Identity theft and identity fraud are interrelated terms, and are often discussed on finance and news websites. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, identity theft refers to all types of crimes in which someone steals and misuses another person’s personal information, usually for monetary gain.
In the United States, these types of crimes are among the top-reported offenses. Did you know that the most recent findings (2012) show that there are almost 642,000 incidents of identity theft? These are those that are known by the IRS, based on an investigation by the Government Accountability Office.
What is even more staggering is that, as of 2011, there have been approximately 11.6 million Americans who have fallen victim to identity theft. This number continues to grow, as more and more people are duped into giving away their identifying information, or are taken advantage of by unscrupulous ID thieves, either through credit card theft or some form of ID theft.
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
There are certain practices that can help hinder or prevent ID theft. Services such as credit monitoring may assist credit card holders, for instance, by notifying them of changes on their credit report. Another useful measure that can help prevent id theft would be to check one’s credit report, to make sure it is intact and free from suspicious activity.
For more information on how to prevent damages, refer to this useful infographic.
The post Stolen Identity? Here’s What to Do (Infographic) appeared first on ID Theft Prevention.
