Interrupted Identity: How to Guard Against & Recover From Having Your Identity Stolen - Softcover

Patton, Ron

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0595128033 ISBN 13: 9780595128037

Publisher: iUniverse, 2000

Synopsis

Everyone has a Social Security Number. It's your personal ID that is often sorted with your other personal records (i.e., home address, phone number, etc.) from numerous data banks, and then sold to interested parties - without your knowledge or consent!In the wrong hands of an imposter or identity thief, this information can destroy your personal and financial privacy! With Interrupted Identity, you have an easy-to-follow, step-by-step action planning guide showing you how to prevent identity theft, and failing that, dealing with it. Complete with all the resources you need to protect your privacy, this book will show you: - What is identity theft and how to avoid having it happen to you. - Six action steps you must immediately take if your identity is stolen. - What federal and state laws deal with identity theft. - How to resolve credit problems resulting from having your identity stolen.

About this title

About the Author

Ron Patton, born and raised in Michigan, earned a Bachelors of Science Degree from Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan. In addition, he is a certified handwriting expert.

During his five-year stint (1995-2000) in the legal department at Chase Manhattan Bank, Ron became involved with investigating credit card fraud as well as identity theft issues. It was during a routine investigation that Ron got the idea to research and write Interrupted Identity.

As President of Twintwo Communications, Inc., he has edited and published self-help books such as "How To Get $500 form Telemarketers When They Won't Stop Calling You.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Creditors you never heard of

Your new Visa, MasterCard or other credit card never reaches your mailbox. Sometime later, creditors you never heard of are constantly writing and telephoning you demanding payment for goods and servicesyou never purchased. Your credit history, once perfect, is no longer. Now, you are being denied financing (credit) due to several past due late pays appearing on your credit report. How could this possibly be happening to you? Unfortunately, it could and it has to as many as 500,000 victims each year. This crime, known as identity theft is the fasting growing crime in America. But, other types of fraud, such as: Internet fraud, tele-com fraud and insurance fraud are also growing rapidly.

The 1990 s gave birth to a new type of crooks called identity thieves. Their tools are your everyday transactions. Each transaction requires you to share personal information: your bank and credit card account numbers; your income; your Social Security number (SSN); and your name, address and phone numbers. An identity thief steals some piece of your personal information and adapts it without your knowledge to commit fraud or theft. An all-too-common example is when an identity thief uses your personal information to open a credit card account in your name, then maxes it out with numerous charges.

While, most of this information has always been in the public record, access to it has been limited to those individuals who are familiar with complicated county court records. Now that this information can be found on the Internet, anyone with a computer and Internet access can readily obtain this information. Thus, information previously not commonly available to the criminal element is now just a keystroke away.

This book will examine what identity theft is, how it happens, why you should be concerned, how to avoid credit identity theft and what to do if someone steals your credit identity.

Edition details

• Publisher: iUniverse
• Publication date: 2000
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0595128033
• ISBN 13: 9780595128037
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 354