The FASTEST GROWING CRIME IN THE COUNTRY- Identity Theft

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Jake needed a fuel-efficient car to make deliveries, so he turned to Facebook Marketplace. There, he found a car offered for sale by a man listed as “Yoni” on Facebook — but who said that he went by another name. Jake lost his business due to the COVID-19 shutdown. Jake saved up $3,500 and bought a car on Facebook marketplace. The seller gave him the car’s signed title and original key, so everything seemed above board. It wasn’t until Jake registered the car at the local DMV that he discovered it had been listed as stolen. Scammers have found easy ways to make stolen cars look legitimate. Title washing is when scammers create a fake title for a vehicle that either changes the car’s status (for example, from salvaged to clear) or VIN.

Identity theft is the fastest growing crime in America. Someone becomes a victim of Identity theft every 22 seconds.

AM I AT RISK?

According to the Federal Trade Commission, consumers reported losing more than 5.8 billion dollars to fraud in 2021. The Federal Trade Commission received 5,7 million consumer complaints last year. The most commonly reported complaint was imposter scam and online shopping. Sweepstakes, Prizes, lottery, sweepstakes, lotteries, business and job opportunities are the top five fraud categories. I want to talk about the 5 main areas of Identity theft.

#1 Financial Identity Theft

Financial Identity theft is the compromise of your existing financial accounts or the creation of new financial accounts by an unwanted third party acting in your name. Accounts may include savings accounts, credit or debit cards, loans, insurance, checking accounts to name a few. There was a story in a small town where $700 dollars was deducted from 600 employees' checks on payday. The money was wired to someone hacking their accounts from Brazil.

PREVENTION TIP --Open and read your bank account and credit billing statements when you receive them. Check for unauthorized charges or withdrawals and report any immediately by phone and in writing.

#2 Social Security Identity Theft

Social Security Identity theft happens when a person illegally uses your personal information to commit fraud. Someone illegally using your SSN and assuming your identity can cause a lot of problems. I hear people say “they will be practicing if they take my identity because I don’t have any money. Identity theft can be very dangerous for you and your family. Someone can use your Social Security number to open accounts in your name that you don’t know about.

Some people say they keep their social security number in a safe place. Most identity theft thieves will obtain your information with a data breach. A data breach is an incident where information is stolen or taken from a system without the knowledge or authorization of the system's owner.

The identity theft thieves can get your information from the school that you attended, the jobs that you worked at, the companies you do business, your doctor and dentist office.

There was a woman trying to get a job at a grocery store in her local neighborhood. She received an email stating that she already works there. The woman found out that 51 people were using her social security number to work. She owed 800 thousand dollars to the IRS.

#3 Medical Identity Theft

A data breach is an incident where information is stolen or taken from a system without the knowledge or authorization of the system's owner.

The Shields breach is currently the largest standalone breach that occurred in recent years. An unknown actor had gained access to certain Shields systems from March 7 to March 21 and acquired data.

The incident impacted 2 million individuals and their sensitive data, including full names, Social Security numbers, provider information, diagnoses, billing information, medical record numbers, patient IDs, dates of birth, addresses, and treatment information.

The breach impacted more than two dozen facility partners across Massachusetts, including Tufts Medical Center and UMass Memorial MRI.

Using your social security number, insurance information, or date of birth, medical identity thieves can change your record with doctor's appointments you've never made and medical treatments you've never received. This woman was arrested at her job for a baby she never had.

Another woman used her information to have a baby. The doctors found drugs in the baby's system. The women left the baby at the hospital and went AWOL. The police went to the school and arrested the wrong woman and took her kids for neglect.

#4 Criminal Identity Theft

Identity theft occurs when someone uses another person's personally identifying information, like a person's name, Social Security number, or credit card number or other financial information, without permission, to commit fraud or other crimes. Imagine...

driving home from work on Friday and picking up the kids from school. You get pulled over by the police and they look up your information. The police officer noticed that you have a warrant so they arrest you and tell you to call your mother to pick up the kids because you are going to jail. You have to stay in jail for a week. They let you out of jail because someone committed a crime in your name while you are in jail.

#5 Child Identity Theft

Child identity theft happens when someone uses a minor child's personal information, such as name and Social Security number, usually to obtain credit or employment. 1 out of 10 children fall victim to identity theft.

Kids are online for distance learning, social media and shopping. They have a greater chance of someone stealing your kids' information. 75% Identity theft victims know the perpetrator. Wouldn’t you like to know if your 3 year old child has a house or car in their name? The identity theft thieves have 18 years to use your kids' information without you knowing it. Why do you think the thieves target schools by way of database breach?

In April 2018, Cynthia Lockwood, who worked as a security officer in the Buffalo, NY Public Schools, was arrested as part of an eight-member child identity theft ring. Lockwood was accused of using a 12-year-old victim’s Personally Identifiable Information (PII) to gain access to more than $25,000 in credit. Law enforcement and Social Security officials discovered over a 16-month investigation that she was a member of an eight-member ring that stole Social Security numbers (SSNs) belonging to children — one as young as 11 — across the country. The ring would use the SSNs to open credit cards and ultimately run up $420,000 in bogus purchases.

#6 Synthetic Identity Theft

In synthetic identity theft, ID thieves create identities using fake or real information, or a combination of the two. For instance, an identity thief might use a real Social Security number combined with a name that’s not associated with that number. Children and deceased people can be vulnerable since their Social Security numbers typically aren’t used on a regular basis. The Identity theft thief will sell victims' information from the data breach on the dark web. The dark web is a network of sites that you cannot access through a search engine. Sites on the dark web use encryption software to hide their locations. Most of the dark web is concentrated on buying and selling stolen financial and personal information.

Here is the personal information thieves access and sell on the dark web: