Identity Theft Awareness

When someone uses another person's personal identification (drivers license, medical card, social security card, etc.) to obtain unauthorized medical services or goods, this is medical identity theft. It could be a family member that doesn't have health insurance or it could be someone who has stolen the personal information or bought it (there are websites that sell this information to the highest bidder), using your identity to get drugs or perhaps have an operation. It could be a medical worker (nurse or office worker) who has access to your medical information. It could be a crooked doctor who bills for services not rendered, or a group that sets up a bogus clinic to obtain drugs or medical equipment in your name, to be sold on the black market later. What might be the impact of medical identity theft on you? Several things can happen, and all are bad: 1) Your lifetime medical benefits can be drained, and you may not know it. 2) You might find yourself ...

As I have spoken to folks about identity theft, I've discovered there is a lot of confusion about what exactly is identity theft.  So in this blog posting, rather than referencing numerous web articles, I want to introduce you to the various types of identity theft.  In the next series of posts, I will discuss each type in more detail, to give you a better perspective on this tsunami called "identity theft" and what you can do to protect yourself.  Financial ID Theft       Ask most people to define identity theft, and they will answer "credit card theft" or believe it has something to do with their financial identity.  And certainly financial identity theft is a major and growing type of identity theft.  Thieves find it less risky and more lucrative than other crimes; it has now surpassed drug trafficking as a crime of choice.  But it is only one type of ID theft, and it is perhaps the easiest to detect and correct of all the types.  There are laws, for example,...