Frequently Asked Questions

Anyone can become a victim of identity theft. Did you know that as many as ten million people are victims of identity theft? That's one person every two seconds. Victims come from all lifestyles and backgrounds, from soccer moms to lawyers to celebrities like Tiger Woods and Rosie O'Donnell. And identity thieves have no boundaries when it comes to choosing their targets. In fact, children and elderly people are among their favorite victims.

Finding out that your identity has been stolen can be devastating. And you might not realize that it's happened for several months or even years, during which time thieves can run up debts, commit crimes, ruin medical records, and more—all in your name.

Fortunately, there are steps you can take to avoid being victimized. The best thing you can do is learn about how identity theft occurs and what you can do to prevent it. Simply following the 10 steps outlined in Stopping Identity Theft: 10 Easy Steps to Security will go a long way when it comes to fighting back against this crime.

The short answer is yes. Reviewing your credit report regularly is a good way to spot identity theft. However, it leaves you essentially unprotected in the weeks or months between requesting your reports. To find out about identity theft more quickly—and with less work—you might consider subscribing to an identity theft protection service.

Some companies provide credit monitoring services which only alert you whenever a problem is detected. However, some Identity theft protection services, such as TrustedID's IDFreeze^®, go a step further to stop identity theft before it happens by monitoring medical benefits and black market Internet sites for signs that your identity has been compromised, as well as putting in proactive protection that helps stop identity theft before it happens. Visit TrustedID.com for more information on how you can sign up for this protection.

Chapter 2 of Stopping Identity Theft: 10 Easy Steps to Security details why your credit report is important and provides numerous tips to help you learn how to spot signs of fraud.

At many points before, during, and after you use your credit or debit card, your information can be stolen and misused. But while credit cards and debit cards may look the same—and both may even have a logo (usually Visa or MasterCard) on the front—they have a few important differences when it comes to identity theft. The bottom line: Debit cards are riskier, and you may want to consider switching to credit cards.

Chapter 3 is a great chapter for learning about the various risks that come with paying for goods and services with credit cards, debit cards, and checks. The best part is you'll also find out how to minimize your risks and make every purchase a safe one.

To ensure the best protection against identity theft, a protection service is a very good idea. Today's identity thieves are doing much more than just opening credit card accounts in your name. They're also using your personal information to buy homes, apply for jobs, obtain medical services, get out of jail, and more. It's no longer enough to simply check your credit reports. You need to block identity theft from all angles.

A proactive identity theft protection service, such as TrustedID's IDFreeze service, offers a wide range of protection, recovery, and resolution services for you and your family. Best of all, TrustedID does all the work for you once you sign up. From fraud flags to public database scanning to junk mail reduction and more, IDFreeze ensures that your identity is completely secure before any damage is done. Visit TrustedID.com for more information on how you can get started.

That's a tough one. Today's virtual identity thief could be the shy geek next door or a highly-skilled criminal mastermind. Chances are, you'll never find out. But these crooks have one thing in common—like most other predators, they will likely target easy marks. If you understand how they work and how you can protect yourself, you can safely use the technologies they target without having your identity stolen.

Chapter 4 gives you the scoop on how to stay safe while surfing, emailing, instant messaging (IM), or social networking. By learning how thieves use malicious viruses, spyware, trojan horses, worms, and other online threats to steal or con you out of your personal information, you can fight back against these threats.

Identity thieves have countless scams they use to con you out of your money and information, and they're constantly working to come up with new ones. On any given day, you may get a telephone message from an impostor who claims to be from the Internal Revenue Service or to be conducting a political survey. Or you may get an email from a con artist telling you you've won a contest or lottery, or a letter from someone hoping to take advantage of your good heart with urgent pleas to supposedly help victims of natural disasters or war. While the methods are different, the goal is the same: to obtain your personal information to commit identity theft.

In Chapter 5, you'll be introduced to six of the top scams that criminals today are using to get a hold of your sensitive information. Better yet, you'll learn how to spot these scams and prevent them from claiming you as a victim.

As you can imagine, Internet retailers have a strong interest in making you feel safe buying from them—they depend on your business to stay in business. Many of the technological tools that have been developed to reduce your vulnerability to shopping scams are described in Chapter 6.

The good news is that, for now at least, you may actually be safer shopping online than offline. Studies show that more fraud occurs in traditional physical channels, such as in-person transactions, than online. When you are using a credit card in your local mall, a person processes the transaction and has access to your private information. When shopping online, your payment details are encrypted, meaning that only the people who authorize your transaction—your bank—will see your personal details. It's more likely that the theft will be committed through traditional means.

Fortunately, you can shop safely online AND offline if you follow a few simple guidelines. Read Chapter 6 to learn how to fully protect yourself from identity theft no matter how you choose to shop.

Whenever you subscribe to a new magazine, sign up for a music club, fill out a warranty card, donate money to a charity, register to vote, buy a hot stock, make a telephone call, or visit your dentist, your data is collected. Often, it is compiled and stored by data aggregators, who sell it to companies who want to learn more about you.

For the most part, data aggregation isn't harmful. In fact, it helps companies provide better goods and services to consumers, and helps employers, insurers, and lenders make better decisions faster. This results in the conveniences we've come to rely on, such as instant loans, quick insurance quotes, and targeted coupons and advertisements.

However, there is a dark side to having your detailed, personal information so easily accessible, as we'll describe in Chapter 7. We'll also show you how simple awareness and a few precautions will help you can enjoy the convenience of modern technologies without compromising your identity.

While ordinary identity theft can wreak havoc on your credit record and bank accounts, medical identity theft, in which criminals use your personal information to obtain insurance money, prescription drugs, or medical services, can hurt in other ways. If a thief messes with your medical records, you could get stuck with medical bills that aren't yours or—possibly even worse—an inaccurate medical chart. In the case of a medical emergency, the results could be life-threatening. Or you could become uninsurable or unemployable because your files show medical problems or procedures you've actually never had.

To combat this threat, Chapter 8 will teach you what medical identity theft is how it can happen to you, how to prevent it, and what to do if you become a victim.

Unfortunately, yes. Kids are now the fastest growing segment of identity theft victims. More than 10,000 kids had their identities stolen in 2006 alone, nearly a 60% increase over 2003. And many more cases may remain undiscovered, because until the child becomes 18, no one may think to check the child's credit report. In many cases, the thief is a family member or someone close to the family. Other children's identities are stolen by complete strangers.

Elderly adults are also popular targets, because identity thieves know that they don't check their credit reports often and are likely to have savings, investments, and good credit to draw on. People over age 50 now make up approximately 20% of all identity theft victims.

Chapter 9 tells you everything you need to know to protect your family. It also covers identity theft insurance (part of many homeowners' policies) and how to make sure a thief doesn't defraud you out of home ownership.

This is an important one. When you're away from home, you can be especially vulnerable to someone stealing your identity.

Chapter 10 helps make sure you enjoy your trip while protecting yourself against identity theft. Here, we discuss some things you can do before, during, and after your vacation (or business trip) so that you don't come home to identity theft.

The good news is that becoming a victim of identity theft is not the end of the world, especially if you know how to deal with it. There are many steps you can take to reverse or minimize the damage, which are clearly detailed in Chapter 11.