Introduction to Identity Theft

Table of Contents:

INTRODUCTION...4
CHAPTER 1: WHAT IS IDENTITY THEFT?...5
TYPES OF IDENTITY THEFT...6
IT CAN AFFECT ANYONE...7
NOT AS DIFFICULT AS YOU THINK...9
CHAPTER 2: METHODS OF IDENTITY THEFT...10
DUMPSTER DIVING...11
MAIL STEALING...13
SHOULDER SURFING...14
ATM SKIMMING...15
CHECK FRAUD...17
TELEPHONE SERVICE FRAUD...18
TELEPHONE SCAMS...19
CREDIT CARD THEFT...20
PHISHING...21
CHAPTER 3: PREVENTING IDENTITY THEFT...24
PROTECTING YOUR MAIL...25
MORE KEY TIPS...26
PROTECT YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION...29
AVOIDING A PHISHING SCAM...30
ADDITIONAL PREVENTATIVE MEASURES...32
CHAPTER 4: WHAT TO DO WHEN ID THEFT OCCURS...35
STEPS TO TAKE IN RECOVERING YOUR IDENTITY AND LINE OF CREDIT...39
CHAPTER 5: YOUR LIABILITY AS THE VICTIM OF ID THEFT...42
ACTUAL IDENTITY THEFT VICTIM CASES...43
HOW WILL YOU BE AFFECTED?...47
CREDIT CARD LIABILITY...48
ATM AND DEBIT CARD LIABILITY...49
CHECK LIABILITY...51
IT’S YOUR RESPONSIBILITY...51
LIABILITY AGREEMENTS...52
CONCLUSION...54
RESOURCES...59
REFERENCES...61

INTRODUCTION
The day begins just like any other one normally would.
You’re on your way to work in the morning and realize you
need to make a quick pit stop at the gas station before you
run out of fuel completely. You fill up the tank and grab a
coffee and newspaper once inside the store. You offer the
cashier your credit card and are stunned when she tells you
that it has been rejected. As the wave of embarrassment
rushes over you, you fumble around in your pockets for
enough cash to cover the entire bill. On the way out you
stop at the ATM to replace the money you had in your
pocket and to your horror the screen tells you that your
account has insufficient funds. Panicked now, you arrive at
the office and immediately check your online credit card and
bank statements. Your checking account is in overdraft
which means there must be some kind of mistake as you
know there was enough in there for the next mortgage
payment and then some. Your credit card statement shows
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thousands upon thousands of dollars worth of purchases
over the last two weeks that you know you didn’t make.
When you finally call the bank to find out what’s going on
they pass you over to a supervisor who tells you that the
loan you recently applied for has been denied. Because
you’ve applied for credit at a number of other places within
the last month they aren’t comfortable in extending a loan
to you based on your current debt load.
With your head spinning and thoughts coming at you a
million a minute you finally realize…you have just become
the latest victim of Identity Theft.
CHAPTER 1: WHAT IS IDENTITY THEFT?
As the quickest growing crime in America, identity theft
affects approximately 7 –10 million people every single year.
Simply put, identity theft is the act of using someone else’s
personal information, or their actual identity for personal
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gain. Frighteningly it happens without you even knowing it
and once you have become aware of it, in most cases the
damage has already been done.
Types of Identity Theft
Although there are many different methods that one can
utilize to rip someone off in an identity theft type scam,
there are really only two basic types of actual identity theft.
The first of these is generally the easiest and most basic way
for thieves to achieve their objective. An example of
Account takeover is when a thief gets hold of your actual
physical credit card, or perhaps just the card number and
expiry date, using it to purchase services or products. This
works out extremely well for the thief, as the credit card
owner doesn’t usually notice the additional purchases until
they either receive their monthly statement in the mail or
have attempted to use the card and found that it has
reached the maximum limit allowed.
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The second type of identity theft is called Application
fraud, or what is otherwise known as “true name fraud”. In
order for a thief to be successful at application fraud, they
must have access to a good deal of your personal
information such as your Social Security Number (SSN), full
name, address, place of work, salary, driver’s license
number, date of birth etc. Of course not all of these pieces
of information would be necessary for a thief to get away
with application fraud but certainly a combination of some of
the above would be required.
It Can Affect Anyone
Like many, you may assume that identity theft only happens
to those people who might be a bit more careless when it
comes to safeguarding personal in