Stop Identity Theft
I have always been very skeptical of giving out my personal information. There certainly are plenty of identity theft horror stories out there to make a person think about the information they give out.
The most recent edition of Reader’s Digest explores identity theft and lets readers know about the the latest target for theives: medical records. Most hospitals and medical facilities ask for your social security number every time you visit. You should ask for a good reason why these facilities need the number before you give it.
There have been cases of thieves stealing someone’s identity and getting medical attention, including surgery. So now they are scamming the insurance companies too.
In other ID theft news, roughly half of these crimes turn out to be perpetrated by friends or family members. Turns out family members are just as likely to steal your information.
Unfortunately, identity theft has occurred in my family. The receptionist at the doctor’s office used my sister-in-law’s information to apply for a credit card. Fortunately, she was caught.
About 3 years ago, we learned of someone in our family using another family member’s information to make some purchases. Enough said about that one.
Just be very cautious about giving out your information. Make sure you shred all your personal documents before disgarding them. And of course, with Christmas just around the corner, there will be crooks out there trying to take advantage of others. I’m not trying to make you paranoid, but please be cautious.
Tags: clark-howard, financial matters, identity-theft, Readers-Digest, stolen-identityRelated Stories
POSTED IN: financial matters, news, odds and ends
5 opinions for Stop Identity Theft
Melissa
Nov 26, 2006 at 5:31 pm
Karen,
I think today too many services are allowed to use SSN for identification/verification purposes. Now, person’s SSN is a secret that everyone knows. Once I applied for a credit card at Sears, and the employee started to verify the information I supplied on the application form by reading it out loud. Everyone is the line heard my SSN, and I could not stop the guy. It was unbelievable. I think it shows that we companies don’t treat this information as confidential or don’t teach their employees to.
Karen
Nov 26, 2006 at 8:46 pm
I remember about 12 years ago I was in a drug store and wrote a check. They wanted my social security number. I refused to give it to them and they would not take my check. So I walked out and they never got my business again.
Then another time I was in Belk and wrote a check. The cashier asked for my social. I refused to give it to her and she was quite rude about it. She pretty much said, “Fine. I’ll lose my job then.” I knew that wasn’t true because I have shopped in Belk for years and they have never asked for my SSN before.
Then there’s the doctor’s offices, hospital, etc that ask for it and I refuse them too, ESPECIALLY after what happened to my sister-in-law. Most places have been understanding. I did have a hospital receptionist here that got pretty rude with me. She told me she just HAD to have it and could not enter my son’s information in the computer without it. I told her that was fine, I would go to the other hospital up the road. I knew they would be glad to have my business. Suddenly, she was instantly able to bypass needing that information and we were seen.
Basically, you just have to stand your ground!!!
P.S. I don’t think I would have been too nice to the Sears person after that incident.
Kate
Nov 27, 2006 at 1:44 am
I am paranoid about this issue too. One of the things I did is to have my bank put a “no mailings” order on my account. Pre-authorized credit card applications are one of the easiet ways to perpetuate identity theft and all someone has to do to get the necessary information is look in your post box!
Karen
Nov 27, 2006 at 7:58 am
You’re right, Kate. You can stop the mailings. After we bought a house we started receiving 10 or more credit card applications a week. I was shredding all the time. I think you can also put a block on your credit which allows nothing to be approved without certain stipulations. (Sorry, I don’t know the rules on that one.) This is a REALLY good idea for military that are going overseas.
My husband thinks I am paranoid about this issue. I think I am cautious. But you know, this has happened to family members twice. It’s good that they caught it before the issue became serious!
It’s really important that people get yearly credit reports to make sure nothing fishy is going on.
Thrifty Mommy - How Well Do You Protect Your SSN?
Apr 2, 2007 at 9:28 pm
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