| Identity theft, one of the most insidious | | | | prevention measure. For this reason, Federal |
| forms of white-collar crime, is a federal | | | | Trade Commission launched a website |
| crime under the Identity Theft and Assumption | | | | annualcreditreport where all consumers are |
| Deterrence Act. It occurs when charlatans | | | | eligible for a free copy of their credit |
| steal your personal and/or financial | | | | reports. By getting a free copy of your |
| information to use your credit accounts, tap | | | | credit report you should be able to spot |
| your bank accounts, get new credit in your | | | | suspicious activity. |
| name, file fraudulent tax returns, get cell | | | | |
| phones in your name, access your insurance | | | | The old adage "Prevention is better than |
| benefits, and so on. When someone steals your | | | | cure", is very much applicable for identity |
| personal and financial information, your life | | | | theft prevention. While state governments, |
| may become a living hell, particularly if you | | | | local and federal law enforcement agencies, |
| don't realize what has happened right away | | | | and private organizations are taking new |
| and the imposter has siphoned off funds using | | | | steps to minimize this threat, it is also |
| your name. This makes adopting strategies for | | | | crucially important for citizens to take |
| identity theft prevention all the more | | | | responsibility for protecting their personal |
| essential. The steps to take for prevention | | | | information. As an identity theft prevention |
| are really simple. | | | | measure, individuals can hire |
| | | | credit-monitoring services that alert them |
| Identity theft crimes make headlines more and | | | | when there are changes in their credit |
| more every day. You hear about them on the | | | | report. Proper disposal of personal |
| news or read about them in the papers. The | | | | information and other sensitive material is a |
| Federal Trade Commission, the leading | | | | vital identity theft prevention technique. |
| governmental agency addressing the problem of | | | | This could be accomplished by shredding |
| identity fraud, has reported a dramatic | | | | documents. Do not allow intact documents to |
| increase in the incidence of this crime. | | | | be thrown in garbage. To thwart phishing |
| Recently, FTC released a survey that revealed | | | | attacks, do not reply or click on links in |
| identity fraud claimed a whopping 27.3 | | | | the email that asks you for your account or |
| million victims over the past five years and | | | | billing information. Instead, contact the |
| result in over $53 billion annual losses to | | | | company cited in the email by telephone or by |
| businesses and financial institutions. | | | | website you know to be genuine, to verify the |
| Accurate and up-to-date information is the | | | | contents. |
| most critical element in any identity theft | | | | |