According to the Federal Trade Commission, identity theft is the fastest growing
white collar crime in the United States - increasing an average of nearly 40%
per year for the past several years. The Privacy Rights Clearinghouse estimates
that each year 700,000 people in the United States are victims of identity
theft. Older people make appealing financial targets because they typically have
higher credit lines, greater home equity and more financial resources than
younger populations. Incidents of identity theft over the age of 60 increased by
218% in 2001 (5,802 victims) over reported figures in 2000 (1,821 victims).
The Social Security Administration indicates that organized
groups of identification thieves have been found operating inside banks, credit
card companies, credit bureaus and nursing homes, stealing identifiers and
financial information. KGB-trained Russian mobs, Nigerian gangs, Venezuelan
rings and others have been caught operating identity takeover operations.
Victims of identity theft spend an average of $808 and 175 hours actively
working to clean up their credit reports and other complications.
If you become a victim of identity
theft, there are ways to recover your good credit rating.
- Report the identity theft to Social Security's
Fraud Hotline at 1-800-269-0271.
- Report it to the Federal Trade Commission's ID
Theft Hotline, 1-877-IDTHEFT.
- Contact the three major credit bureaus, tell them
you're an identity theft victim and ask them to place a fraud alert on
your records. The credit bureaus are:
- Equifax:
1-800-525-6285
- Trans Union:
1-800-680-7289
- Experian:
1-888-397-3742
- Also, write your creditors and ask them to
contact you before opening any new accounts in your name or changing
existing accounts or credit limits. For more information on identity
theft, visit the Social
Security Administration web page.
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