bharatbhasha.net

Click here for Special Web hosting packages for visitors of this website only!

Free Articles  >>  Crime >>  Page 2  >> 

Identity Theft and Fraud Catching Them is Usually Not This Easy





"Out of how many customer-service desks, out of how many registers she could have gone to, and she had to come to me?" It almost sounds like a take off of the Humphrey Bogart line from the movie Casablanca. It isn't. For Michelle McCambridge, the situation was all too real.

The Federal Trade Commission estimates that last year 8.4 million people were the victims of identity theft. The good news is that is a decline from previous years where the numbers hovered close to the 10 million mark.

Those statistics are of little comfort to people who wind up bearing the financial burden. McCambridge reports that the thieves used her social security number to rack up thousands of dollars in charges. But through an amazing coincidence McCambridge was able to turn the tables.

According to The Seattle Times, McCambridge who works at J.C. Penny was standing behind the counter when a customer approached requesting to open a department store account. When the person presented McCambridge with the necessary information needless to say she was shocked.

The "customer" gave Cambridge's name as well as phony identification. "I was a little panicked. I was a little shaky," said the 23 year old college student. But she managed to pull herself together slip away from the counter and alert store security.

By doing so, McCambridge started a whole of chain of events that led not only to the arrest of the suspect but the dismantling of an identity theft ring.

The circumstances are to say the least extraordinary. As Joseph Velling, a special agent for the Social Security Administration explains "Identity-theft crimes are some of the most difficult criminal cases to investigate. It is not that law enforcement does not know what crime was committed. Rather, it is a simpler question - who did it?"

This may explain why the majority of identity theft cases remain unsolved. If that was not bad enough, factor in that an overwhelming number of identity crimes never get reported. Is it any wonder that for nearly a decade identity theft has topped the list as the number one consumer complaint?

No it will probably never be this easy. If you are the victim of identity theft the chances that the thief will show up at your place of business and present their (your) information is not very likely. But even if you are not that fortunate, what happened to Michelle McCambridge should serve as an example about the importance of fighting back.

Joseph Velling says it best. "I'm very proud of her. It was heroic."
About Author Daryl Campbell :

Daryl Campbell. No an identity thief will not usually show up at your home or workplace and use your personal information right in front of you but there is a good chance you know who they are. <a target="_new" href="Click here to find out more.


Article Source: http://www.bharatbhasha.net
Article Url: http://www.bharatbhasha.net/crime.php/177213


Article Added on Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Other Articles by Daryl Campbell

Identity Theft in the News Heard it on the Radio
According to statistics compiled by law enforcement agencies, Texas along with California, Nevada, New York, Washington and Arizona are states with the highest incidents of identity theft. There are types of identity theft that determine the ranking for each state including employment related fraud, credit card, bank, phone and utilities and several others. But undoubtedly the last type of fraud that Texans expected to find themselves dealing with is the one off the radio. Yet that is...

Victims of Identity Theft Shaken To The Core
For people who have never been victims of identity theft and fraud it may seem like a small inconvenience. Someone uses your personal information to open up a new account. However the people in charge realize a mistake has been made and eventually everything is corrected. Victims of identity theft know different. When the call comes in from some collection agency demanding payment for a product that you have never even heard of let alone bought you realize almost instantaneously that this...

Identity Theft Over the Internet The Social Network Goldmines
While offline identity theft and fraud remains the most prominent (shoulder surfing, dumpster diving, home break-ins and countless others) it seem cyberspace is doing its best to close the gap. This does not mean the high profile data breaches we hear about in the news. Although they do their part to raise the anxiety of being online it is still the low level day to day identity thefts that cause the greatest concern. As of late social network has been feeling the strain. Places like...

Identity Theft Over The Internet Phish Fry
When you hear about some fairly new identity theft scam like the pay at the pump con or the parking violation scam that was unveiled in Iowa not too long ago, other forms of theft like phishing seem almost ancient in comparison. But it still works. How effectively? In the two years this specific international scam was unveiled identity thieves have stolen close to two million dollars from Wells Fargo and Bank Of America customers. That came to an end recently when a joint sting...

Protecting Yourself From Identity Theft The Ultimate Prevention
By all accounts it was a pretty good turnout. The Safety and Wellness Festival in La Vista Nebraska drew a huge crowd over the weekend and many brought their trash with them which was okay with Festival officials. Why? Because there was a shredding party going on. To be more specific personal information like medical bills and financial statements were brought by residents to be destroyed. The point of course was to remove as much personal information as possible so identity thieves would...

Identity Theft Crimes It s In The Mail
Recently law enforcement officials in the United States and Egypt cracked a sophisticated identity theft ring that used phishing to steal close to two million dollars from Wells Fargo and Bank of America Customers. This comes on the heels of another international ring that reported stole forty million credit and debit cards from numerous high profile companies. This type of news would easily give you the impression that the internet is the playground for identity thieves. While you...

Identity Theft And Fraud Is It Worse Online
While computers and the internet have come to be an accepted part of our daily lives there are still many people who want no parts of them. There are several complaints to go along with this. The perceived lack of privacy in the form of having to provide personal information and then believing rightly or not that their information is now ready to broadcast across the world wide web. Or just that Big Brother is watching you from the other side of your monitor has many people saying thanks...

Identity Theft on the Internet Pharming On Your Land
By now you have probably received at least one of those urgent emails. The one telling you that your account is about to be shut down unless you immediately update your personal information by clicking the link contained in the email. They may even have heightened the urgency by telling you that if you do not take immediate action that you could be facing a lawsuit. For what exactly is not clear but it does the trick by raising your stress level and forcing you to take instant action....

Protecting Yourself From Identity Theft Someone Call a Cab
We've seen it on a daily basis. Someone that is overloaded with luggage or has one shopping bag to many tries to hail a cab. Then you watch them get inside which may be a production unto itself. After arriving at their destination exiting the cab can also be a study in comedy. But at least they get where they are going. However you do not need to be overloaded with baggage to realize that you left something inside the taxi. It can be anything from keys to wallets or cell phones....

Catching A Cheating Spouse Are They Using This Technique To Fool You
Movies can be great examples of how difficult it is catching a cheating spouse. In the classic comedy of the nineteen sixties A Guide For The Married Man, philandering husband Art Carney comes home from work and purposely starts a fight with his wife played by America's favorite redhead Lucille Ball. It's a brief but ferocious scene which in the end has the desired effect. Carney storms out of the house in mock outrage and it's not too long afterward that he shows up at the door of his...

Click here to see More Articles by Daryl Campbell
Publishers / Webmasters
Tell A Friend
Leave A Comment!
Download this article in PDF
Report Article!
Search through all the articles:


140 Users Online !
Related Articles:
Latest Articles:
 
crime >> Top 50 Articles on crime
Category - >
Advertising Advice Affiliate Programs Automobiles
Be Your Own Mentor Careers Communication Consumers
CopyWriting Crime Domain Names DoT com Entrepreneur Corner
Ebooks Ecommerce Education Email
Entertainment Environment Family Finance And Business
Food & Drink Gardening Health & Fitness Hobbies
Home Business Home Improvement Humour House Holds
Internet And Computers Kiddos and Teens Legal Matters Mail Order
Management Marketing Marriage MetaPhysical
Motivational MultiMedia Multi Level Marketing NewsLetters
Pets Psychology Religion Parenting
Politics Sales Science Search Engine Optimization
Site Promotion Sports Technology Travel
Web Development Web Hosting WeightLoss Women's Corner
Writing Miscellaneous Articles Real Estate Arts And Crafts
Aging


Disclaimer: The information presented and opinions expressed in the articles are those of the authors
and do not necessarily represent the views of bharatbhasha.net and/or its owners.


Copyright © AwareINDIA. All rights reserved || Privacy Policy || Terms Of Use || Author Guidelines || Free Articles
FAQs Link To Us || Submit An Article || Free Downloads|| Contact Us || Site Map  || Advertise with Us ||
Click here for Special webhosting packages for visitors of this website only!
Vastu Shastra

Linux Hosting Provided By AwareIndia