Federal Trade commission Identity Theft.

Online Identity Theft and the FTC.

QUICK STAT:
The Federal Trade Commission found that" ....of all those who reported being victimized in the United States, only 9 % were 60 and over while the largest number, 29 %, were in the 18 - 29 age group".

Young individuals are already the largest group being targeted in this fast growing epidemic. Make no mistake, this is not by accident. A stolen identity is apparently worth more if it belongs to a young person. The key factor in all of this is the person's credit standings. Usually, the younger the person, the better the standings.

4 Types of FTC Identity Theft

1. Credit Identity Theft
2. Medical Identity Theft
3. Social Security Number Identity Theft
4. Driver's License Identity Theft

“Even after 9/11, it is still quite simple to get a valid drivers license using someone else's personal information along with the rioght amount of cash.”

1. Credit Identity Theft
An identity thief steals your personal information intending to use it for personal financial gain. This is the most common type.

2. Medical Identity Theft
Here your medical identity is assumed. The benefit is gained by an individual not having to reveal their own personal medical and financial history, which may be detrimental to them receiving medical attention.

3. Social Security Number Identity Theft
Crucial for new identities and fraudulent papers. Here a person's credit score is typically unimportant. This is the quickly becoming the area to watch. Some examples of how an id thief may use your SSN:

• They may threaten national security or commit terroristic acts. The September 11 hijackers used fake identification to board their planes.
• They may use stolen personal information to forge military identification cards. This recently happened at Ft. Meade near Washington, DC.
• They pile up traffic tickets in your name with no intention of paying them.
• They commit felonies using your identity. Victims of identity theft have been arrested, even jailed, for crimes they did not commit.
• They may obtain a passport in your name to bring someone into the country for any number of illegal reasons— human trafficking, for example, is a quite popular use.

4. Drivers License Identity Theft
Just in case you haven't noticed, Motor Vehicles Departments across the nation have been investing millions of dollars into producing the "perfect" drivers license. They now use digital images that are a part of the paper used for the actual license, seals, holograms, digital signatures, embedded watermarks and a whole host of techniques, all designed to foil counterfeiters.

This is working well for the most part. So well as a matter of fact, that it has become very difficult to produce a realistic fake drivers license.

The counterfeiters have now changed their tactics. Why spend countless hours laboring on a fake id that may not even fool the bouncer at the local bar, when you can walk into the local MVA and for a few dollars, they will GIVE you a valid license with your picture under someone else's social security number?

Federal Trade Commission Identity Theft is a term that applies to all of the 4 types above. The FTC has long been tasked by the government to be their frontline defense against identity theft. Their role had been one of consumer education and fraud investigator in collaboration with the Justice Department. Passage of the FACTA law in 2003, has essentially empowered them with veto status over individual states' legislatures. They can make final rulings in identity theft cases.

Prosecution of identity theft cases is left up to the Department of Justice and Local Law Enforcement.

Coming up, email identity theft and the serious impact it can have on you even though all the thieves steal is your email address.