Identity theft is one of the fastest growing crimes in the country, affecting
approximately 900,000 new victims each year. This is also a crime that particularly
impacts elders, many of whom have attractive credit identities to steal. Compared
to younger consumers, seniors, in general, have better credit ratings and less
debt. Elder consumers in some cases are also less aware of the potential dangers
of identity theft and may take fewer precautions to protect themselves. Reflecting
this concern, the Senate Special Committee on Aging held a hearing, “Identity
Theft: The Nation’s Fastest Growing Crime Wave Hits Seniors” on July
18, 2002. In addition, NCLC released a new Consumer Facts on this topic, Protecting
Yourself from Identity Theft.
According to the FTC, some of the most common ways that identity thieves steal
from consumers include:
opening a new credit card account, using the consumer’s name, date
of birth, and Social Security number.
calling the consumer’s credit card issuer and pretending to be the
consumer, changing the mailing address on the credit card account. The identity
thief then runs up charges on the consumer’s account.
establishing cellular phone service in the consumer’s name.
opening a bank account in the consumer’s name and writing bad checks
on that account.
Unfortunately, this is not an exhaustive list. Technological advances intended
to help consumers often have the unintended consequence of keeping identity thieves
in business. In many cases, it has become all too easy for these imposters to
gain access to private information and ruin a consumer’s good credit history
and credit standing.
and NCLC