Identity Thieves

 

If you have been inhabiting this world for the past twenty years or so, you will realize that beneath the glamorous and teeming surface there are dens of thieves watching, waiting and lurking to steal your identity.

Even when you conduct your life like a stealth mission and there is the one time you decide  not to be so uptight about everything, that is the moment when the criminals have a field day.

You may think they have gotten fed up from watching you and resumed their regular activities. Oh no, they are committed to the cause of stealing your identity. So on the one occasion where you may decide to throw caution to the wind, they will be right there memorizing every leaked detail they can get.

Nowadays, when you use your credit cards or financial information you have to look over your shoulder making sure no one is watching or that the individuals recording the information are not secretly copying it to use it at a later date.

Even when you go to open accounts at financial institutions and they begin to ask you for excessive amounts of identification please take that as a red flag to run, telling them thanks but no thanks.

The truth be told, in order to open any account pertaining to money transactions, you only need to show one of the following identifications. They are, a passport, driver’s license, or state id.

As a former human resources professional I am very familiar with the I-9 list of documentations. Therefore if these forms of identification are good for the American Government why are they not good enough for companies posing as financial institutions?

Unless they are thinking of misusing the identities of some of their choice customers. Recently I was conducting business and a certain company wanted all my pertinent forms of id. They wanted a picture of my social security card, a copy of my passport and my driver’s license information.

Although I had already given them my notary information, my business certificate information and a picture id, they wanted copies of my social security card, passport and driver’s license.

As far as I know this request is unacceptable and may even be illegal. Companies are only supposed to ask for one or the other. Generally a passport or driver’s license is good enough.

If you really think about it in some countries one is able to travel with a driver’s license. Therefore, I become extremely alarmed when people want more information than they are entitled to, and no matter how great their services are I run like hell when I feel they are overstepping regarding the id situation.

The thing is , when you give your information to companies they do not always secure it. At times any employee without clearance is able to access your personal information and misuse it for their own gain.

Some may feel I am making much ado about nothing, but recently my business credit card which I normally use for three very specific vendors was misused with excessive charges.  When I began delving in the matter I found out that someone within one of the three companies gained access to my card information and was having a field day.

As far as I am concerned if people can do that much damage with only credit card numbers , what would they do if they had access to the documents which are critical to your identity?

It is funny how they give these criminals free reign to misuse your information without any security measures being implemented. Yet, when you the person, who is wronged try to regain your power and take charge of your financial life they query you till thine kingdom come making you feel as if you are an impostor. Go figure!

As far as I am concerned when a consumer is wronged with identity theft and he or she has to replace credit cards and documents they should not be subjected to scrutiny and the third degree.

Companies act so foolishly when customers are forced to call twenty five times to make sure their accounts are up to par and issues are resolved. If they were criminals they would be scared away by the first set of grueling inquiries. Only a bold face criminal would keep calling and inquiring especially if he/she does not have all the information to complete an identity check.

I often find when companies give consumers a hard way to go and are more amicable towards the thieves, that they may not be above impropriety.