What Is Identity Theft?

It was May 24th, 2008 the day that changed Melissa Strong’s life forever. She had just gotten home from class and checked the mail.  When she started to sort through it; she came across a credit card statement that said URGENT PAYMENT.  She opened it immediately to discover a bill for $3,027, knowing for a fact, she only has one credit card and this wasn’t it.

In a panic Melissa checked the bill for mistakes but  it was her name but the only difference was the purchases were made in California and she lived in North Carolina.  She’s never been to the West Coast or any coast of that sort to charge a bill that high!

Outraged she called the credit card company to speak to a customer service representative.  She disputed her case and they closed the account and guaranteed her they would investigate the crime. 

To be honest it still wasn’t enough for Melissa! She was an average person that worked her way through college and paid all of her bills on time.  She only had one credit card and that was for emergencies only.  If she couldn’t afford it there wasn’t any need to use credit when she couldn’t pay it off.

She felt trapped and confused, she felt as if she didn’t have control over her life anymore.  Her identity had been stolen and her information was surfing around for the next criminal.

Melissa became a statistic of a victim affected by financial identity theft which makes up 26% of all identity theft cases. 

According to the Federal Trade Commission, Identity theft occurs when someone uses your personal information, like your name, social security number, or credit card number, without your permission, to commit fraud or other crimes.
 
The FTC estimates that as many as 9 million Americans have their identities stolen each year. 
 
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/microsites/idtheft/consumers/about-identity-theft.html
 
Identity theft happens in different forms from your social security number, your driver license, medical records, financial records, and character criminal.
 
Identity thieves may rent an apartment, obtain a credit card, establish a utility account, or work in your name leaving you stuck with the tax bill. You may not find out about the theft until you review your credit report, your contacted by the IRS, or you’re stopped at a routine checkpoint by the authorities.
 
Identity theft is a serious crime. Some identity theft victims can resolve their problems quickly; others spend hundreds of dollars and many days repairing damages to their name and credit history. 
 
Now I bet your wondering how you’re going to protect yourself from identity theft.

 

 

 

To schedule a FREE appointment with an identity expert please send your name and phone number to Kenney Conwell at 704-492-5331 or  info@protectmyidenity.com 

Stay tuned to find out how Melissa restored her identity.

Is Your Social Security Number Really That Protected?

As we all know, our social security number is our true identity.  It recognizes us as a U.S. Citizen and our credit and financial history; it’s pretty much our footprint through life.  We use our social security number for almost everything when trying to apply for a job or starting a new account.  As people, we tend to just throw that number around, as if there isn’t any value. 

The only time people really start freaking out about their social security number is when they’ve been mistaken for something they didn’t do. This is called Identity theft when someone takes your personal information and uses it without your permission.

So How Do They Take It?

The good ol’ fashion way of stealing someone’s social security number is taking their wallet, purse, or going through their mail. 

Now since technology has advanced a thief can just obtain your social security number from the internet.  Or sometimes you can just willingly give out your social security number over the phone and the person can also obtain your name, address, and date of birth. 

Sometimes thieves buy your information from an inside source that has access to your information. 

 

I know all of this sounds scary but there is a way of stopping someone from stealing your information.  Individuals can sign up for an identity theft program that monitors your identity from top to bottom, everyday on the hour.

To find out more about getting protected contact Kenney Conwell at 704-492-5331 or info@protectmyidenity.com

Driver License Identity Theft

The Flip Side

Jorge is an immigrant from El Salvador who currently resides in San Jose, California.  He has a family that he provides for and he works many jobs to pay all the bills

Jorge runs into a lot of problems being in the U.S., he doesn’t have a social security number or birth certificates, so he is unable to obtain anything legally.  The only solution for him is to get a counterfeit birth certificate and social security card. 

Now it seems like all of his problems are starting to cease.  He is able to obtain a drivers license and work full time for a restaurant.

Only problem is, Jorge likes to drink a lot of alcohol on the weekends with his buddies and drive under the influence. 

On one fateful night, he got behind the wheel of his car and started to drive home.  While he was driving, he was so far gone that he didn’t recognize a traffic light and hit a family of four and kept driving….

However, a month later, Paul Sullivan was in Chicago, IL preparing to leave for basic training.  He loses track of time and has only 10 minutes to get to his destination.  While driving Paul goes over the speed limit and see’s the blue light special.  He does the proper procedures and hands over his driver license and registration.

While sitting in his car, he realizes that it’s taking a very long time for the officer to return.  All of sudden he sees another cop car pull up and they approach his vehicle.  The officer asks him did he know he had a warrant out for his arrest for a hit and run of a family of four in San Jose. 

Paul couldn’t believe what the officers said and denied the accusations.  However, Paul was taking into custody and his parents made a phone call to their attorney.

DMV records showed that Paul Sullivan had 3 DUI’s and a warrant for his arrest in San Jose, CA for the deaths of a family…

This type of crime is called driver license fraud or identity theft.  With the internet being so advance and forever changing with our information is out there ready to be snatched up. 

 

 To learn how you can protect yourself from Driver License Fraud or any type of identity theft contact Kenney Conwell at 704-492-5331 or info@protectmyidenity.com 

 

Have You Checked Your Credit Card Statement Lately?

Chaz is an office assistant in a corporate office Downtown Pittsburgh, PA.  He is responsible for ordering materials online and over the phone.  It was a usual afternoon and he had to order office supplies; so he used his credit card. 

Over the phone he gave his credit card number, name on the card, billing address, expiration date, and security code on the back.  This was the same procedure he did almost every day but this day was different.

After two weeks, Chaz anticipated his credit card statement in the mail so he could expense the bills for his job.  As he looked over the statement, there were purchases made at Coach.com, Old Navy, Gap, and Victoria Secret. 

Chaz knew he didn’t make any online purchases and he had just gotten out of a serious relationship so there was no need to make any purchases from Victoria Secret.

He called his credit card company and he disputed the charges, he claimed he didn’t make the charges and he needed someone to investigate the case. 

After 90 days of his credit card being maxed out from the charges and a freeze put on his account.  The results came back that he had purchased office supplies from a distributor in Newark, NJ.  The clerk obtained all of Chaz’s information over the phone and went on a shopping spree under his name.  The person was arrested and charged for identity theft.  Chaz was lucky enough to restore his credit with his credit card company but he suffered from having his credit destroyed. 

In conclusion, he enrolled in an identity theft program that monitors his credit, name, social security number, and address. 

As you can see, Chaz fell into the statistics of 50% of Americans affected by credit card fraud.

In courtesy of BankRate.com here are some

Common Sense Tips to Know about Credit Card Fraud

• Find out if the Web site you are visiting has a privacy policy. The same thing goes for your card issuer. Know how your personal information will be handled.
• Make sure your transactions are handled through a secure or encrypted mode. Most merchants use SSL, the secure socket layer protocol. You will know you’re on a secure site if the Web page on which you conduct your transaction begins with “https:” instead of the usual “http:”.
• Print out privacy policies, warranties, price guarantees and other important information.
• If you’re shopping with a merchant for the first time, look for the Trust-e symbol or a Better Business Bureau online seal, which indicate the seller has been independently audited and deemed trustworthy.
• Consumer experts also urge people to keep close tabs on their credit and debit cards. Stay on top of your finances so you’ll know if a bill’s missing or if a card you haven’t used in months starts popping up charges.
• Buy a shredder and destroy bills, pre-approved credit offers and other documents with personal information before throwing them out. Limit the number of cards you carry.
• “The fewer cards you have. The fewer cards you have to keep track of,” McEldowney says.
• “Only have one credit card and one ATM card. Only give personal and financial information to people you trust.”

To find out more information, send your name and phone number to Kenney Conwell at 704-492-5331 or info@protectmyidenity.com for FREE INFORMATION.

How Does Identity Theft Affect College Students?

Mom always told me to never walk alone in the dark, Dad said don’t speak to strangers and trust no one. However, mommy and daddy never told me how important it was to protect my name from an identity thief.

As you read earlier, Melissa was a victim of identity theft. She never thought it would happen to her. It was one of those things she saw on television or in a magazine advertisement. So what made her so different?

She was a college student preparing for her senior year and in just one day her credit was ruined by someone using her identity to open a credit card.

After the long process of getting her credit re-established, Melissa found out how she became a victim of identity theft.

Earlier in April, Melissa had put together a going away party for her best friend moving to Sacramento, CA. It was small get together of friends and associates that she was comfortable with and didn’t think twice of someone doing anything wrong.

According to the reports, Melissa’s best friend used an old pay stud to obtain the credit card in her name. She purchased furniture and decorations for her new apartment on the credit card.

Facts show college students are mainly at risk for identity theft because their credit records are mostly blank, which means they can be easily used to secure new credit. Identity thieves know this and are specifically targeting students for identity theft.

Most common ways that college students leave themselves open to identity theft:

1. Living on campus in dorms with roommates.
2. Ordering clothes, books, or any other merchandise over the Internet.
3.Throwing away credit card offers without shredding them into a million pieces.
4. Being careless with student loans pin and important documentation.

Also, it is so common to see credit card companies targeting college students on campuses or in the surrounding areas. Majority of the time these are scams to get your important information, which is your IDENTITY.

To make matters worse, college students are not paying attention to their bank accounts and not tracking their funds.

Also, some college students become too comfortable with room mates and suites mates and leave personal information out. Sometimes academic PIN’s are your social security number and in large classrooms your social security is your ID on the roll.

These are some of the ways college students are being targeted so easily because college campuses are not putting in identity theft protection systems.

Here are some tips to protect you:

1. Don’t leave out your important information such as bank statements, social security cards, wallets and purses, and pay studs.
2. Obtain a safe and put all your important documentation in it and hide it in an undisclosed location.
3. Don’t sign up for a credit card from someone trying to give you a FREE pizza
4. Check your bank account frequently and know what you’re spending your money on.
5. Don’t purchase items online in public computer labs. Use your personal computer and put a security code on everything.

As you can see, Melissa was a victim and she did restore her credit. Now she is protecting herself with an identity theft protection program.

To find out more information, send your name and phone number to Kenney Conwell at 704-492-5331 or  info@protectmyidenity.com for FREE INFORMATION.