| Can you imagine getting a bill for something someone | | | | was altered for a higher dollar amount. Often, the |
| else purchased? Can you imagine calling the credit | | | | identity thief uses a second victim's account number |
| card company only to learn that more purchases | | | | (obtained from a stolen bank statement) to negotiate |
| were made? The credit card company nowadays will | | | | the altered check, thus creating two victims with one |
| probably be helpful by taking the charge off the | | | | crime. To magnify the problem, identity theft criminals |
| account and closing it to prevent the thief from | | | | can create additional checks using an inexpensive |
| obtaining more money fraudulently. This happens to | | | | computer program that can be purchased at any |
| thousands of people everyday. It's called identity theft: | | | | office supply store. |
| people stealing other people's identities in order to | | | | Having boxes of checks delivered to a non-locking |
| make major purchases or to steal from bank | | | | mailbox opens the door for an even larger problem. |
| accounts. Identity theft has become even easier to | | | | Families' credit records have been destroyed in a very |
| execute due to the presence of the Internet. | | | | short period of time using a stolen box of checks. The |
| Your mailbox holds a wealth of information for the | | | | victims eventually get their money back, but the cost |
| identity theft as a thief can access it periodically if it is | | | | and time of cleaning up the damaged credit can e |
| not protected. There are sources of personal | | | | devastating. It can take years to repair the damage |
| information there that an identity thief will want to get | | | | done by identity theft. To make matters worse, the |
| their hands on. In addition, an energetic thief can fill out | | | | identity thief often shares the stolen checks with |
| a change of address form at the post office and get | | | | cohorts or trades the blank check books for drugs. As |
| your mail sent to a new address where it is readily | | | | a result, it is not unusual to see stolen checks circulated |
| available to him. Mail theft is a growing concern | | | | over a large geographical area. |
| throughout the country and if you use a non-locking | | | | Thus, your mail, regardless of incoming or outgoing, is a |
| mailbox to either send or receive mail, you are at risk. | | | | source of valuable information to an identity thief. It is |
| Bill payment checks can be stolen, altered and then | | | | important to protect it physically and to monitor the mail |
| cashed. The identity theft victim is unaware of the | | | | you receive carefully to spot items that should be |
| theft until either the bill payment is late or checks start | | | | there and are not. |
| bouncing on his or her account because the check | | | | |