Identity Theft Victims
Do you think you won't be an identity theft victim because you're not a rich and famous celebrity, business tycoon, or professional? While thieves would certainly prefer identity theft victims with a platinum variety of juicy credit card and bank accounts to plunder, some will settle for anyone - dead or alive, rich or poor, young or old. The list of identity theft victims can include anyone. We need to differentiate between two completely different types of identity theft: application fraud which is also known account takeover fraud happens when the fraudster uses credit accounts the identity theft victim has previously opened. True name fraud is when the imposter opens new credit accounts in the name of the identity theft victim. Whichever occurs, the true loss is rarely financial. By federal law, identity theft victims are not personally responsible for any expenses fraudulently charged to their credit accounts by imposters. But identity theft victims do have the unenviable task of spending weeks, months, or even years, in an often fruitless effort to regain the financial health good credit history they enjoyed before becoming identity theft victims. Some of us are just ripe for the picking and will end up as identity theft victims if we're not careful. Some of us are just ripe for the picking. Being nice can be a problem if an imposter is ready and willing to take advantage. One of JT's friends inquired about transferring the title to a house into JT's name due to the fact that the friend was having a few "tax problems." In addition to agreeing to help her friend, JT was a co-signor on a mortgage against the house. The friend fell behind on the monthly mortgage payments and decided to file for bankruptcy...in JT's name! The friend surprisingly made the monthly payments on JT's bankruptcy plan for a number of years. JT didn't even discover the bankruptcy until he tried to get a loan. Not surprisingly the loan was denied due to the bankruptcy on his credit report and the large home mortgage loan (her friend's, not hers) on his credit report. So you see identity theft victims can be duped even by people they think are their friends. At her landlord's request, 18-year-old MR signed paperwork the landlord said he required in order to "help him keep his property." MR didn't realize that the paperwork made her the co-owner of the apartment building which also happened to be guaranteed and secured by a Federal Housing Administration mortgage loan. At a future date, MR's request for credit was rejected because there were two bankruptcy filings on her credit report. Only then did she discover that her unscrupulous landlord had in fact filed bankruptcy in MR's name in an effort to stay foreclosure on a rental property he owned. Read any legal documents before you sign or you could be an identity theft victim. |
