IDENTITY THEFT OCCURS WHEN A CRIMINAL USES ANOTHER PERSON'S PERSONAL INFORMATION TO TAKE ON THAT PERSON'S IDENTITY. IDENTITY THEFT IS MUCH MORE THAN MISUSE OF A SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER-IT CAN ALSO INCLUDE CREDIT CARD AND MAIL FRAUD.

Believe it or not! But before we are born we become pretty popular. (To data companies at least.) Our names are entered into several different data programs ………….. Smile we know all about you! Tax data Education data Medical data Driver and crime data Census data And Daily Our Names Are Passed An Average 100 Times Throughout These Systems. AND WE KNOW EVERY ONE IS NOT HONEST!!

And with so much of our information being so easy to obtain, identity theft has merged as one of the worlds fastest growing criminal activities. The U.S Justice Department estimates that 700,000 people are victimized by identity theft each year.

What All Can A Identity Thief Do? Open Credit account Bank Fraud Fraudulent Driver Licenses Buy merchandise With your……… Name Address Social Security Number Date of birth

Effects of Identity Theft Not able to obtain future credit. Reliable for expenses. You can be in a high state of debt Unable to purchase certain necessities Considered a criminal (Warrants are given to people who owe large amounts to banks and etc.)

We must be proactive to avoid Identity theft. At a telephone booth when you give out personal information watch your surroundings. When in a department store when giving personal information write it down. Make sure you receive written information back, unless it is a necessity that the clerks keeps it. When you receive a pre-approved credit card in mail, immediately disclose it in your possession, or discard it. Be careful who you give information to. (Especially on the net) Do not leave personal information laying around. And if you have different credit accounts,and bank accounts constantly check them. Keep account of your financial status.

Meet My Friend Ashley And here’s her story: Ashley like most college students owned a checkbook..(Her personal checkbook) Normally used in cases of emergencies. Well unfortunately some lady who she never meet before took ownership of one of Ashley checks.(Reminder Ashley has no idea one of her checks is missing.) Well the lady takes the check to a store, and write it for a ridiculous amount. (Well fortunately for the lady the clerk was careless and didn’t check her ID. But the computer system was able to read the check and seen that the signatures, weren’t identical. (Even though the lady signed Ashley’s name. ) Ashley’s bank, was notified and, they notified Ashley. Fortunately for Ashley in this case the criminal was caught.

Federal Cases of Identity Theft Central District of California. A woman pleaded guilty to federal charges of using a stolen Social Security number to obtain thousands of dollars in credit and then filing for bankruptcy in the name of her victim. Two of three defendants have pleaded guilty to identity theft, bank fraud, and related charges for their roles in a scheme to open bank accounts with both real and fake identification documents, deposit U.S. Treasury checks that were stolen from the mail, and withdraw funds from those accounts.

So Remember Do not leave personal information laying around. Be aware of your surroundings.

List of references in case you are a victim of identity theft. Federal Trade Commission Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to report what happened. You can call the FTC's ID Theft Hotline IDTHEFT ( ) or use the FTC's online

Reference Text Book Long and Long “United States Department of Justice” Identity Theft websites/idtheft.html