We all know that identity thieves are experienced in using stolen identities. If you put together the various ways that they can use your information, it is quite scary.

1) they can open new credit card accounts in your name. And if they are successful opening one account, you can believe they will go ahead and open as many as possible. Once this or these accounts are opened, they will charge up hefty bills that are never paid, which will eventually appear as delinquent on YOUR credit report. By the time you are aware of all of this, it will take a lot of time and effort to clear your name, if you can clear it. Resources are key in this process.

2) The billing address of current accounts can be changed to the address of the thief, once again giving them the opportunity to charge the card and leave a delinquent account.

3) Not only credit cards, but also new phone service or utilities (electricity, cable) can be started and charged in your name. The amount of services that can be charged before you become aware that the account even exists can be substantial.

4) With your stolen information, identity thieves can open a bank account in your name and create counterfeit checks.

5) Your ATM or debit card can be cloned so that withdrawals can be made from your bank accounts. Of course, you will realize this theft faster than that of a credit card you didn’t know existed, however, trying to prove that this was theft and not your own activity will be hard and it will be some time before you see any recovery of funds.

6) A loan can be taken out in your name as well. Depending on your credit standing, this can incur more debt that you would ever be able to repay.

We will bring you more information on ways that identity thieves use stolen information to create unwanted debt to the victim.

In the meantime, please look into protecting yourself right away.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 23rd, 2008 at 11:19 am and is filed under Articles Concerning Identity Theft. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.