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Identity theft remains one of the largest crimes lately and seems to be taking even more twists as people steal the identity of another person. The reason someone would do this is because they do not have the resources via their own identity, to achieve or get what they want.

As an example of how the crime of identity theft is taking on even more new looks, consider some of the additional twists that the crime of identity theft is taking. For example, we all know that health insurance remains out of the financial reach of a surprising number of people. If your employer does not provide it or if you are self employed, many times the cost of private health insurance is just not in the budget because of the very high costs associated with a "non group" plan.

In one recently reported case of identity theft, the theft of the identity of a woman had been unknown for years. The thief did not open bank accounts or credit card accounts in her name. Rather, he used her health insurance policy identification to get medical treatments at a hospital in the woman's home town. The hospital did not suspect, since the man had the woman's personal information, including her employee badge number, her social security number, and other pertinent information, and was able to show them a copy of her health insurance coverage card, so the treatments were given to the man and charged to the health insurance company.

It was only when the woman, upon browsing some of the statements from the health insurance company, happened to notice a name of someone who had been receiving treatments on her policy that the woman called the health insurance company and then alerted local authorities. Upon his arrest, the man said that he had done nothing wrong, it's just that he needed these medical treatments done and there was no way he can afford to get them done on his own.

Is that a crime of identity theft, since the man was doing this for his own survival, not for illegal personal gain? The man asserts that the real crime is that adequate health insurance is not affordable to the unemployed or self-employed individual.

The people who are embarking on crimes of identity theft are getting smarter. What would you do if you got an email from your bank, the bank where you have been doing business for years or even decades, and the email even had the bank's graphic logo in the email, where the email was asking you to click this link because the bank had noted some questionable activity going on with your account? Heck, the email looks just about as official as it could get, and kudos to the bank for watching over my account so well that they want me to verify my information.

Unfortunately, that is the perspective of many uninformed people who are not familiar with how incredibly easy it is for someone to craft an email like that. Upon clicking the link and entering in their PIN or password or whatever, the web page thanks them profusely for taking the time to protect their account, and assures them that the bank will let them know what is going on as their investigation continues, and thanks them yet again for their participation.

But in reality, their "participation" was simply to provide their PIN and password to a thief. The email and the web page they visited have absolutely nothing to do with their bank, but now the thief has their information and can start withdrawing money from their accounts.

Be aware that your bank or credit union would NEVER ask you for this type of personal information via an online web page, and if they do, it is time to find another place to conduct your banking business. If in doubt, call the bank and ask. Many banks have a whole department setup just to fight this type of identity theft crime.

Guard your personal information, and do not give it out to someone just because they ask for it, especially your social security number, which uniquely identifies YOU. Never have your social security number printed on your personal checks.

For more insights and more information about the crime of Identity Theft and to find out how to protect yourself, please visit our web site at http://www.identity-theft-info.com

posted by gektal  # 4:55 PM