These little rectangular pieces of paper have the ability to ruin your life for years. That sounds a little dramatic but it is all too common.

People view checks as convenient and may be scared to get a debit card because it requires changing their old routine.

What makes simple checks so damaging is the fact they have an enormous amount of your personal information on them. Every single check has your bank account and routing numbers right there on the bottom.

In skilled hands, just these numbers alone can enable someone to get money right from your account and deposit it in their own. Sure you will find out on your next bank statement but by then, the damage is done.

Another important piece of information on a paper check is your full name and address. Many married couples put the name of their spouse on there as well.

Now they have two identities to steal. Identity thieves absolutely love it when people are foolish enough to put social security numbers on the check too. There is no reason anyone should ever do that.

If your social security number is on there with your name, address, account number and routing number, you might as well walk strangers into your house and give them all of your bank statements, credit card bills, and utility bills.

It is just ridiculous. If your checkbook is stolen, even if you cancel the checks, the information is all still on them. Be very careful to keep your checks secure and put as little information on them as possible on them.

Identity theft can occur in numerous ways such as by someone using your social security number, checks, credit cards, drivers license and much more.

Luckily, there are many easy tips you can use to keep yourself more secure. By no means will they be completely effective but they can make you less likely to be a random victim.

Documents are the biggest problem for most people. From bank statements to medical bills, you get mail constantly that is full of your personal information.

You’d think in this computer-centric world, they could finally put a stop to all of these paper bills and documents and just send you everything electronically but that’s not going to happen yet.

Until it does, make sure you shred everything that has your personal information on it. This can be a daunting task to do by hand so an electric shredder is the best way to go.

The shredded paper is great for rodent bedding if you have children with small pets or want a pet.

In addition to documents, there are many things that should be common knowledge but can be overlooked. Never carry your checkbook, birth certificate, or social security card in your wallet or purse.

Checks are absolutely horrible.

They not only have your personal information, they have your bank account number and routing number right there. Some people even put their social security number right on the check!!

DO NOT do that. A little common sense and knowledge can go a long way in protecting you from identity theft.

Unless you have a medical condition, you could keep your insurance card in your wallet or purse and rarely ever use it. You might not even notice if it happened to disappear.

When medical identity theft occurs, you may never even know it happened until it’s may too late. The complications it can cause can threaten the life of you or your loved ones.

Blood types can be changed, diagnoses you never actually got can be put into your records and much more very scary things could happen.

Imagine getting into an accident and losing a lot of blood not realizing an identity theft had occurred and now your records show your blood type as A instead of B.

If you get a pint of the wrong type, serious problems or death may occur. You also may end up with extremely high medical bills. If someone bills your insurance for a broken leg, you may be responsible for much of the bill.

Repairing medical identity theft errors can be a very long and complicated process. If someone got treatment somewhere, that information may be shared all around the country.

Even if you change it, it could take a very long time to correct everywhere and that puts you at great risk in case of an accident.

To prevent all of this, keep detailed records of your medical bills and insurance statements.

The awareness on identity theft among consumers has reached its peak in the past years. This is principally due to the media coverage it is getting. Because of this, consumers are becoming more wary when disclosing personal information and having it given out without their consent, especially on the Internet.

These outcries by members of the public have resulted in some legislative attention brought to the issue, both on the federal level and in the states.

The Identity Theft and Assumption Deterrence Act (18 USC 1028) was signed in 1998. This law made identity theft a federal felony. That is, when someone deliberately uses the identification of another person with the purpose of committin any unlawful activity under federal and state law.

For those who have violated this law, they will be put under close investigation by federal agencies such as the U.S. Secret Service, the Social Security Administration, the FBI, and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. Such crimes are prosecuted by the U.S. Department of Justice.

This law also allows for reimbursement for victims. It established an identity theft clearinghouse within the Federal Trade Commission.

In the following years, 40 states have criminalized identity theft. Most of them have also made it a felony.
In 2000, Senate Bill 2328 was signed by Senators Feinstein, Kyl, and Grassley. This bill is called the “Identity Theft Prevention Act of 2000.” This law emphasizes more on the prevention that should be taken or where they should belong.

The latest addition to these laws is the Identity Theft Penalty Enhancement Act (ITPEA) signed by President George Bush.

What are the provisions of this identity theft law?

The theft found to have made done a felony through the identity theft is given a mandatory two-year prison sentence.

If the identity theft is directly related to any terrorist activity, the penalty is an additional five-year prison sentence.
This law also orders the U.S. Sentencing Commission to strengthen the penalties to be given if the theft is found to be in the course of employment when the act is committed.

Lastly, it gives the more lax judges to give out soft punishments like probation and community for the offenders.
A lot of people are more than happy that this crime has been criminalized by the laws created. But it can be noted that in order to put a hold on identity theft, drastic changes have to made in the credit industry.

But it is also important that these laws address what the identity theft victims have gone through. There should be a way for them to know that they have a wrongful criminal record.

Some of the bills that have been passed include a provision making it possible for individuals to get hold of the content of information about them that is compiled by an information broker, employment background check service, or individual reference service.

If wrongful information is reported in any background check for employment or other purposes, it is vital that the persons on these investigations know the precise information that has been made and the source from which those information came from.

For those persons who have wrongful criminal records, they must be able to clear their records through an expedited process involving the law enforcement agency that made the arrest, the court system where the warrant was issued, and the official criminal Presently, there is no such procedure available for victims of criminal records identity theft.

Identity theft laws should not be the only answer to this ongoing problem. It is also vital that credit card companies and reporting industries should make an effort to assist consumers in stopping fraud altogether. They should also be the ones that should help victims recover from identity theft.

No matter how many identity theft laws are created and passed, this crime will still continue if additional efforts are not added. It is important that the people and the government should work together to stop identity thieves in their tracks.

With the recent advancement, everything is beyond the control of people. Identity theft in the web world and in personal transactions is also increasing.

In spite of remarkable efforts, the problem continues to exist. This is how situation is getting worse. United States initiated a collaborative endeavor with the proper authority to solve the threat brought by identity theft.

Identity theft is indeed a menace in the United States society. The issue has been plaguing the state for several times. It already affects millions of US citizens. More and more victims everyday are filing their complaints.

According to the Bureau of Investigation in the United States, the status of identity theft is considered one of their most prevalent crimes. The statistic shows that the ratio of the crime is 1:5. In other words, for every five families residing in US, one of them is hooked by identity theft.

Why identity theft seems very intriguing? The crime is taking the personal information of another person without due consent, from his name down to other legal documents that a person possesses. In addition, after taking the personal information, the thief tends to use it in deceitful transactions where they can earn money.

United States present several preventive measures on how to stop further misuse of your identity once you discover that someone has stolen it from you. This is the identity theft reporting. It allows you to give prior notice to the agencies and bureaus concerned.

Here is how identity theft reporting works for you.

1. Contact the fraud departments where you apply the fraud alert. Fraud alert is place on your personal data when you have transaction to a particular office. Once notice a stolen identity, it will be immediately reported to you. However, fraud alert is one way to protect you from identity theft.

2. When you encounter identity theft, report the crime to the nearest local police or sheriff department in your place. Identity reporting should also be done immediately after you discover the crime.
Do not let it pass for over 24 hours because you will give the thief a chance to manipulate his actions. This is worse if it already involves your credit account.

3. After you have reported the crime, be sure that you request a police report. Sometimes, this is referred to your personal statement about the scenario that happened.

Be factual and honest as possible in your narration. This will serve as a basis for the authority to make the necessary investigation.

4. Coordinate with your creditor banks and notify them about the crime. Let the banks and utility companies freeze all your accounts. The police report that you asked from the sheriff will also be asked from you by the bank.

Make sure that you are able to present one for them. You can be accountable for a minimal amount for your account replacement. Some banks provide you with new passbook or credit cards. Sometimes, they will also issue you new account numbers.

5. Prior to your identity theft reporting, if you monitored that somebody already made unauthorized withdrawal from your account, notify the bank right away. By doing this, they will immediately make efforts to trace the person who made the withdrawal.

6. You should instantly stop your payment to any existing accounts using your previous identity. You can alert the check verification company, as well. This will make them reject whoever will attempt to withdraw from your stolen account.

7. Aside from your account and credit account numbers, you should also make a report to the SSS office for them to issue new SS card for you.

It is very important that you protect yourself from being one of the victims of identity theft because if not you will suddenly notice that you almost loose everything that you own; it can be both your reputation and your property. Do not let these things to happen before you. Act now before it will be too late!

Most media topics cover the financial and law enforcement aspects but what about the fear and pain that person goes through. This can be emotionally devastating and may lead to thoughts of suicide in extreme cases.

Imagine if you have been saving a little bit each month for years to finally be able to purchase something you have always wanted. You are working very hard for this reward and you deserve it.

One day you wake up and your bank account is empty and the bills start coming in the mail. The sense of helplessness and loss would be terrible.

You may never know who did this to you. Where did they even get the information? From far away or from your own home? The ability to trust others will be hard to get back for a while and you may need serious help to recover from what has happened.

There are many different places that can help you recover financially and emotionally from identity theft. Of course the first step is always to call the police and often they will refer you to a counseling service that can be very beneficial.

Don’t just dismiss this and throw the business card in the trash. The stress that can build up may eventually become overwhelming so by talking to a counselor about the entire event and developing a plan of action for the future can really stabilize you.

Supportive friends and family are also very important to have around. It could take many months to sort out the financial areas of identity theft but much longer for the emotional scars to heal.

Would you like this thing to happen? Of course, everybody wants to preserve their property and their money because these are taken from the fruits of their hard work. Stealing one’s property is a violation according to the law, much more with stealing with your personal identity already.

Sometimes, it is more acceptable although it is also a crime when somebody stolen your property. The worse thing happens when it is already your privacy or the personal information that you have being taken away from you by the thieves.

Identity theft is a threat against your persona. It reveals everything about you to another person, who is a thief. Thus, knowing all the information about yourself will allow him to make transaction with other people using your identity. You will not only loose the money in your wallet and your bag but the entire property that you have in general.

However, do not worry too much about identity theft because there are several ways for you to keep away yourself from being one of the victims of identity theft. If only you will strictly follow these ways, you will be guaranteed with the security of your identity. Check this out!

1. Always keep your things in proper places and securely. This is the basic thing that you should do. Never allow anybody to fix your wallet where your identification cards, bank accounts and other personal information are placed. Avoid trusting so mjuch even to the closest person to you. Study shows that almost 26 percent of the cases in identity theft, the victims knew who the perpetrators are.

2. Burn all the receipts, personal applications, bank statement and any other kind of forms before you discard them. This will help you to protect your financial data and status.

3. Never give personal information instantly over the phone. Make sure that the person calling reveals to you his real purpose for calling. But it is not still an assurance, it is better if you will see them personally before you give out information about yourself to know the real purpose.

4. Bring the ID that you needed most for a particular transaction. Leave it to your house, if you do not need it at all. This is also one way of protecting yourself from identity theft.

5. Usually, when you make a bank transaction such as depositing or withdrawing, you are to fill up a form. It is better if you only write the last four digit of your bank account number. The teller already know the proper thing that they are suppose to do.

6. Surf in the net and know the latest information about online identity theft. You also have a big concern about this since you are making transactions through computers sometimes. Web spoofing is also stealing tone identity of the website identity. You don’t know if somebody already knows your financial account number by imitating the website where your e-mail account is located.

7. Take some precautions when it comes to your credit and debit cards. Always keep your credit cards in a secured place. When using it in paying the amount of stuffs that you shop, make sure that you give it properly and get it immediately to the cashier because you can be distracted by the person next to you in line.

8. Secure your ATM cards as well. When you withdraw with your ATM account, secure the card properly. Prevent yourself from being a victim of skimming. This is the process where the machine can be able to get the details of your transaction.

Sad to say but everyday there are about thousands of people who became the victim of identity theft. Sometimes, other people do not have any idea about this knid of crime. It is high time that you should get yourself aware about this before it will be too late.

Sometimes, the cashier themselves may write down or memorize your credit card number for use at a later time. Though this is now considered one type of identity theft, there are a few more that have a more dramatic impact.

Drivers licenses are a very common way you can have your identity stolen. This doesn’t cause that much damage and is very easy to fix. The most common thing someone will do with your drivers license is alter the photograph so it looks like them.

This is very difficult so if someone goes through all that trouble, odds are they have a warrant they want to avoid. The problems arise when they get a speeding ticket or any ticket that doesn’t send them to jail. They will disappear and you will find yourself having a warrant from somewhere you may have never been.

The last thing you want to happen is to be on your way somewhere with friends and family and find yourself in jail for a crime you didn’t commit and have no knowledge of.

It can be very difficult to prove that this person wasn’t even you and you might have to find the officer that issued the ticket. That could take a while and you might spend days in jail until you can be bailed out or the issue is resolved.

Media is one of the most effective identity theft resource centers. You can find all related stories, new techniques and solutions for this crime through media. It is also because of them that people have gotten all the needed information to fight the spread of identity theft.

Even though there are a lot of identity theft resource centers that are focusing on the problem at hand, it seems that this crime is continuously growing in numbers. Can all this be attributed to the fact that these thieves are getting wiser everyday?

Not really. There are other factors that may be contributing to the spread of identity theft.

Personal data storage.

One of the reasons for its growth is the improper up keeping and discarding of individual’s critical data and financial information. This may be because of the misconception that identity theft is only limited to trading and consumer based areas.

But then, all kinds of business are at risk. Although the most vulnerable would be and banking and lending institutions, real estate and facilities management and other related fields.

That is why, these businesses must maintain a close watch on what how their systems are working. They should check and update regularly all their files to see if anything is out of order.

Federal laws and legislations.

It can be noted that the government are also not taking these crimes sitting down. There have been laws and legislations set up to punish those whoa re caught stealing information and taking advantage of them.

More and more laws have been made against identity theft to hopefully reduce the growing number.

Other means of prevention.

New and different measures can be seen in the way credit and other financial transactions are done.
One example is the so-called security freeze. This allows individuals to thwart off access to their credit report for the purpose of granting credit except if the individual approves. When someone is applying for credit, the freeze can be lifted off for a certain time so that application can be processed.

The advance technology of today is also helping people and businesses protect and store information. With the portability of computers and the speed of Internet connections, people are shifting to using electronic images more and more.

The higher cost of having electronic storage data made is only reasonable when you compare it with the cheaper ones that are not really working effectively for your business. Besides, the benefits you will be getting out of this electronic deals are enough to make up for the cost you paid initially.

You probably will get more customers because they are assured of the security measures that you can give them.
Electronic documents and files are easily and securely stored on floppy disks, CD ROMS or put directly on a removable computer hard drive that is disconnected from the Internet and from hackers.

Each format is made safe and access can be encrypted or can be protected by a password. Electronically storing critical information gives another barrier between important information and dishonest individuals who are constantly looking for ways of taking advantage of anything that is available.

The most common uses of identity theft are credit card and check fraud. Some other uses that can occur are illegal immigration, blackmail, crime or just attacking an individual for revenge.

Identity theft can really destroy someones life for months or even years. The most common result is destruction of credit.

People often get credit cards and open bank accounts in the victims name and buy all kinds of expensive merchandise they can either keep or sell for cash.

In extreme cases, loans can be taken out for thousands of dollars and the identity thief can simply disappear. Luckily, a photo identification is necessary for high priced transactions and loans most of the time.

Credit isnt the only thing that can be destroyed by identity theft. Many times, criminals will use your personal information to get a drivers license because they are wanted or plan to commit many crimes very soon.

If these criminals rent a car that is used in a crime, guess who is the first suspect? Thats right, its YOU. By the time you even realize this has happened, your name and picture might be all over the news.

This can annihilate your good name in your community or even the entire country. Even when it is proved you had absolutely nothing to do with the crime, people will still associate you with that particular event.