Identity Theft – Danger Signals
February 4th, 2007 | 
Author: Identity theft is a menace to modern society and something that can happen to anyone at any time. What makes identity theft harder to tackle is the fact that victims rarely find out about it till it’s too late. In the U.S., most victims realize that their identity has been stolen almost 12 months after the crime. The longer the thief has access to your identity, the harder it will become for you to clear the resulting mess.
If you think there is nothing you can do except hope the next identity theft victim is not you, you cannot be more wrong. Being alert can help you catch identity theft as early as possible, and the damage might be contained.
The Warning Signals
Here are some signs to watch out for with regard to identity theft.
1) You don’t receive credit card statements regularly.
One of the ways identity theft is made easy is unlocked mailboxes. The identity thief can simply take out the credit card statements from your mailbox and walk away. If you think your mail is being tampered with, that is one of the signs of identity theft.
2) You receive statements regarding an account you did not open.
If you receive calls regarding an account you did not open, or your credit card company calls you regarding a credit card you never applied for, this may be another warning signal for identity theft.
3) Debt collectors contact you about unknown loans.
Debt collection agencies contact you to ask you to clear debts you knew you never had.
4) Inflated credit card bills
If your credit card bills seem inflated and you don’t remember purchasing the items billed to you, you should consider the possibility of identity theft.
5) Missing Checks
If your checkbook has missing checks, this could be another warning sign of identity theft.
6) Discrepancy in Credit Reports
Your credit reports show loans you never took and accounts you did not open. Monitoring credit reports regularly can help you detect identity theft early.
7) You are contacted by police over illegal activities you were not involved in.
The identity thief can use your name when arrested by the police or has any kind of trouble with law enforcement agencies. This should alert you to the possibility of identity theft.
How To Confirm Identity Theft
The warning signs mentioned above could spell trouble; on the other hand, they may indicate a commonplace problem in your mailing address, or the credit card billing system that can be sorted out in a phone call.
How do you make sure that you are a victim of identity theft? The best way to do it is by tracking your credit record. Every U.S. state has provisions for making your credit record available to you for free, you just need to apply to the proper authorities.
Never ignore the warning signs above, even if they seem too small to be of any importance. Becoming aware that you are a victim of identity theft is the first step towards resolving the problem.
Posted in Identity Theft
Here is a bonus tip for parents- keep an eye on your children’s identities as well. Identity thieves are unscrupulous and are stealing the identities of minors at an alarming rate. You also want to keep a close eye on the home front. Experian says that a shocking 55% on child identity thefts are perpetrated by an adult relative. Very shocking and sad.
Ya ,I do agree that Identity theft is something that could be happen with anyone at any time.Such theft is increasing rapidly day by day.So I do admire you for picking this topic and explaining these ten signals .By following these signals one can avoid this theft .Many thanks
Good signals and also effective ,
I’ll follow .
Yes, ID Theft can steal your sanity. According to the FTC its America’s fastest growing crime. Sadly, a by-product of ID Theft is the stress associated with nasty collection calls. One thing consumers can do if they are harrased is to contact the Collection Complaint Hotline. The office takes calls during normal office hours at 800-379-0688. This free resource will allow you to file a claim if you are a victim. Speak with an expert, you could be entitles to over $1500 in damages if a collector strays from a strict code of conduct. Thay canno repeatedly call you or call at work if you have requested that they stop. Any profane or threatening language is not allowed. Very sad that most consumers do not know they have rights in this area.
Thanks for your ID theft comments, very informative for consumers.
Great tips in emphasizing our personal responsibility in keeping a constant eye on our accounts, etc. as long as we realize there is a caveat.
Keeping close check on our records is not foolproof. As the crime of identity theft evolves, many thieves hold onto out stolen info over a year before they use it. And many accounts that are opened in our name never come to our mailing address.
We are entitled to a free yearly credit report from each credit bureau, and when staggered, it provides a credit checkup every four months. Sometimes that is not even enough to catch identity theft early. But it certainly is better than once a year.
Paying attention to our accounts should become regular routine.
i probably would not have said this was remarkable a couple of years ago yet its interesting just how time changes the means by which you understand varied creative concepts, thanks with regard to the write-up it really is great to start reading anything sensible occasionally instead of the standard rubbish mascarading as a blog on the net, i’m off to play a couple of hands of zynga poker, adios for now
identity theft is very common on the internet so be careful about phising sites”~’
identity is very common on the internet specially with those nigerian letter scam,:-
identity is rampant both online and offline, always make sure that you don’t share unecessary info about yourself-;’
on the internet, identity theft is a very common scam so always protect your personal info ,’,