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How often does someone's identity get stolen? How much damage can be done to one person? How much liability does the victim have if they report it in a timely fashion?
Location: 23.7 million to 162 million miles North of Venus
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Quote:
Originally Posted by AguaDulce
How often does someone's identity get stolen?
There was a victim every two seconds in the US in 2013. 13.1 million people were victims in 2013, up by more than 500,000 victims from 2012. The number of people hit by ID theft grows every year.
How much damage can be done to one person?
Financially, emotionally and loss of time to deal with it .. it can be devastating.
How much liability does the victim have if they report it in a timely fashion?
For credit/debit card ID theft, if they are a true victim then no liability if they report it correctly and timely. That doesn't mean they won't suffer emotionally, lose time in dealing with it, or, if it was a debit card - having to wait for the funds to be replaced in their bank account. The cost coverage of insufficient charges, from debit card theft, with both the bank and the merchant, is up to the bank/merchant to decide if they want to waive the fees or not - there is no law that says they have to cover those fees.
ID theft info can be used for more than just credit/debit cards, which can be much tougher to deal with then credit/debit cards. For examples of different uses of stolen info*... Common Types of Identity Fraud | Protect My ID
Scare tactic?
* edited to add .. I posted the link for informational purposes only, and not, as the OP mistakenly believes, to suggest that readers use the services offered on that site.
ID theft info can be used for more than just credit/debit cards, which can be much tougher to deal with then credit/debit cards. For examples of different uses of stolen info... Common Types of Identity Fraud | Protect My ID
Scare tactic?
Thanks for helping me make my point.
I don't think people realize that they don't need to purchase identity theft protection if they pay attention.
The link you posted is a seller of ID theft protection.
What frosts my ba*&s is everyone demands your sensitive data: realtors, utilities, doctors, ad infinitum, but when your info is misused YOU bear the brunt of it.
There should be ONE central repository of that data and each user authenticates to them when applying for a credit card or anything else.
The World shouldn't have access to all that.
Location: 23.7 million to 162 million miles North of Venus
23,548 posts, read 12,525,568 times
Reputation: 10467
Quote:
Originally Posted by AguaDulce
Thanks for helping me make my point.
I don't think people realize that they don't need to purchase identity theft protection if they pay attention.
The link you posted is a seller of ID theft protection.
Any kind of point you were trying to make was not included in your OP, and your point is basically still unknown.
No people do not need to purchase ID theft protection, and they shouldn't waste their money on something they can do on their own.
As for the link I posted, so what if it's to a theft protection site - if you'd read what I had said about the link - I said "For examples of different uses of stolen info" and not 'For examples of different uses of stolen info and a company that you can use to help guard against theft'. For you, and other people who may misread what I had posted, I have edited that post to place a disclaimer.
Excellent link--I don't think people realize how many ways there are to steal someone's identity.
In my previous job I dealt with identity theft on a daily basis, mostly explaining that it's up to the victim to do all the work to resolve it--getting police reports, contacting whoever is billing them, doing all the footwork and spending all the hours all this takes. While there's federal laws in place about it, a lot of companies (read: collection agencies) totally ignore the laws and hound the victim until they pay just to make it all stop.
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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It's the biggest crime in our city, with the thieves targeting by zip code to maximize their take based on incomes. I have had to change debit cards twice in the last year due to being hacked, though both times it was caught by the bank or the vendor due to the suspicious circumstances.
I recently found out that family members have been using my name to sell and purchase property using my name without my knowledge for years (10 plus!!!) and apparently in some cases using a "frumpled" version of my name to do it!
What legal recourse if any should or can I take?
I would just talk to them but recently after a close relatives death who was also in on this ...activity, it seem they are indifferent to anything other than losing money. Anyone? Anyone? Anyone?
(im a lil new and was actually trying to post this as a thread, apologies)
It sounds like you're going to need an attorney. When you tell him/her what has been going on, have some proof. Go to the local courthouse where this property was bought and sold, and get copies of transactions. They should be public record. You may even be able to get them online, albeit for a small fee. Good luck.
Location: 23.7 million to 162 million miles North of Venus
23,548 posts, read 12,525,568 times
Reputation: 10467
Quote:
Originally Posted by ictheshy2013
I recently found out that family members have been using my name to sell and purchase property using my name without my knowledge for years (10 plus!!!) and apparently in some cases using a "frumpled" version of my name to do it!
What legal recourse if any should or can I take?
I would just talk to them but recently after a close relatives death who was also in on this ...activity, it seem they are indifferent to anything other than losing money. Anyone? Anyone? Anyone?
(im a lil new and was actually trying to post this as a thread, apologies)
Before you take legal action against them, you need to create a paper trail - filing complaints against them with the FTC and with the police. Ordering your credit reports from the CRA's - Experian, TransUnion, Equifax and Innovis. Send the CRA's letters, listing out all of the fraudulent accounts that are being reported, telling them that those accounts are fraudulent accounts due to ID theft, include copies of your ID theft reports that you'd made to the FTC and to the police, and, also request that fraud alerts be placed on your credit reports. Send letters to the businesses, that the family members used to gain credit in your name, and inform them that those accounts were opened fraudulently.
If you have damages, then you might consider legal action against them. If no real damages then let the police and the feds deal with them.
(ID theft isn't funny, but, it would be funny if some of the property is paid off, and they hadn't yet changed the names on the deeds, or the properties are almost paid off, where the equity far exceeds the loan amount - and, since they are in your name - you seize the properties from them, sell the properties and pocket the profits .. that'll teach em, lmao)
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.. that'll teach em, lmao)
