Persuasive Essay On Identity Theft

506 Words3 Pages

While many people have certainly heard of identity theft, most people really don't understand what it truly is and the risk that it poses. Identity Theft is a crime that is multi-faceted, very easy to commit and very hard to get caught. Worst of all, the private sector has done a poor job at educating the consumer of its risks with its limited products.
If you see many of the commercials about identity theft you would be lead to believe that identity theft is about credit cards. The truth is financial identity theft is only one aspect of the crime. There are 5 areas of identity theft that you have to watch out for. They are...
1. Financial
2. Social Security
3. Character or Criminal
4. Medical
5. Drivers License
The reason why financial is …show more content…

What if someone gets access to your social security number. They get a job in your name. They fill out the maximum amount of deductions so they get very little to no tax withheld. The IRS bill comes in your name. Is Citibank going to help you with that?
Most identity theft companies offer one of two types of solutions. They either offer you a reimbursement policy or they offer you credit monitoring with a resolution department. With a reimbursement policy, you have to spend the money to fix the problem before they pay you. If you don't have the money to fix the problem, that's not going to help you.
Credit monitoring is a start and will help you to catch some of the financial areas of identity theft. For instance, if someone tries to buy a home in your name and you have credit monitoring, you will be able to catch that and stop that right in its tracks.
However, if someone claims they are you on your medical insurance and they use up all of your coverage; credit monitoring isn't going to catch that. What are you going to do when you show up to the hospital and find out you have maxed out your benefits for a hospital stay you never