This was just a great comment on the Seminar post that I wanted to post it.
It is from Ronald Maglothin, a a Viet-Nam Vet:
Great article and it angers me (as a Viet-Nam Vet) that our military personnel are specificly targeted by these thieves. Identity Theft comes in five areas and you're right. most people just consider the financial side. Add criminal, driver's license, social security and (like you said) medical to the list. Can you imagine going to the hospital for a procedure and your blood type has been changed (it happens). Do you know that if a thief collects just one check from your social security, that the government can (and will) freeze your account for 2 to 3 years and it can take years to clean that up. How about being pulled over by the police, because you have a tail light out and when he does the background check on you, there's a warrant for your arrest because you failed to appear in court, in another state, for a violation that isn't yours. Try telling the officer, "But that's isn't me!" A lot of good a credit monitor service will do you in that circumstance. One of the biggest targets today are children. They are issued a social security number at birth. That number is worth $5,000 on the black market. Reason being is that detection of the breach usually doesn't happen until the child becomes a teenager and goes to get credit to buy a car or a background check to rent an apartment. I've read an artilce where a 5 year old in my town owns 3 houses (in foreclosure) and 2 cars. Like you said, the number of victims increase in the millions, every year. Unfortunately when you are a victim of this crime, you are guilty until you prove who you are. The average financial cost is in the thousands and it can take over 500 personal hours to clean this up. Most also don't realize that you're also going to need legal help to clear this up. I would like to see more involvement on a state level to help curb this crime. Sorry, I don't trust the feds. At least California and New York reconizes some of the problem and have started doing something about it.
However do not relay on your government to protect you, they are some of the ones causing most of the problems. Learn to protect yourself. Come talk with me. I can be reached at www.legalshield.com/hub/taylor_ra
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