LifeLock Reviews

A more serious type of identity theft activity is government documentation fraud where a criminal can use your personal information for many different purposes. They may get a drivers license or state ID with your information and their picture. One common practice of identity theft is the usage of someone else’s Social Security number for employment purposes. While this practice does happen with people who are on the run from the law or wish to stay hidden for some other reason, it is more likely that an illegal immigrant without a Social Security number of their own will commit this crime. The Social Security administration is not well equipped to detect this type of problem and it may go on for years unless the IRS notices some abnormality at tax time. Another problem that often arises is when the person using your Social Security number files for unemployment. There was a case several years ago at a small company where an employee, unknown to the employer, was an illegal immigrant and was using somebody else’s Social Security number. This employee was put on a two week temporary layoff and filed for unemployment with the false Social Security number that they had been using for years. By a matter of chance, the legal owner of the Social Security number filed for unemployment benefits the very same week which created a red flag for the Social Security administration department.

Possibly the most frightening type of fraud is where a person who has access to your person identity information gets arrested for some reason and supplies the authorities with your information. If they do immediate jail time, the worst that will happen is that you will develop a criminal history but if they are required to return for a court trial at a later date, you may encounter some real problems. The fact that they are already a criminal who has stolen your identity means that they are unlikely to bother showing up for their court appointment and a warrant will be issued in your name. Something as simple as a traffic violation can land you in jail, wondering just what is going on.

If you are ready to take action to protect your identity then the LifeLock Anti Identity Theft Program can help. Click here to enroll today.

The most popular and most common way of using someone’s personal information is bank or credit card fraud and this type of fraud can be very detrimental to the victim. A thief may get a new credit card using your name and social security number, many times using an alternate address so you never see any bills. Once the criminal has this credit card they can run up charges until the card is maxed out and never making a payment will put the negative information on your credit history file. The thief can do a similar thing by opening up a bank account in your name. They will write bad checks and secure loans with no intention of paying anything back so this will also end up as a negative mark on your credit history file. Both of these methods may be difficult to catch in the beginning because if the thief is using an alternate address, you will stop receive billing statements from current accounts and never receive a statement on a new account. There are even some more technologically advanced criminals that can, after gaining access to your pin number, clone your ATM card and drain your bank account dry.

Another common activity of identity theft criminals is to commit utilities fraud with your personal information. A thief may open up new phone, electric, gas, or other utility service account using your information. This scheme can extend into accounts for cell phones, cable TV, sewer and water, and some criminals have been known to even rent apartments, all in your name, and like bank fraud, the smart criminals will have all bills and statements sent to a different address so you will not be aware of any suspicious activity until after the damage is already done. This crime be sometimes have less negative impact on the victim because if the criminal is obtaining monthly services using your name, they may very well wish to keep these services active and will actually pay the bills. But if they don’t pay or stop paying later on, then it again goes against your credit history and can affect your ability to obtain and maintain these necessary services.

To protect your identity you can join the LifeLock anti identity theft program today by clicking here.

Identity theft is where a criminal uses certain techniques to gain access to your personal identification information, be it your Social Security number, credit card number, or bank account information. You may be amazed at what somebody can do once they have access to your personal identification history. Once a person with the available knowledge and lack of conscience has gained access to your Social Security number, address, phone number, and birth date they have an open ticket on accessing and abusing your credit. You may think that this can’t happen to you but the Federal Trade Commission estimates that 9 million Americans will be affected by identity theft each year and unfortunately, you could be next on the list. If you become a victim of identity theft, the consequences can be catastrophic.

Victims of identity theft not only have to go through the difficult, time consuming, and self demeaning act of proving their innocence, but will also be required to engage in the process of restoring their credit and good name. The act of restoring your credit can take hundreds of hours spread out through a period of several years and can cost thousands of dollars in out of pocket expenses for the victim. In addition to this fact, an identity theft victim can have their life put on hold while trying to restore their credit, making it difficult or impossible to secure home mortgages, automobile loans, and credit for other needed items. On rare occasions, an identity theft victim can actually be arrested for crimes that they did not commit. To make matters worse, someone who has fallen prey to identity theft may not even realize what has happened for months until they are contacted by debt collectors for bills that they did not incur. To make matters even worse, if an identity theft victim needs to seek another job, their now negative credit history may have a large impact in obtaining gainful employment.

Once a person understands what identity theft is and how it may affect them, they often wonder just what an identity theft thief will do with their information. The possibilities are virtually endless, with identity theft criminals using stolen personal identification to rent apartments, get credit cards, open telephone or utility accounts, and even open bank accounts, all in the victims name. While some identity theft criminals are simply people with bad credit themselves who may use your information for the purpose of obtaining credit and will actually pay the bills, many more will simply spend with no intention of ever paying back the debt and continue to do so until your credit and good name are completely destroyed. Some identity theft criminals have actually filed for bankruptcy using a victim’s social security number.

If you are ready to take charge of your financial future and avoid the crime of identity theft then click here to sign up for LifeLock today.