Identity theft is the type of crime people tend to ignore until it happens to them. Consequently, most people know it exists but know little else except that it happens with credit cards and that shredding home papers is important. The purpose of this article is to briefly explain the five kinds of identity theft.
The first is financial identity which occurs when a thief uses your existing financial accounts or sets up new ones in your name to make purchases. The second is medical identity theft, perhaps the most dangerous. This happens when a thief uses your information such as your insurance card number to obtain health and other medical benefits. In the process your medical records can become faulty which may endanger your life. Driver’s License identity theft is the most common and happens when a thief replaces his or her picture with your information on a fake license which is then used as a form of identification. In social security identity theft, the thief uses your number on a fake social security card and uses that card as another means of identification. The last type of identity theft is character identity theft which occurs when a thief uses your identity supported by fake documentation such as birth certificate, social security card, driver’s license, passport etc. to commit crime or avoid prosecution. The police can come to your door, ask your name, and arrest you with a warrant. You may spend time in jail before the error can be corrected.
One fact most people don’t realize is that almost all identity theft starts with a change of address that can be completed easily over the computer for $1 without you ever knowing. Another disturbing fact is that a magazine called Hackers Quarterly gives step by step instructions on how to create fake documents and enter data bases and that this magazine is available locally in national bookstore chains. The internet also contains numerous sites that help thieves find information as well as give instructions on how to use it.
Knowledge is power. Learning more about identify theft and how to protect yourself is the your responsibility because no one else has your best interests as a first priority.
Financial Identity Theft: when, unknown to you, a thief sets up financial accounts in your name to obtain credit cards, loans, merchandise, vehicles, homes, vacations etc. that can cost you thousands of dollars and extensive time to clear your name and credit.
Medical Identity Theft: when a thief uses your information to obtain health and other medical benefits or services causing fraudulent billing and inaccurate medical files that can lead to unknown depletion of your coverage and harm your ability to get health and life insurance as well as endangering your health by the administering of a drug you are allergic to but is no longer part of your medical records.
Drivers License Theft: when a thief replaces his or her picture with your information on a driver’s license and uses that license as a form of identification to obtain credit, avoid criminal prosecution, and other fraudulent uses.
Social Security Theft: when a thief uses your social security number or creates a new social security card with his or her name and your number as a form of identification to obtain employment, set up a new identity, or other fraudulent uses.
Character Identity Theft: when a thief uses your identity usually supported by fake documentation such as drivers license, social security number, passport, birth certificate etc. to commit crime, distance themselves from crime, or mislead police any of which can result in legal complications for you.
Dr. Terry & Larry Ropp own Ropp & Associates, Independent Associate of Pre-Paid Legal Services, Inc., in West Fork, Ark. They have been involved in the agriculture industry on the national and local levels all their lives.
