The most common question I get is: What is Identity Theft?

Identity theft is a white collar crime that is able to touch everyone. This nondiscriminatory crime creates millions of victims annually. These id theft casualties compose of young adults, seasoned retirees, and even children. Identity theft protection is highly recommended when your personal info is vulnerable, but identity theft prevention can alleviate the stresses associated with personal information theft. If it is too late, you might have to report identity theft and make sure that all negative entries are cleaned from your credit record.

These vague statements are true, but how are you to do all these things? What is identity theft protection? How can I prevent identity theft? Where do I report identity theft? And, how do I clear my credit record from personal identity theft?

These questions are not easy to answer. The main purpose of My Identity Theft Blog is to provide you with in-depth analysis of id theft and fraud, provide you with prevention techniques, help you choose the right identity theft protection services, and assist you with the often lengthy clean up process if you have fallen victim to identity thieves. Each id theft question and topic deserves its own explanation. Thus, it can’t be answered in one session. Subscribe to this identity theft blog to get up-to-date information.

Identity theft scams are rampant both in the real world and online. Bank fraud, credit card theft, and the misuse of social security numbers is often a result of identity theft fraud. Identity theft and identity theft fraud are essentially the same concepts but they are somewhat different. When someone commits identity theft it is usually to steal someone’s information. However, when that someone uses this information for illicit purposes it then becomes fraud. The accepted notion that someone is a victim of identity theft actually means that the criminals have perpetrated illegal transactions using the victims identity, essentially committing fraud.

Social Security number identity theft is a growing problem in the United States. If you are new to this you may wonder how identity theft and social security tie into the mix. Your social security card is a document which is most susceptible to identity theft and should be kept in a safe place, not your wallet.

What is Social Security Identity Theft?
Social Security identity theft is when someone knowingly or unknowingly has your social security number for the purpose of credit card fraud, potentially malicious impersonation, loan fraud, and obtaining a job legally within the U.S. borders. These are only a few uses, but they constitute the majority of crimes related to social security numbers and identity theft.

The Identity Theft Problem
I think one of the biggest problems out there is the use of social security numbers for immigration purposes. It is often the illegal immigrants who possess a fake social security number. This may be known or unknown to them as many new comers don’t understand out system; what a social security number is and how it is obtained. It is those same gullible, or not, immigrants that get the right papers to start a new life in America.

This would pose no problem only if people who own the real rights to the social security number were not victimized. Nationally, hundreds of thousands of people find out that on an average their social security number has been shared 30 times on the black market. In turn the people who also have these social security numbers can find employment using legal means of getting in the door: yes using your social security number.

By all means, I am not against immigration and equal employment to all. In fact, I am an immigrant myself, and knowing the history of the U.S., nearly everyone is a descendant from alien countries and continents; maybe not in their lifetime, but through their parents, grandparents, and grand-grandparents.

The sheer problem is that social security number theft creates problems for those that were not aware. Victims are often left with immense credit problems, financial burdens, and a feeling of being violated. I know that some of you reading this may even know someone that is illegally within the United States and most likely they are using someone else’s social security number.

The Misconceptions Associated With Social Security ID Theft
You may have been told that these social security numbers belong to deceased people. Hence, the most pragmatic social solution is to say that “these people won’t need them anyway.” Wrong! Firstly, the Social Security Administration cycles the numbers years after and attaches them to newborns and immigrants. Secondly, the concept of stealing someone’s identity, even if they are dead, is still wrong and immoral as the opportunity for fraud is much higher. Finally, immigrants who may possess fake papers may often be criminals hiding from the authorities in their native country. These individuals have the ability to create a path of destruction without being held accountable.

For the most part, identity theft is a faceless crime and its victims may seem like they are so far away. However, the damage of this crime is very real, painful, and expensive to clear.

If you like this post about Social Security Number Identity Theft please share it with others, and as always, feel free to comment.

Why Is It Important To Secure Your Identity From Thieves? This open-ended question, quite frankly, should be self-explanatory. However, you would be surprised by how many people don’t know why.

Identity theft is a white collar crime that strikes people in U.S. by the millions annually. Consider that there are about 300 million people living in America. What happens worldwide with id theft is often on a much grander scale. So the first risk of identity theft is the sheer number of victim cases each year. With such a high number of crime perpetration it would seem that you may fall victim before you even know it. Often, that is the case.

Well, that certainly is not a reason that states “why it is really important to secure your identity?”, but the following 7 reasons should give you an idea:

1. Protect yourself from other criminals that may be after much more than your financial status. These may include assassins, murders, rapists, hostage takers, child abductors, and your weird neighbor next door. Identity theft can be a precursor to other crimes that can range from fraud to murder.
2. Perhaps you should protect your credit report score from dwindling into the low hundreds. With a good to great credit score you can enjoy these benefits: lower APRs, higher credit limits, and Titanium level credit card offers. Delightful!
3. Your bank account balance may stay intact if you try to secure your identity through protection and prevention methods.
4. You won’t get phone calls from creditors asking you to pay a $6,000 bill for a lot of new scooters headed for the United Kingdom.
5. You will sleep better at night knowing your identity is secure from theft and your finances are intact.
6. You will save yourself more money by being able to go to work and not miss those important fun times with your family and friends. If you don’t believe me, imagine that it takes an average of 18 moths for someone to clear their good name. The process is lengthy, costly, and very stressful. In some cases this process seems to never end.
7. You won’t have to get a new social security number, id, driver’s license, passport, bank account, credit cards… well, a new identity. The process of regaining ground after an identity theft crime is often a nightmare. Perhaps this should be the strongest reason for you to secure your identity.

There can be many other reasons or interpretations to why is it important to secure yourself from identity theft. If you have any feel free to comment and I hope these are of some help.

A great identity theft prevention feature that many corporation started using is the utilization of the last four digits of your social security number. Your social security number often shows up on your credit reports, billing statements, credit and loan applications, and so on.

Social Security Number Use in The Past
In the past, companies you did business with would prominently print your account number, often your social security number, on your bills or applications. Remember those days? These were the times when identity theft was a novel and unknown concept. Some people would even have name tags with their employee id on it, and yes, it was often their social security number.

Last Four Digits of the Social Security Number Applied More Often
In the recent times, this started to change as identity theft became more rampant. You find very rarely instances of social security number use among the big companies that consumers do business with. Often, they assign a random id number to your file, rather than assigning a full social security number. Some companies tend to use the last 4 digits of your social to verify your identity, and in my opinion, this is a great step forward.

Social Security Number Not Yet Protected By All
However, a lot of smaller companies still use the full social security number to keep records. In turn, those businesses are often not worried, not knowing, or not caring. In any instance, this is a big problem for millions of people who do business with the smaller companies as the risk of identity theft increases drastically. Whenever I have done identity theft assessments the biggest concern of mine was the number of files with full arsenal of identifying information being placed on desks with public access. This happens in all companies alike, but for the most part, it is the smaller companies that lack the prevention initiatives.

Prevent Identity Theft and Social Security Theft
So what can you do to prevent identity theft? Ask the companies that use your social security number to assign a different account number. Make sure it is something that doesn’t identify you to the rest of the world, but something only you and the company know. If they still “have to” use your social security number make certain that they only use the last four digits. Also, when doing business with small and big companies ask them what identity theft initiatives are in place to protect you from identity theft. If they are clueless, send them over to my blog. Perhaps, it might be of good use to them as this blog features business identity section as well.

I don’t fully know if you are aware that there is one single document that can make identity theft a very good possibility. Some of you already know what it is, but some are still clueless. It is not your utility bill or credit card and it isn’t your state id or driver’s license. Simply, it is your social security card; the single most important identifying data that should be made unavailable to criminals.

Your social security number is the one that’s used to associate you with all your bills, credit cards, car loans, student loans, and home loans (to name a few). You see, anyone can know someone’s name and address but no one should know your social security number. Therefore, it isn’t your name, address, or telephone number that facilitates the most successful identity theft scams, it is the nine digit number that took you months to fully remember.

That brings me to another point. Try to remember your social security number rather than remember to carry it in your wallet. As you know you don’t need your social security card with you everywhere you go. Right? Therefore, stash it away in a safe place and avoid taking it outside of the safe place. If you consider your wallet or the term “on my person” a safe place you have some issues to fix.

Your social security card number is used for more than bills and loans:

• Job Applications
• Employee ID
• Contracts
• Legal Matters
• Etc.

Even so, that doesn’t make you exempt from purging your wallet and pockets from unnecessary personal information. A lot of us forget our wallet, or loose it somewhere, or we get robbed or pick-pocketed. Then what? Your identity is at risk and your bank account may soon be crumbling. Your bluish paper card can wait happily at home… without you.

Identity thieves consider the social security number as the “Holy Grail” of successful scams and lucrative frauds. Obtaining your name and address is often an easy task to piece the puzzle together. With a full arsenal of identifying information white collar criminals are able to buy cell phones, cars, and even houses.

The moral of this story is simple: read the title again!