Identity obesity-the excessive and inappropriate collection, retention, and sharing of personal information-tends to escalate over time, as people share and mismanage more details about themselves in various places. Like overeating, it can be extremely hard to reverse the effects. This behavior forms the root cause of an identity theft epidemic. Despite the dangers, consumers and companies handle personal information carelessly, without understanding the risks. Consider these startling statistics: ¿ In 2009, more than eleven million people were affected by identity theft, which was a 10 percent increase from 2008. ¿ The majority of victims don't detect identity theft until three months after fraud occurs. It takes some people years to discover that something went wrong. ¿ Stolen wallets and documents account for 43 percent of all identity theft cases, which shows that theft doesn't always involve technology. ¿ In more than 50 percent of all identity theft cases, the victim knows or has done business with the criminal. Businesses will lose millions of dollars a year because of identity theft, and fraud will destroy families and individuals. But you can trim your identity fat with a proven program that allows you to understand risks, identify bad habits, and implement best practices with an Identity Diet.

Identity Diet

Eight Guiding Principles for Identity ProtectionBy Henry Bagdasarian

iUniverse, Inc.

Copyright © 2010 Henry Bagdasarian
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4502-3867-0

Contents

Dedication............................................................viiPreface...............................................................ixChapter 1: Identity Theft.............................................1Chapter 2: Fraud Schemes..............................................5Chapter 3: Identity Obesity...........................................10Chapter 4: Identity Theft Spiral......................................13Chapter 5: Identity Theft is Unavoidable..............................16Chapter 6: Identity Life Cycle........................................18Chapter 7: Fraud Drivers..............................................20Chapter 8: Identity Theft Laws........................................22Chapter 9: Identity Theft Awareness...................................31Chapter 10: Identity Diet.............................................33Chapter 11: Identity KAOS Principles..................................35Chapter 12: Best Identity Protection Practices........................44Chapter 13: Detecting Identity Theft..................................71Chapter 14: Getting Free Credit Reports...............................74Chapter 15: Life after Identity Theft.................................76Chapter 16: Identity Theft Action Plan................................78Chapter 17: Dispute Letter............................................80Chapter 18: Identity Theft Affidavit..................................83Chapter 19: Identity Theft Resources..................................85Conclusion............................................................87About the Author......................................................89

Chapter One

Identity Theft

In general, identity theft is referred to cases whereby someone's identity is used without authorization for gainful purposes. There are many criminal acts which can arise from identity theft cases including credit and medical fraud, unauthorized employment, and the sale of in-demand private information to media outlets. The consequences of identity fraud and disclosure of private information are sometimes devastating to consumers and may include ruined credit and inability to borrow money, false criminal accusations, commingled medical records, negative media attention, competitive disadvantage, wasted time, lost wages, warrants and jail time.

It is a well known fact that identity theft has been consistently on the rise and is an evolving crime. Although identity theft statistics are constantly revised and can be obtained from a variety of sources, the following statistics obtained from Javelin Strategy & Research seem to sum up most of the findings related to identity theft:

In 2008, 10 million people were victims of identity theft (20% increase from 2007), and, in 2009, over 11 million people were affected by identity theft (10% increase from 2008), Fraud happens very quickly after an identity is stolen, usually within a week, indicating the importance of timely fraud detection to minimize the damage, Majority of victims detect identity theft 3 months after fraud occurs, and some discover fraud after 4 years or more, A victim may spend over 20 hours and $300 to resolve an identity theft case, and sometimes even months or years, Interestingly enough, stolen wallets and documents account for 43% of all identity theft cases indicating the low tech aspect of the crime, Identity fraud typically includes checking account fraud, unauthorized new credit accounts, credit card fraud and cell phone fraud, In more than 50% of all identity theft cases, the victim either personally knows the criminal or has done business with, Consumers are usually not liable for the fraud costs however, they still endure certain expenses related to their cases as well as some emotional and physical impact while dealing with identity theft, In 2009, over 220 million private customer records were compromised from businesses, and The estimated annual identity theft related costs for businesses is over $200 billions.

As we continue to face serious cases of identity theft, it is important to notice how the term "identity theft" has been broadly used to refer to many unrelated cases. The fact is that not all cases referred to as "identity theft" include the theft of exploitable personal information. If we separate the term into "identity" and "theft", we can conclude that not all "identity theft" cases involve exploitable information (identity) theft. For example, a misplaced document containing a list of birth dates should not be considered a case of identity theft because a) the list is not stolen and b) a date of birth means nothing by itself. However, once a list of birth dates which includes corresponding names or addresses is stolen, then the case can be referred to as a case of identity theft. Therefore, based on the broad definition and casual use of the term "identity theft", not all cases lead to fraud or other serious consequences.

Some identity theft cases may lead to identity fraud because specific and exploitable identity components are actually stolen for the purposes of committing fraud, however, identity theft may not result in identity fraud in all cases because of the casual use of the term "identity theft" in lost or misplaced cases of unexploitable information. Therefore, without "fraud" which is the intent and most likely the end result of actual identity theft cases, there is no harm in the act of "identity theft". Maybe disclosure of personal information such as medical records is worrisome if the information can be used against us, but a medical fraud is probably more deadly and concerning than the innocent disclosure of medical information because of the commingling of personal information which can occur during medical fraud. Let's further explore what I mean when I suggest placing our focus on identity fraud rather than the term "identity theft" which is casually used these days: 1) fraud is the main purpose of actual identity theft cases, 2) our identity is never totally lost or stolen, and 3) authorized sharing of our identity may result in fraud without identity theft. Let's analyze all three points and determine why the term identity theft may be misleading while identity crime or fraud should be the focus.

First, personal information is often stolen for fraud purposes. There are rare cases when personal information is stolen for non-fraudulent purposes such as curiosity or as part of another criminal act such as when a wallet is stolen for its cash. However, a stolen wallet does not make it a case of identity theft or the person an identity theft victim. What is the meaning of identity theft if no fraud can be committed? The term identity theft means nothing if no crime can be committed except maybe when our privacy is compromised. I may be worried about the disclosure of my private information because it can be used against me in some cases, but if criminals are not able to use my information against me such as not being able to illegally enter another country with my lost passport due to improved security controls at the airports or within the passport itself, then no crime can be committed and no harm is done. Therefore, the possibility and consideration of a crime is more important than the supposed...