also want to visit keith’s own web site at http://keithlondrie.com/

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College is supposed to be one of the best times in a person0s life. With so much to learn and experience, it0s easy to get caught up in the fun and excitement. But what about safety? Though they might seem self-contained and cozy, college campuses aren0t isolated from crime.
Know the facts about college safety
1) Rape is the most common violent crime on US campuses.
2) College students are victims of identity theft more often than other groups.
3) More college students are stalked than other groups.
Why is there so much crime on college campuses? When a bunch of young adults from all walks of life are thrown together, almost anything could happen.
Alcohol
Having a few beers with friends at a bar is one thing, but getting tanked at a frat house filled with strangers is quite another. Alcohol plays a major role in sexual assaults. In fact, more than 70,000 college students are victims of an alcohol-related assault each year. If you want to stay safety-conscious, stay aware of how much you0ve had to drink.
Date rape drugs
Your safety can also depend on who you know. Nearly all cases of date rape are instances where the victim knew his or her attacker. If you […]

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There are 5 kinds of Identity Theft but most people are just aware of credit card identity theft. That is just 20% of the problem. Here are all 5.1) Driver’s License Identity Theft2) Social Security Number Identity Theft3) Character/Criminal Identity Theft4) Medical Identity Theft5) Financial Identity TheftYou are vulnerable to having your identity stolen. You have a significant investment in protecting your good reputation so the last thing you want is for someone to use your driver’s license to commit a crime, not show up for “your” trial which will result in a bench warrant being issued against you. That is exactly what more and more people are experiencing as victims of Driver’s License Identity Theft. If that were to happen to you, you would need a lawyer, probably in the middle of the night.Given that only one in seven hundred identity thieves are caught, there will be no slowdown in this crime wave any time soon but you can protect yourself from being the next victim. You need a monitoring system that lets you know if a thief opens a post office box, files a change of address card, tries to buy a house or opens a new bank […]

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