Prevention Of Identity Theft By Rosalie Puglege

In today’s society, there is a white-collar crime that has greatly risen in popularity among criminals. This crime is identity theft. Hundreds of thousands of people have their identities stolen each year. Identity theft is when these criminals obtain and use consumers personal information such as credit card numbers, bank account numbers, insurance information, and social security numbers to purchase goods or services fraudulently. According to the Federal Trade Commission, over 1.1 million people were the victim of identity theft. With this number, it is very evident that identity theft is one of the fastest growing crimes in our country.

The result is that identity thieves can run up thousands of dollars worth of charges or obligations

One way to see if there have been any new accounts or loans opened up in your name would be to check with one of the three major credit bureaus and have a copy of your credit report sent to you. In the case previously mentioned, Rosalie Pugliese took these steps after she had learned that her identity was stolen. Unfortunately, she did this after part of the damage had already been done. While it may seem like a nuisance to check with the three major credit reporting bureaus periodically, the hassle involved with that is much less than the hassle involved with attempting to clear up one’s credit rating. Also, one should never give away their social security number to any business or individual unless it is absolutely necessary. To help prevent this from happening, one should not carry their social security card or any extra credit cards unless it is absolutely necessary. Another step that can be taken in the fight against identity fraud is to either shred, tear, or burn any old bills or documents that have personal information on them. With this step being taken, a criminal cannot go through one’s trash searching for personal documents. Also, when receiving bills in the mail, it is very important to carefully scrutinize them to make sure that no unauthorized transactions have occurred. Another important

If for some unfortunate reason, a person is the victim of identity theft, there are a lot of steps that the victim needs to take in order to clear their name of any liability and perhaps most importantly, restore their credit history. The very first thing that needs to be done is to file a report with your local police or file a report with the police department in the township that the white-collar crime was committed in. Another important thing to consider would be to cancel all accounts and then open up new accounts with new account numbers. Also, it can be helpful to write short letters to all three of the credit reporting agencies describing the events that occurred. The three agencies are Equifax, Experian, and Transunion. By doing this, they will be able to flag all unauthorized accounts and make sure that no new accounts are opened up without the consumers permission. After writing letters to the three credit bureaus, then it is important to first call, and then write the individual creditor to let them know that a fraudulent act was committed. After calling the individual creditor, then the Federal Trade Commission must be called to inform them of theft. When someone is a victim of identity theft, even though they are not liable for the money that has been charged under their name, they are very much responsible for getting rid of the