When an impostor uses another person’s name, Social Security number, credit card number, or other piece of personal information for their use without the knowledge of the owner, it is identity theft.

A victim may be unaware that they are a target of identity theft until it‘s far too late. By that time, bills that are for a credit card account the target never opened start to arrive, their credit report has debts they know nothing about or even worse, collectors start knocking at the door regarding debts they never incurred.

If you are a victim of identity theft, you should take immediate action. Contact the company or organization that issued the card or account in question, ask for the security or fraud department and record times and people you spoke to. Also, follow it up with a letter in writing.

Obtain a copy of your credit report as quickly as you can from all of the three major credit reporting agencies (Experian, Trans Union and Equifax). Check the accuracy of the reports and make sure they include only debts and loans that you are responsible for. Immediately follow up any anomalies.

In addition, file a police report and keep a copy. This may be very important for defending yourself at a later date.

Rising occurrences of identity theft have people looking for protection and financial institutions are searching for ways to provide it. Identity theft can leave a victim paying the consequences of a poor credit history for years. It can even ruin lives with victims facing jail time for the crimes of doppelgangers.

Identity theft protection plans are being offered by companies such as LifeLock, they will reimburse their clients for out-of-pocket expenses, up to a $1,000,000.00, and help them through the difficult processes that follow such an intrusion, such as contacting creditors, writing affidavits and creating reports.

It’s turning into a huge market with over a billion dollars worth of fraud and identity theft complaints received by the Federal Trade Commission in 2006. Some surveys list identity theft as the crime the public fears the most, even polling above burglary and other more traditional fears.

Is REAL ID the Answer ?

A national ID system is still a distance from being a reality in the US and it has many detractors before it even gets a chance to prove itself- Some suggest things will even get worse under Real ID, with privacy the main concern.

Its proponents, on the other hand, claim that REAL ID will cure everything from terrorism to identity theft. Here are some quick points on REAL ID

The REAL ID Act requires driver’s licenses to include a “common machine-readable technology.”

REAL ID requires driver’s licenses to contain residential addresses, no post office boxes will be accepted.

REAL ID prohibits states from issuing driver’s licenses to illegal aliens.

REAL ID is expensive. It’s an unfunded mandate that the federal government is forcing the states to spend their own money to comply with.

This entry was posted on Friday, January 18th, 2008 at 10:33 am and is filed under Identity Theft, Identity Theft Protection, LifeLock, LifeLock's One Million Dollar Guarantee. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.