Startling Facts About Identity Theft

Identity Theft Resource Center®, Nonprofit Organization

Identity Theft Resource Center® (ITRC) is a nonprofit, nationally respected organization dedicated exclusively to the understanding and prevention of identity theft. The ITRC provides victim and consumer support as well as public education. The ITRC also advises governmental agencies, legislators, law enforcement, and businesses about the evolving and growing problem of identity theft.

Identity Theft is a crime in which an impostor obtains key pieces of personal identifying information (PII) such as Social Security numbers and driver's license numbers and uses them for their own personal gain. This is called ID Theft. It can start with lost or stolen wallets, pilfered mail, a data breach, computer virus, phishing, a scam, or paper documents thrown out by you or a business (dumpster diving). This crime varies widely, and can include check fraud, credit card fraud, financial identity theft, criminal identity theft, governmental identity theft, and identity fraud.

STARTLING FACTS ABOUT IDENTITY THEFT

• Identity theft is "an absolute epidemic," states Robert Ellis Smith, a respected privacy author and advocate. "It's certainly picked up in the last four or five years. It is nationwide. It affects everybody, and there is very little you can do to prevent it and, I think, worst of all—you can't detect it until it's probably too late."
• Some law-enforcement authorities call identity theft "the fastest growing crime across the country right now". In fact, identity theft is the most called-about subject on the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse's telephone hotline. "Most victims don't even know how the perpetrators got their identity numbers," says director Beth Givens. Such fraud may account for as much as 25% of all credit card-fraud losses each year.
• For the criminal, identity theft is a relatively low-risk, high-reward endeavor. Credit card issuers often don't prosecute thieves who are apprehended. Why? The firms figure it's not cost efficient. They can afford to write off a certain amount of fraud as a cost of doing business.

What Can I Do About Identity Theft And Fraud?
To victims of identity theft and fraud, the task of correcting incorrect information about their financial or personal status, and trying to restore their good names and reputations, may seem as daunting as trying to solve a puzzle in which some of the pieces are missing and other pieces no longer fit as they once did. Unfortunately, the damage that criminals do in stealing another person's identity and using it to commit fraud often takes far longer to undo than it took the criminal to commit the crimes.

What Are The Most Common Ways To Commit Identity Theft or Fraud?
Many people do not realize how easily criminals can obtain our personal data without having to break into our homes. In public places, for example, criminals may engage in "shoulder surfing" ­ watching you from a nearby location as you punch in your telephone calling card number or credit card number ­ or listen in on your conversation if you give your credit-card number over the telephone to a hotel or rental car company.

Become proactive in protecting your good name.  Don't wait until you have become a victim to decide to do something.

Many a victim have thought "it won't happen to me," only to find out that it has happened to them.

Be Proactive - Protect Your Good Name!

Did You Know the Difference Between Credit Card Theft and Identity Theft?

Survey: 28% of ID theft victims know crime source

By Seamus McAfee

More than one out of four victims of identity theft know how their personal information fell into the wrong hands. The remaining 72 percent are left wondering just how their identity was compromised, says a new study by the nonprofit coalition Identity Theft Assistance Center (ITAC).
The survey interviewed more than 1,500 identity theft victims who were helped by ITAC after experiencing an identity theft crime. Of the 28 percent of respondents who did know the source of the theft, 26.5 percentsaid it was caused by friends, relatives and in-home employees who had access to their personal information. Computer-related theft was the next most common crime at over 21 percent, followed by lost or stolen wallets, checkbooks and credit card accounts, at over 15 percent. Breaches of data, such as in the recent compromise of the Heartland Payment Systems database, only accounted for 4.7 percent of identity theft cases.

Taken from CreditCards.com

Identity theft

From Wikipedia(View original Wikipedia Article) Last modified on 15 December 2010, at 02:53 

From Wikipedia

Identity theft is a form of fraud or cheating of another person's identity in which someone pretends to be someone else by assuming that person's identity, typically in order to access resources or obtain credit and other benefits in that person's name. The victim of identity theft (here meaning the person whose identity has been assumed by the identity thief) can suffer adverse consequences if he or she is held accountable for the perpetrator's actions. Organizations and individuals who are duped or defrauded by the identity thief can also suffer adverse consequences and losses, and to that extent are also victims.
The term identity theft was coined in 1964^[1] and is actually a misnomer, since it is not literally possible to steal an identity as such - more accurate terms would be identity fraud or impersonation or identity cloning but identity theft has become commonplace.

"Determining the link between data breaches and identity theft is challenging, primarily because identity theft victims often do not know how their personal information was obtained," and identity theft is not always detectable by the individual victims, according to a report done for the FTC.^[2] Identity fraud is often but not necessarily the consequence of identity theft. Someone can steal or misappropriate personal information without then committing identity theft using the information about every person, such as when a major data breach occurs. A US Government Accountability Office study determined that "most breaches have not resulted in detected incidents of identity theft".^[3] the report also warned that "the full extent is unknown". A later unpublished study by Carnegie Mellon University noted that "Most often, the causes of identity theft is not known," but reported that someone else concluded that "the probability of becoming a victim to identity theft as a result of a data breach is ... around only 2%".^[4] More recently, an association of consumer data companies noted that one of the largest data breaches ever, accounting for over four million records, resulted in only about 1,800 instances of identity theft, according to the company whose systems were breached.^[5]

A recent article entitled, “Cyber Crime Made Easy" explained the level to which hackers are using malicious software. As one security specialist named Gunter Ollmann said, “Interested in credit card theft? There’s an app for that.” This statement summed up the ease with which these hackers are accessing all kinds of information online. The new program for infecting users’ computers is called Zeus; and the program is so hacker friendly that even an inexperienced hacker can operate it. Although the hacking program is easy to use, that fact does not diminish the devastating effects that Zeus (or other software like Zeus) can do to a computer and the user. For example, the article stated that programs like Zeus can steal credit card information, important documents, and even documents necessary for homeland security. If the hacker were to gain this information, it would mean identity theft or even a possible terrorist attack. (Giles, Jim. "Cyber Crime Made Easy." New Scientist 205.2752 (2010): 20-21. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 3 Oct. 2010.)

Credit card theft is when someone uses your card without your authorization.  And most credit card companies will protect after the first $50 fraudulent charges.  Identity theft is when someone assumes the usage of your name, posing themselves as you.  Are you protected against IDT?


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Has this ever been your experience?

...thought about writing or revising a Will?

...purchased a home?

...had an income tax question?

...needed advice on community property laws?

...purchased a defective product?

...paid a bill they knew was unfair?

...been involved in a property dispute?

...received a moving traffic violation they thought was unfair?

...been a defendant in a civil lawsuit?

...been involved in a separation or divorce?

...had a problem with child support or visitation rights?

...signed a legally binding document and been sorry later?

...wanted advice on a credit matter?

...been a victim of identity theft?

...worried about being audited by the IRS?

...had difficulty collecting an insurance claim?

Just to name a few.  Without access to quality low cost assistance, middle wage income earners are normally faced with making a financial decision prior to seeking legal consultation/representation. In addition, once a decision has been made to seek assistance for an initial consultation and the hourly rate is made known, most will cringe at the thought of incurring major personal debt, choose to supersede the real commonsense need for assistance and opt to make the situation worse by trying to handle it themselves (i.e., seek advice from other non-professionals, represent themselves in court, ignore the situation until it has become critical, etc.).

Legal Facts:
1.  Almost half the employees who take off from work do so to deal with problems that are either legal or legal-related.  --LSK Associates Study

2.  The average person is more likely to find themselves in court than in the hospital, yet most people have health insurance, but no plan for legal problems.  --Hospital Statistics:  Emerging Trends & Examining the Work of State Courts

3.  One out of every two Americans will need the advice of an attorney during the next twelve months.  Of these, nearly half will attempt to deal with the matter on their own.  --Legal needs and Civil Justice:  A Survey of Americans
--LSK Associates Study

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What Stress Is Really Costing You?

STRESS COSTS COMPANIES MONEY

Recent studies reported work-related stress rates of 30 to 46 percent. In a study of 28,000 workers in 215 different organizations, Kohler and Kamp reported that stress at work was associated with employee burnout, acute and chronic health problems, and poor work performance. (University of California, Davis - Medical Center)

US companies lost an estimated $300 billion nationally in 2001 due to absenteeism, turnover, poor morale and lost productivity - plus medical, legal and insurance fees - related to job stress. That figure compares with an estimated $200 billion in 1991 and $150 billion in 1981. (American Institute of Stress)

Companies are now making the correlation between stress and productivity. They also know it's more cost-effective to keep someone happy than to recruit and train someone new. (SmartMoney)

American Institute of Stress estimates that 1 million workers are absent on an average workday because of stress related complaints. (AIS)

“In the long run, managing workplace absence from stress related problems may be the best way for a company to benefit its bottom line.” (Presley Reed, MD, editor-in-chief of The Medical Disability Advisor)

Experts said employers should find ways to reduce pressures of the workplace. And they said employees also should find ways to limit the effects of stress before it spills over into their personal lives and begins to affect their health. (online survey of 1,400 employees by CareerBuilder.com)

"Business leaders should be concerned because an overly stressed employee cannot perform at their best." (Marianne Carter, director of the University of Delaware's Employee Wellness Center)

Some effects of stress include headaches, irritability and sleeping disorders. The National Sleep Foundation has estimated that the direct cost of lost productivity in the American workplace is about $18 billion. (National Sleep Foundation)

More than half of the 550 million working days lost every year in the United States from absenteeism are stress-related, which the agency estimates costs U.S. companies an average of $602 per worker per year. (European Agency for Safety and Health at Work)

A study on workplace stress by a federal agency responsible for conducting research and making recommendations for the prevention of work-related illness and injury, found that health care expenditures are nearly 50 percent greater for workers who report high levels of stress. These workers are more likely to develop cardiovascular disease and psychological disorders. (National Institute for Occupational Safety & Health)

A survey of full- and part-time workers conducted in May by a workplace communications consulting firm based in North Haven, Conn., found that 52 percent feel at least “somewhat” stressed at work and 28 percent feel “a little” stressed. The survey found that 33 percent of respondents said they've seen an increase in stress-related illness, such as colds, headaches and stomach problems, at work in the last year. (The Marlin Co.)

An adjunct assistant professor at the Calloway School of Business and Accountancy at Wake Forest University, says studies have estimated that 132 million workdays a year are lost because of stress-related absenteeism and lost productivity. (Julie Wayne, Calloway School of Business and Accountancy)


Employee Legal problems can cost you money in terms of:

• Absenteeism
• Reduced Productivity
• Increased Health Insurance Costs
• Are Absent five times more than average

- LSK Associates Study

Are You Protected?

As many as 10 million Americans a year are victims of identity theft.  In 2003 and 2004, the identity Theft Resource Center surveyed victims of identity theft and reported the findings in a paper called The Aftermath Study.  These results are a good estimate of the effects of identity theft on its victims and the types of identity theft crimes that are committed.

Discovery of Victimization

• 38-48% of victims find out about their identity theft within 3  months of it starting
• 9-18% of victims take 4 years or longer to discover that they are victims of identity theft

Time Involved in Being a Victim

• Victims spend from 3 to 5,840 hours repairing damage done by identity theft. This difference is due to the severity of the crime - for example a lost credit card verses the use of your social security number to become your "evil twin." The average number of hours victims spend repairing damage caused by identity theft is 330 hours.
• 26-32% of victims spend a period of 4 to 6 months dealing with their case and 11-23% report dealing with their case 7 months to a year.

Monetary Costs of Identity Theft

• 40% of business costs for individual cases of identity theft exceed $15,000.  The Aberdeen Group has estimated that $221 billion a year is lost by businesses worldwide due to identity theft
• Victims lose an average of $1820 to $14,340 in wages dealing with their cases
• Victims spend an average of $851 to $1378 in expenses related to their case

Article taken from: http://www.spamlaws.com/id-theft-statistics.html
Unfortunately Arizona ranks high in identity theft cases. Arizona residents should view this link:  AZ IDT Video by Terry Goddard, Arizona Attorney General.

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