Fraud Tip of the Day - November 2

What is Identity Theft?

Understanding the definition of Identity Theft is the first step you can take to guard yourself against it.

Simply put, Identity Theft is a crime involving first collecting personal and financial information about you then using it to impersonate you for financial gain.

Your identity is said to be "stolen" because another party uses your identifying information in order to take out loans, apply for and receive credit cards to make purchases with, apply for bankruptcy, sully your good name in the commission of a crime, or to receive medical care.

Someone using your name and identity at the hospital could cause you harm or even kill you. What if the person posing as you happened to be diabetic or HIV positive? And what are you going to do when the bill arrives? Yikes!

If you fall victim to Identity Theft, clearing your name is going to be a time-consuming and possibly expensive task. You might find your credit ruined and obtaining loans impossible.

It's a sad, harsh fact that repairing your credit is going to take far longer than it took to ruin it

More Identity Theft Information