Credit Guides And Credit Services

Credit Pacific Service Union By Jim Kouri

By Credit Health We've all heard of identity theft, but what does this term really mean Going far beyond credit card fraud, identity theft is a rapidly growing crime that most people will face at some point in their lives. Credit Health explains the different kinds of identity theft crimes common today and pinpoints new identity theft trends that are emerging.

Credit First Service Union (AXcess News) New York - An estimated 3.6 million households, or about 3 percent of all households in the nation, learned that they had been the victim of at least one type of identity theft during a six-month period in 2004, according to an April 2 report by the US Justice Department's Bureau of Justice Statistics.

Credit reporting and identity theft protection go hand in hand. Understanding these important, and at times most confusing, topics is essential to effective credit fraud and identity theft protection. The Privacy Matters Resources Center lets you quickly and easily find the credit and ID theft information you need. Just click on any of the following links to see an extensive library of resources on identity theft protection and credit reporting topics.

Card Credit Mobile Service Forty-eight percent had experienced an unauthorized use of credit cards; 25 percent had other accounts, such as banking accounts, used without permission; 15 percent experienced the misuse of personal information and 12 percent experienced multiple types of theft at the same time. These findings represent six-month estimates based on interviews conducted from July through December 2004 for the BJS National Crime Victimization Survey.

Unused credit cards are putting millions of Brits at greater risk of falling victim to identity theft, according to a specialist credit history firm.

Card Credit Discover Service Households headed by young people (18-24 years old), those in urban or suburban areas and those with incomes of $75,000 or more were the most likely to experience identity theft. Victimization did not differ by race or ethnicity.

Theft of service members' identities came in many forms. Enlisted men on a U.S. Navy vessel in the Indian Ocean had their identities stolen by shipmates, who transferred their data to a ring back in the States that committed the fraud. Another ring apparently planted a member inside a credit union at a military base in the United States. This was very strategic positioning, as the ring would know who was stationed overseas and therefore unlikely to discover the identity theft until long after fraudulent credit purchases were made.

Credit Public Service Union About one-third of households that were identity theft victims discovered the loss by noticing missing money or unfamiliar charges on an account, and about one-quarter were contacted by a credit bureau. The estimated loss during the 6-month period was about $3.2 billion. This included losses that may have been reimbursed by credit card companies, insurance companies or other financial institutions.

Card Credit Processing Service About two-thirds of the households said they lost money. The average loss was $1,290. Some households for which misuse was still ongoing at the time of the interview may have continued to suffer losses.

Center Credit Service Union About one-quarter of all victimized households said the misuse had not stopped. The misuse was more likely to have stopped for households experiencing credit card theft (78 percent) than those experiencing theft of other existing accounts (65 percent) or the misuse of personal information (54 percent).

Card Credit Service Wireless One-third of the victimized households experienced one or more problems caused by identity theft. The most common problem was being contacted by a debt collector (34 percent), followed by problems with bank accounts (31 percent) and credit cards (26 percent)

Credit Security Service Union About one in five households spent at least one month resolving their problems. One-third said the problems were resolved in one day. At the time of the interview about one-sixth said the misuse was still causing problems.

Credit Report Service The survey questions were asked of one household member, who provided information about other property crimes the entire household may have suffered. The survey did not obtain information on which household members were victims.

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