How Identity Theft Victims Can Avoid Being Treated as Criminals

If we have ever learned of a compelling reason to
to take proactive steps to protect yourself from
identity theft, here's one b-i-g example.

It seems, according to a recent NBC story, a Maryland
woman's life has become a living nightmare the past
5 years. She's forced to deal with the impact an identity
thief perpetrated against her during a three month period
where the Texas based crook did the following:

• $36,000 in debt involving computers, personal loans, &
  department store accounts
• 54 addresses
• 60 different aliases
• 130 accounts in collection

All of this, according to the NBC4 story, happened
after the Texas identity thief stole her Maryland victim's
social security number off her health insurance
identification from an un-named computer database.

Because the identity thief effectively assumed her
identity, the Maryland woman who's really the victim
here, could face being pulled over by police
anytime there's an outstanding warrant in her name.

Furthermore, she could be denied jobs due to the
negative payment information on her credit report.

And, that's in addition to the financial expense,
frustration, phone calls from collectors, & time
required away from work to fight this unjust crime
against her.

Want to protect yourself from this type of fraud
being committed against you?

Our tip for today is to set yourself up with an
early warning system to alert you to problems before
they escalate to the life changing headache the
Maryland woman has been facing the past 5 years.

Some of the key signs to watch for may include:

1. New Names associated with your social security
   number (SSN)
2. New Addresses associated with your SSN or Name
3. Missing Credit Card statements
4. New Employers assigned to your name
5. New Loan & Loan Inquiries
6. New Phone Connections
7. New Bankruptcies & Tax Liens
8. Debt collectors suddenly calling you at home & work

Remember, it took that identity thief 3 months to run
up the huge amount of debt against her. Having an
automatic monitoring system for your credit can enable
you to stop or substantially reduce the damages against
you resulting from a case of identity theft or social
security fraud.