BETA
This is a BETA experience. You may opt-out by clicking here

More From Forbes

Edit Story

Watch Out For This Growing Kind Of Identity Theft

Following
This article is more than 4 years old.

Having been the victim of identity theft multiple times, I can tell you the thieves are getting more nimble. They are stealing more information multiple ways.

Basically, cyberthieves can steal Social Security and bank account numbers that can unlock access to credit. They will open new applications in your name and start spending away.

Recently some thieves did this to me, using my name to open up a credit card and loan application halfway across the country. They were unsuccessful, but I know they will try again. Had I not opened some envelopes that I would normally toss as junk mail, I would never have caught on and stopped the scam.

So-called “first person” credit fraud is on the rise. According to Bob Sullivan, a consumer advocate, “Identity theft targeting family members is soaring, as is what I’ll call `desperation fraud’ — opening credit accounts with no intention of paying, and little effort to disguise the fraud. These are two very bad signs for the economy, according to a firm that studies ID theft on a wide scale.”

“We already knew that friendly fraud — using intimate knowledge of family members’ of friends’ personal information to commit fraud — had skyrocketed recently,” Sullivan adds. “In Javelin’s end-of-year report last year, the overall rate of friendly fraud doubling from 7% of fraud victims in 2017 to 15% in 2018.”

What You Can Do

There are plenty of services that will charge you monthly fees to monitor your credit files and bank accounts, but you can do all of this yourself for free.

Just keep an eye on your credit reports. You can see them here. All three major credit bureaus will give you free access. If you see suspicious activity, you can correct it immediately and freeze access. I did that recently.

The important action is to regularly monitor activity on your credit files and other financial information. Most internet security software will provide that monitoring. Vigilance is the best defense.

Follow me on Twitter or LinkedInCheck out my website or some of my other work here