The Fastest Growing Crime in America is Growing Faster

The Federal Trade Commission declared identity theft the fastest growing crime in America….and for good reason. It is a crime without violence or much risk of getting caught and is extremely lucrative.

The loss or theft of personal data such as credit card and Social Security numbers soared to unprecedented levels in 2007. The Identity Theft Resource Center’s report lists more than 79 million records reported compromised in the United States in 2007. In 2006, only 20 million records were reported. This is personal information such as credit cards or Social Security numbers that were either lost or stolen. This could have happened through hackers getting into company databases, as well as all other types of identity theft scams. It is an alarming number.
Another group looked at the same statistic on a world-wide basis. The number soared to 162 million. That same statistic in 2006 was merely 49 million.

This is a major problem that is just getting worse. Thieves are finding new ways to get your information. Companies are not working hard enough to secure and protect information. It is also a crime that, for the most part, goes undetected. If someone shoots another individual, there is a good chance it will make the newspaper. Identity theft claims don’t make it in the newspaper. It is a crime that can go on for a long time without even getting detected.

There is also a mindset that “it will never happen to me.” Thus, people are not proactive enough. I want to change that mindset and make sure that you don’t become a victim. The good news is that it is easy to protect yourself against identity theft. Just like anything else, it takes time and a little investment of money to do so.

Over the next week, we will be discussing why debit cards are so dangerous when it comes to identity theft. My report on debit cards might make you rethink using them at all.

I will also be reviewing the various identity theft solutions that are aggressively marketed and tell you which ones are a waste of money and which ones make the most sense. When I tell you the truth behind some of these marketing campaigns, you will start to see that most of them are an insult to intelligence.

I will be writing about why fraud alerts don’t always work, as well as the new laws in the state of Texas that will put an iron clad lock on your credit reports.

Most importantly, I will write about what to do in the event that you are an identity theft victim. I will cover your first steps to dealing with the debt collectors. The bottom line is that consumers have to stay on alert, stop being so trusting, and start using some common sense. Identity theft thieves are counting on consumers to stay complacent.

Copyright © 2008 Prudent Money and Bob Brooks. All rights reserved.