While the idea of someone stealing a person’s life may seemlike a far-fetched notion, the fact that it continues to happen to millions ofpeople has become a terrifying reality.
Identity theft is affecting millions of U.S. consumers andpeople tend to still shrug off the warning signs.
“It’s a subtle crime,” said Dale Flowers, SouthernUniversity Chief of Police.
“It may take a while for the bills to start rolling in whereindividuals can detect something has been stolen.”
Though it is easy to go undetected, it is no menial crime.In a study conducted by research firm Javelin Inc., roughly 9.3 million peoplewere victims of identity theft in 2004.
That number is smaller than the victim count of 2003, whenthe Federal Trade Commission discovered 10.1 million people had suffered fromidentity theft.
Still, the statistics of last year projects that one inevery 23 consumers experienced some form of it.
Identity theft occurs when someone uses personal informationsuch as the name, social security number, credit card number or otheridentification material of another person to perform fraud or other relatedcrimes.
Those who fall victim to this crime can spend years tryingto clean up their credit record. Victims are also at risk of losing their jobs,being rejected for loans or in some instances, being arrested. There arevarious types of frauds that are committed.
According to 101-identitytheft.com, the leading type oftheft in Louisiana is credit card fraud. Phone and utilities fraud follows,with bank fraud and government documents and benefit fraud coming in at thirdand fourth. Employment related fraud is fifth, and loan fraud is sixth. Notonly is identity theft occurring in corporate America, college campuses acrossthe country are just as much at risk.
“It’s a new age,” said Robert Bennett, dean of Student Life.”Students think, it won’t happen to me.”
Lynn Dickerson, assistant vice chancellor of Student Affairs,believes that identity theft is something that every student should beconcerned about. “College students buy a lot of things off of the Internet, andthat makes them more vulnerable,” Dickerson said.
“College students are also more prone to share theirinformation with colleagues and friends, which is another way they make theirinformation accessible.”
Dickerson and Bennett agree that students should be moreconscious of the environment they are in when dealing with personalinformation.
“Be observant of the place you are at and the people you arearound,” Bennett said.
“Destroy your receipts and statements by shredding them,then throw them away.”
Students should not carry important documents like socialsecurity cards or birth certificates around unless they are needed that day.Students can also remain safe by reducing the number of credit cards they carryaround. Locking car doors, keeping billing statements in a safe places andchecking credit card and bank statements every month to look for suspicious orunauthorized charges can also aid in preventing identity theft
Identity theft is a serious issue. Students, particularly,are urged to be aware of it and protect themselves. “It’s the crime of thefuture,” Flowers said.
