Identity Theft
by John Marc Green
CBS 42 News
2007-11-28 17:24:39.0
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In the modern age of computers, cell phones and credit cards, identity theft is becoming one of the fastest growing crimes in the U.S.
And it’s not going away any time soon. In fact, it's growing by leaps and bounds along with technology. And now it's not just your credit card numbers thieves are after. They’re finding out all about you in ways you may never suspect, until it's too late.
Hoover Parks and Recreation Board President Ricky Phillips never imagined it could happen to him, but it did.
"I'd heard some people talking about how prevalent identity theft was, and I came home, decided to check mine and low and behold I discovered someone had applied for a loan to buy a house in Dahlonega Georgia, in my name," said Phillips.
If you think he's alone, you're wrong.
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"There's something going on in Birmingham. There's something going on in Alabama."
Jim Blaszczynski is a risk management specialist. He says from 2005 to 2006, Birmingham climbed from number 35 to number 27 among states reporting identity theft claims to the federal trade commission. And it's not just forged checks anymore.
"You might get notification of a bankruptcy for a residence that you didn't even have," said Blaszczynski.
The new wave of identity theft is taking advantage of every imaginable source of personal identity, like the collapse of the sub-prime mortgage industry putting lenders out of business.
"What they've done is they've basically just closed their doors; but in the process of doing that, they disposed of the information that people have given them as part of the mortgage file," said Blaszczynski.
And mortgage applications are not the only documents thieves are using. One funeral home employee got caught after using information taken from a death certificate.
"The executors and the family started getting bills for grandma who had died," said Blaszczynski.
"If someone takes control of your identity, they're you."
Josh Perrymon helps big banks and corporations find loopholes in their computer security. He says identity theft is just too easy and lucrative for criminals to pass up.
"If I was a bad guy I could steal thousands of identities in just a matter of a few weeks; I'd be living in some island somewhere if I wanted to be a criminal," said Perrymon.
He says with just a few pieces of personal information, a thief could turn your utilities on or off, loot your bank account, even start a new one in your name. He adds that mortgage application files are not the only kinds of documents he's found thrown in trash bins during security checks.
"One job that I was on in New Jersey, an H.R. department head had left, had retired, so the cleaning crew had came through and had taken all these files that's been collected over ten years, these personnel files, and just dumped them in the garbage," said Perrymon.
But he says the new wave of identity theft has moved beyond dumpster diving to sophisticated attacks, in which criminals don't even need guns to rob a bank of something more valuable than cash.
"If their security isn't controlled correctly, you can walk in and walk right back out, with customer information," said Perrymon.
For Ricky Phillips, monitoring his credit report has become a monthly routine.
"It was really scary because someone could destroy you really quick with your social security number and everything," said Phillips.
Perrymon also advises people to get a shredder for all your old bills and any "junk mail" like pre-approved credit card applications. He and Jim Blaszczynski both recommend getting some form of identity theft coverage that protects more than just your bank accounts.
"It's easy to get a few charge-backs and get some money back into your account, but the battle is just starting when someone steals your identity it takes years to clear up your credit," said Perrymon.
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