Protect Your Identity from Identity Theft

By Josie Lynn


The definition of the term identity theft was coined in 1964. It says that it is the impersonation of someone else's identity to elicit undue monetary benefits, conceal personal identity and other things as well. The assault of privacy brings with it the threat of being held responsible for the predator's action. The purpose is to obtain credit card information and account information or any other such important information.

The linking between the data breach and identity theft is not easy to identify as the person does not get known by the theft of his or her identity and how their personal information are obtained by the others. There are different types of identity theft. Criminal Identity theft (Posing as another person when apprehended for a crime). Financial Identity theft (using another person's identity to obtain his or her credit and wealth). Identity cloning (Assuming another person's daily life). Medical Identity theft (Assuming medical care and drugs of another person). Child Identity theft (Using social security of a minor by stealing that identity).

Identity cloning id theft is when the someone impersonates someone else and the victim may not come to know about this for an indefinite span of time. Cloning is mostly done to cover up identity and not perform any other heinous crime. Illegal immigrants may find this way the most suitable for survival.

In these days one's social security number is very easy to achieve. All a crook needs is an account with an information broker online and one's name and address. Then, give victim's social security number and a little additional information like DOB. Now all fields are set for identity theft. The thief can set up all kinds of charge accounts in victim's name, arranging to have the bills sent to a phony address so that it will take longer to catch on to what's happening.

There are some measure may be taken to decrease the chance of identity theft. Take steps to make social security numbers harder for identity thieves to obtain. It is recommended to use post office box number instead of full address. Try to keep telephone number out of general circulation. Avoid using personal checks for day-to-day purchase because personal checks contain information about bank details as well as personal signature. So, it is preferable to use credit or debit card for day-to-day purchase. Remove names from "pre-screening" programs (marketing services offered by the three credit bureaus).




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