Have  you ever found yourself in the embarrassing position of having your debit card declined? Don’t assume you made a mistake. It could be that someone has accessed your card number and drained your account.  

Unauthorized use of someone else’s name, social security number or credit card numbers to obtain loans, services or any other benefits is called identity theft, and it’s a felony. It can destroy someone's reputation, ruin their credit rating or cost them a job. In some cases, victims have been arrested for crimes they didn't commit.

“It’s a living nightmare,” said Lt. Adam Brams of the New Castle City Police, in New Castle, Delaware. “Sometimes it takes years to get out of it depending on how many accounts have been breached.”   
 

A GROWING PROBLEM

Identity theft is growing faster than any other crime in the country.

According to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), nine million Americans have their identities stolen every year. About 85 percent of the victims have one or more of their accounts accessed. Most of the fraud occurs on credit card accounts (61 percent) and checking or savings accounts (33 percent). Thieves also use your information to open new accounts, especially landline and cell phone accounts. 

And it's one of the most difficult crimes to resolve, because the burden of proof is on the victim. You can spend months, even years, making phone calls, writing letters, filing reports and gathering proof that you didn’t rack up the bills that have been charged in your name. While more than 50 percent of the victims of identity theft are able to resolve things with no out of pocket expenses, the FTC reports that identity theft costs five percent of victims at least $5,000 in lost wages, payment of fraudulent debt, legal fees and miscellaneous fees such as notarization, copying and postage.

Plus, once your credit is damaged, negative reports will stay on your record for seven years unless they’re corrected. Meanwhile, the identity thief is enjoying the goods he pillaged and has moved on to his next victim.    


GETTING YOUR INFORMATION

Some identity thieves steal your wallet or purse or fish credit card slips or other financial information from your trash. Then skimmers steal credit/debit card numbers by using a special storage device when processing your card. Or, maybe they’re phishing, posing as representatives from financial institutions or other companies phoning or e-mailing you seeking to verify your account information. 

They can even engage in mail theft where they divert your bills by requesting a change of address without your knowledge. Or, maybe they’re shoulder surfers—spying on you during credit card or bank transactions. Let’s not forget the bogus consumer surveys and phony offers for telephone and online services.

While most identity theft is done by strangers, sometimes the crime is one of opportunity -- involving people that you trust. Anyone going through divorce is particularly vulnerable to identity theft. Not only does your ex have all your personal identifying information, the Courts require you to submit that information in divorce proceedings as part of determining alimony and child support payments.

“Lawyers ask for social security numbers when they do a budget for alimony or child support. The forms also have a place for debts and most people list their credit card numbers,” said Randy Kessler, an Atlanta, Ga.-based family law attorney. “Combine that with the date of marriage, children’s birth dates, address, phone number, and full legal names which also appear on the forms and you have all the information an identity thief needs in one handy place.”