Identity Theft Article

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I know there is a lot of discussion on this board about credit scores, identity theft, etc. and read an article I wanted to share. It seems that the newest form of identity theft is not stealing someone's identity, but stealing parts of one and making up the rest, also known as synthetic identity theft.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/...al-credit-cards

Originally Posted By: Bloomberg
Synthetic fraudsters buy stolen SSNs or try to guess numbers not in use, then combine them with a sham identity. Using other people’s real addresses, they begin applying for cards. Banks usually reject the first requests after seeing that the applicant has no credit profile. Still, the banks’ inquiries generate placeholder profiles with a credit bureau. Thieves keep applying for cards until a lender eventually opens an account. Then the long con starts. Fraudsters can spend years faithfully paying the monthly bills for the cards—which they may have forwarded to P.O. boxes or their own homes—while watching credit limits tick higher. After an identity is established, they sign up for more cards. They may add authorized users to the accounts, establishing additional identities that can later seek their own credit. When the scheme is ripe, the fraudsters charge everything to the hilt, a phase commonly known as “busting out.” Payoffs can stretch into the tens of thousands of dollars. The identities are then discarded.


Originally Posted By: Bloomberg
The most prized data for synthetic fraud are the SSNs of people who don’t use credit, including infants and children, because they give the thief a blank slate to work from. For decades, banks easily deflected attempts to use a child’s SSN because the owner’s birth year was baked into their digits. But in 2011, the Social Security Administration began randomizing numbers from start to finish.


Enjoy!
 
All this ID theft [censored] needs to be stopped. People are getting fed up with the non-sense.
 
Originally Posted By: ZeeOSix
All this ID theft [censored] needs to be stopped. People are getting fed up with the non-sense.


Yep my stepson's girl friend a few years back was involved in this and every time she would go to court the Judge would just give her another parole because its not a violent crime.
 
Lock all your credit reports, don't use a debit card use credit cards instead (exposing the bank's money not yours), and get a PIN from the IRS for tax filing. Don't ever write checks, everything needed to exploit your bank account is right there on face of the check.
 
Originally Posted By: LoneRanger
Lock all your credit reports, don't use a debit card use credit cards instead (exposing the bank's money not yours), and get a PIN from the IRS for tax filing. Don't ever write checks, everything needed to exploit your bank account is right there on face of the check.


Debit Card: I did away with mine several years ago.
But in only using Credit Card, you can still be a victim (I was once).

Tax Return: I do mine as early as possible (to beat the thieves).
Hopefully the Tax Prep Co will never be hacked.

Personal Checks: I write a lot less than I use to.
Very unfortunate we have to react like that.
It makes you think twice about writing a small Check to a Charity.

There's a lot people can do to protect them shelves so as not to be a victim.
 
ID thieves don't deserve any of the luxuries of the modern criminal justice system. They need to go on helicopter rides a la Pinochet AirTours.
 
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