When identity theft occurs, the victim faces an endless paper chase contacting lenders and credit agencies. Even more so, these victims often feel violated, stripped of their privacy, left with an uncomfortable sense of nakedness. Their account balances, credit cards, debts and financial information are compromised and in most cases of identity theft, the thieves have run up bills into the thousands of dollars. Making matters worse, most victims dont even know that their personal information has been compromised until well after the fact, which limits their ability to exercise damage control to their credit rating and creditworthiness. The companies that issue credit reports are instrumental in helping victims repair their credit rating, but it still takes a great deal of time and correspondence until a victims credit score recovers from identity theft.

Identity Theft Statistics

Louis Robertson, the head of the RCMP Criminal Analysis Unit at the Canadian Anti-Fraud Center, said, “Identity theft now is probably the most important problem for Canadian consumers.” According to figures from 2007, 1.7 million Canadians were victims of identity theft that year. Thats nearly 6.5 percent of the population with losses amounting to $15,731,000. Canadians spend a combined 20 million hours and over $150 million dollars in out-of-pocket expenses annually attempting to shore up credit ratings destroyed by identity thieves. Other statistics of note include:

More than 50 percent of identity theft cases involve fraudulent credit card transactions

Approximately 23 percent of Canadian identity theft cases occur due to lost or stolen credit cards.

More than 10 percent of credit card scams occur without an identity thief having the credit card. In most cases, Canadians are the victims of phishing, wherein the victim provides his/her credit card information to a thief posing as the representative of a legitimate business.

Credit cards stolen from mailboxes account for 7 percent of Canadian identity theft cases

Tips to Proactively Prevent Identity Theft

The best defense is a good offense and this adage certainly applies to the prevention of identity theft. On average, it takes twelve months for a victim to realize he or she is a victim of identity theft. By then, options for preventing damage to a credit score are limited. As a proactive line of defense against identity theft, many people subscribe to credit monitoring companies. These companies specialize in credit tracking to spot unusual trends in spending and notify subscribers if several large transactions occur in an uncommonly brief period. Credit monitoring companies might also offer full-service credit counseling to help people manage their credit responsibly, recover from identity theft and rebuild credit scores. In addition to subscribing to a credit monitoring service, one can also take the following steps in the prevention of identity theft:

Use strong passwords online”Given the number of passwords people have to remember on a daily basis, its human nature to want to keep things as simple as possible by reusing the same three of four passwords for everything. This practice makes it easier for thieves and keyloggers to access everything from your email accounts to your bank and credit card accounts. Get in the habit of using different passwords for all your accounts and make sure they are a combination of numbers, letters and symbols for stronger passwords.

Keep your anti-virus software updated”Several anti-virus programs offered online are free and in some cases better than well-known software that is available for purchase. Download at least three of these free programs; keep them updated with the latest virus definitions and get in the habit of scanning your computer at least once a week. Be very wary of anti-virus notifications from software that you didnt download. Some viruses masquerade as anti-virus software to get your personal information!

Read the articles on your credit monitoring companys site”Thieves are constantly discovering news ways to rip off honest people. Reading the articles and news on your credit monitoring companys website to learn about the latest scams and trends in identity theft, is a very good way to keep from becoming a victim.

Join your credit tracking services online community”Many credit tracking companies have forums and blogs on their site where people can share information, stories and cautionary tales about identity theft, credit counseling, managing credit responsibly and other useful information. Reading new posts regularly is another precaution in protecting a credit score.

Like other crimes, people think that identity theft is a crime that happens to others and it is a shock to learn that they are suddenly and shockingly a victim of that crime. Identity theft is more than a considerable insult. It is a personal crime that leaves the victim feeling stripped bare, vulnerable and naked. Subscribing to a credit monitoring service may seem like an unnecessary expense, but any victim of identity theft will tell you that an ounce of prevention is worth much more than a pound of cure!

Scott Peckford and Debt Monkey advocate regular credit monitoring to prevent identity theft and to help maintain a healthy credit score.

Tags: Identity Theft