LifeLock Reviews

The current national average of employment fraud is 14 percent of all reported identity theft occurrences. Employment fraud comes in two styles with the first type being where someone steals your social security number to get employment. With the ever increasing influx of illegal immigrants looking for work in the United States, the chance of somebody using your social security number to find gainful employment is on the rise. In fact, about two percent of victims over the age of 60 reported that an identity thief used their personal information for employment purposes. While you can reduce the possibility of this crime by keeping tight control of who has access to your social security number, there are no guarantees as many of these illegal immigrants will pick as social security number at random. While most people utilizing this method are simply people looking for work and not true identity thieves, the method is still illegal and can cause some negative effects for the victim. One reason that this type of fraud is so hard to contain is that farmers and packers are much more concerned about the getting cheap labor then they are with following regulations dealing with employment fraud by illegal immigrants.

The second type of employment fraud should be particularly concerning to most Americans as this is the practice of a thief obtaining employment in small businesses such as doctor’s offices, dentists, and banks to gain access to patient or customer records. Because it is the responsibility of a business to keep their records safe, there is very little an individual can do about this type of crime other then choose only well known and reputable businesses with a strong privacy policy. Employment fraud of this type is one of the most common forms of fraud and often goes unprosecuted. If someone obtains employment for the purpose of stealing personal information, there are currently no laws if effect that will help to track that person after they have been fired or quit. In addition, this type of problem can happen because of normal employees who are 100% honest but a bit on the lazy side. The company may have a policy of shredding all sensitive documents but the lazy employee may decide that it is much easier to dump all paperwork in recycle bins when the boss is not looking.

Lifelock can help keep you from becoming a victim of identity theft and employment fraud.

The methods a criminal may use to obtain your personal identification are as varied as the victims themselves and while there is never a guarantee of not becoming a victim, there are certain steps one can take to greatly reduce the danger. While identity theft criminals have developed many ways of gaining access to your personal information and are continuing to come up with new ideas all of the time, the most widely methods used are still the easiest ones to block which can make prevention easier. Below is a list of the most widely used methods an identity theft criminal will use to gain access to your personal information.

Dumpster Diving: This the process where a criminal digs through trash, hoping to find discarded items such as credit card bills, bank account statements, and other mail which may include sensitive personal information.

Skimming: This is a process where a criminal sets up a special storage device that captures your credit card information when making a purchase.

Phishing: This is a newer technique that became available with the advent of the internet and email. A criminal will pretend to be a representative of a financial institution and will send emails stating that your account appears to have been compromised and lead you to a website where you can straighten things out. This is a scam and you will be asked to verify certain personal information that the thief should not have.

Pretexting: Once a criminal already has some of your information, they will contact your bank or creditors and using a bogus excuse will persuade the institution to supply additional information to them.

Physical stealing: This is the oldest method around and is just as it sounds. A criminal will simply steal somebody’s wallet or purse to see if any sensitive information can be obtained.

Once a criminal has access to the above information, they can, and often do, take steps to guarantee that you won’t be aware of any activity until it is too late. Crimes such as this include opening a bank account using your name and Social Security number but with an alternate address so you are not aware of the new account or stealing your credit card number then submitting a change of address so you don’t get any bills showing suspicious transactions. Some people may catch on fairly quickly with the credit card scheme because they are no longer getting expected billing statements but often times the new bank account scheme doesn’t get caught for quite some time. Either way, the victim may not realize what is going on until they start getting notices from bill collectors for debts that they did not incur and by then it may be too late for a simple solution. Once you know how a criminal can steal your information and hide the fact from you, you need to understand what steps you can take to minimize your risk.

Credit card fraud is the number one fraud committed by identity theft criminals and possibly one of the easiest crimes to commit. Credit card fraud is split into two categories with the first method being a thief who actually steals an existing credit card. This is by far the easier crime to commit and luckily is easier to catch. The other option the thief may use is to gain access to your personal information and open a new credit card account that the victim will know nothing about. Many times the thief will use an alternate address and phone number so the victim never sees a bill and will not be aware of a problem until it is too late. There are steps you can take to prevent this type of fraud.

To prevent a thief from stealing your existing credit card you should cancel any credit cards you don’t need or use, pay close attention to your monthly bills, and above all else contact your financial institution immediately if you fail to receive your monthly billing statement. If a thief opens a new credit card account with your social security number it is harder to catch but there are steps you can take to prevent this from happening as well. Number one is the contact the Credit Reporting Agencies and request that no new lines of credit be approved without first seeking your approval. You should also request to be removed from any prescreened credit offer mailing lists as thieves can steal such offers out of your mailbox or trash.

You should also take advantage of the fact that you can access your credit history twice a year for free to check for any fraudulent activity. For any accounts that have been fraudulently accessed or opened, contact the security departments of the appropriate financial institution immediately. Finally, if you are making purchases online you should use a credit card instead of a debit card. Let me explain.

Debit cards are legally riskier than traditional ATM cards or credit cards. While you are only liable for $50 if your credit card is used fraudulently, you may be liable for $500 or more if your debit card is misused plus the fact that the thief can drain your account dry and leave you broke until you get things worked out with your bank. In addition to this fact, debit cards offer much less protection then a credit card because with a credit card, you have certain legal rights to dispute fraudulent charges. If you suspect that your credit card or debit card has been compromised then you should contact your financial institution and cancel the card and put a hold on your funds.