| Someone could be using your social security number | | | | Mode and protect yourself from becoming the victim. |
| to get a job so that taxes start to accrue in your | | | | You need to find a way to protect and monitor your |
| name. You would not know until IRS comes after you | | | | information now before someone gets to it to use. |
| for tax evasion or tax fraud. An unfortunate woman in | | | | The FTC estimates that it takes about 600 hours and |
| California applied for work as a teacher only to find | | | | $1500 for most people to clean up their name and their |
| out that she had been convicted of prostitution in three | | | | credit in a full-blown ID theft situation. The spider web |
| different states! | | | | effect of our identity prohibits our identity information |
| Theft of your Medical Identity can allow thieves to | | | | from being easily located and corrected. Once your |
| access health care and prescription drug purchases | | | | identity is stolen it never goes away. It takes thieves |
| using your information and health insurance. What if | | | | minutes to steal your identity but it takes you years to |
| they use it to get drug tests or aids screening and are | | | | build it |
| found positive? How would that effect your life and | | | | Credit monitoring and repair are on the minds of the |
| future? Their blood type could compromise your care | | | | population because of the news media concentrating |
| when you go into the hospital. | | | | on the most newsworthy cases of credit and identity |
| Someone driving under your drivers license number | | | | fraud. That is because it has become the #1 crime. |
| could commit DUI and even have an accident that | | | | Most of us think about our credit cards being |
| could lead to litigation. You could be asleep at home | | | | compromised and our bank accounts tapped and stop |
| when it happened, but because it is your number you | | | | there. We THINK we are protecting ourselves |
| are the one who is charged with the crime. Or they | | | | because we diligently shred the receipts and junk mail |
| could just commit any crime using your name and put | | | | with our identity information on it. That is probably the |
| you into jail. | | | | least likely place for identity thieves to harm us. |
| These are now serious situations that went far past | | | | Only 28% of identity theft is financial and credit fraud. |
| the problem we see as problems that hurt the credit | | | | The other 72% are all the other things that can happen |
| report and our credit score. These situations require | | | | to you and your good name. Your social security |
| legal help to reverse. It is much better to become | | | | number is worth more than cash, especially in the drug |
| aware of the problem and enter into the Prevention | | | | field. |