Originally published April 7 2005
No one is safe from identity theft, including companies
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
Identity theft is quickly becoming one of the most prevalent forms of crime in the country, with approximately 10 million victims a year. Cases include impostors using someone's credit card number to make purchases, and social security numbers stolen over the internet. Identity thieves are also now robbing identities on a large scale, as seen by the Choice Point and LexisNexis cases earlier this year, when personal information from 175,000 accounts was stolen from these two large data collecting companies.
A Greenwood woman got a telephone call about her late husband from a man claiming to be with a credit-card company.
Days later, Jenny Bridgewater found that a thief had used her husband's identity to spend $2,999 on her credit card to buy a 57-inch television.
Identity theft is one of the fastest-growing crimes in the country with about 10 million victims a year, according to the Identity Theft Resource Center.
The crime takes several forms, including impostors using someone's credit-card number to purchase merchandise and drivers giving someone else's personal information when pulled over by police for speeding.
Cases of credit-card and Social Security numbers getting stolen over the Internet are becoming the most common instances of identity theft, but people do not need to own a computer to be victimized.
Bridgewater was watching a New Year's parade in 2003 when she got a call from a man claiming to be with a credit-card company.
For example, criminals recently gained access to 175,000 accounts from two data collecting companies: ChoicePoint and LexisNexis.
While banks take security measures to protect customers who bank online and use credit, ATM or debit cards, officials say consumers themselves must take precautions.
Signed with an official eBay logo, the e-mail tells a consumer that their eBay account has had "unusual activity" or is in danger of closing.
A victim of identity theft will need a new credit card, driver's license or Social Security card, depending on what information was stolen and used.
Her days of casually tossing her purse about ended when a relative stole personal information from her purse and rented apartments in New Mexico, signed up for credit cards, bought different cell phone plans and purchased a $43,000 pick-up truck.
Kurrasch learned of the identity theft when her application for a car loan was denied.
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