Marilyn Bohn | Creative Organizer

Identify theft is a serious crime. It occurs when personal information is stolen and used without our knowledge to commit fraud or other crimes.

According to the Federal Trade Commission here are the Common Ways ID Theft happens:

1.Dumpster Diving. They rummage through trash looking for bills or other paper with your personal information on it.
2.Skimming. They steal credit/debit card numbers by using a special storage device when processing your card.
3.Phishing. They pretend to be financial institutions or companies and send spam or pop-up messages to get you to reveal your personal information.
4.Changing Your Address. They divert your billing statements to another location by completing a “change of address” form.
5.“Old-Fashioned” Stealing. They steal wallets and purses; mail, including bank and credit card statements; pre-approved credit offers; and new checks or tax information. They steal personnel records from their employers, or bribe employees who have access.

To avoid ID theft we need to Deter, Detect and Defend our identity. The web site www.ftc.gov/idtheft is a one-stop national resource to learn about the crime of identity theft. It provides detailed information to help you deter, detect, and defend against your identity theft.

To find out more read my article that talks about each of these in depth.

When I had over $10,000 stolen from my checking account it was a heart stopper, time waster and scary to me and my family. Because my credit union was federally insured I didn’t actually have to pay this money back, but it hurts every consumer when something like this happens to any one of us.

Have you experienced identity theft? What happened and how did you get it resolved? How has it affected you life?