Dad Steals Son's Identity to Buy A Cadillac

In another sad incident of a father committing
identity theft against his own son, a New York
state man has been arrested after attempting
to secure an auto loan with the son's social
security number (ssn).

According to the UPI story:

"The father, Christopher Hendrickson of East
Islip, N.Y., was arrested and charged with
first-degree identity theft, police said.

Investigators told Newsday Hendrickson used
his own name, but lifted his son's Social
Security number and used an altered date of
birth to apply for a loan for the 2004
Cadillac CTS he bought in March."

Proving that identity theft criminals
typically do not limit themselves to
only a single act, the story further
points out how shameless this father
turned out to be:

"Hendrickson was being investigated in an
unrelated identity theft case when law
enforcement officials uncovered the new
incident involving his son, police said."

So, our tip for today is for anyone who
has "shady" family members or associates.
Guard well your personal identity and
credit information.

Lock up your confidential information
and shred any bank or credit card
statements immediately after
inspecting for incorrect balances
or fraudulent transactions.

Finally, since most identity theft criminals
are habitual thieves, get your own silent
defense system by enrolling for credit
monitoring and periodic background
self checks of your public information
profile (pip).

Finally, as an added bit of preventative
identity theft protection - tell your friends
and shady relatives about your identity
theft secrets you are actively using so they
too will think twice about identity theft.