Learn About The Threat Of Identity TheftIf the reports in the press are to be believed, then identity theft is one of the major crimes of the new century. The statistics are hard to understand and rely upon - clearly any crime can be hard to track and assess. It seems however, that the number of reported incidents rise each year in the major English speaking nations - the UK, USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand all seem to have an identity fraud problem. The crimes vary in sophistication and impact from the very limited scale of one off cheque fraud to the adoption of a completely separate identity and the opening of dozens of loans and credit agreements followed by an enormous 'cash out'. The victims vary too. We imagine the victim to be an individual, but enterprising criminals also target young children, the recently deceased, companies and even the government! It seems ridiculous to target the national government, but it appears that migrant and immigrant workers in the United States do this all too regularily. They use the name and social security details of an actual tax paying resident to help them avoid paying taxes on their income! Clearly, it is a crime with almost no boundaries! It is also a crime that we should all be worried about. The only individuals that are likely to be avoided by the identity theft industry are those who already have poor credit, too many loans and possibly a bankruptcy. Becoming a bankrupt seems to be a very big commitment to avoid this fraud. The crime revolves around obtaining personal information about victims. This may come from public sources, like government records, corporate sources such as that obtained by thieves inside a company or possible online via phishing. In other words, lapses in information security can come from almost anywhere in the modern information age world. We are not safe! Discussing this crime is clearly to big to do in full on this site, but it is also a clear threat to the personal finances of any individual. Therefore, may I suggest that if you are interested in the subject or worried about the crime, that you follow this link to find out more:
Combat Identity Theft
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