The importance of early detection

I.D. Theft Guy

 


I have been working professionally with identity theft for over 10 years now. Over the last 10 years I have learned that early detection is vital to our livelihood, our personal freedom, our finances and even our very lives. The purpose of this article is to show that there is an early detection system available to all of us and solution for solving identity theft problems we don’t even know about. The stories you are about to read are true. The names of the victims have been changed to save them embarrassment and to protect their privacy. The good news is help is available for them.

In the field of medicine, early detection of many illnesses is essential to survival. With identity theft the same is true. Consider this: many people are sick for days, weeks or even years before they become aware of their illnesses. Take cancer for example. There is pre-screening for many types of cancer so early treatment can be given. Pre-screening has saved countless lives.

In the field of identity theft, pre-screening also exists in the form of complete background monitoring – not just your credit. In recent years identity theft “protection services” have spent enormous amounts of money in advertising focused on credit monitoring. However, when you are pulled over for a traffic violation, the officer will not ask you for a credit report or a credit card. You will be asked for your driver’s license - just one of your many identities. When you apply for a job, the prospective employer may look at everything from your driving record to your medical history to your criminal history depending on the type of work you are applying for. So wouldn’t you agree that it is very important to be running a constant background check on yourself and your family members? Here are a couple of examples of real life stories where background monitoring could have made a huge difference in the lives of the victims:

Vera, a stay at home mom was pulled over by a police officer because she had a taillight out on her car. During this routine traffic stop she learned that her identity had been used by a man who was convicted of murder, so she had a criminal record for murder. She was released to go home that day because they determined that the actual convict was deceased. If he was alive and had been wanted, she would very likely have been arrested and burdened with proof that she was not the murderer. Now she has to clean up a criminal record in her name. If she were to apply for a job, most employers would not hire her because of her “criminal” background.

Then there is Jason who applied for several jobs he was well qualified for. Jason was not even getting a call back from any of the companies he applied with. A friend asked him “have you ever done a background check on yourself?” to which he replied “no”. His friend encouraged him to run his background and to his dismay, he learned that an identity thief has used his personal information. He learned that his character/criminal record showed that “he” was currently sitting on death row. Jason had to hire an attorney to clean up the mess costing him many thousands of dollars. He could not work with this criminal record.

Then there is Anita who had been sending money via Western Union to her family in an African country. One day she learned that people in other countries were sending money into known terrorist countries using her account number. This could result in her being listed on a terrorist watch list and the federal no fly list. The number Western Union used to identify her was linked to her phone number. Yes! That’s right! Your phone number is one of your identities.

In our high tech world it is more important than ever to monitor your entire background through an early detection/warning system. This includes your name, address, social security number, driver’s license, passport, medical ID, email addresses, phone numbers, and then to have licensed investigators to help you clean up the mess. Thieves are experts at what they do. So, cleaning up the mess is a job best left to licensed experts who have the know-how and the authority to expunge records and to restore our entire identity back to pre-theft status.

Matthew Rice is a local identity theft expert. He is has been working with identity theft since 2005. He is available to speak to your church, service club, organization, or business. For further information, contact him at (661) 822-1127 or by email at mcrice77@yahoo.com with questions or comments.

 
 

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