Identity theft is one of the fastest growing crimes in America.
According to the Federal Trade Commission, some sort of identity theft affected almost 10 million people in 2003.
Identity theft is defined by the Federal Trade Commission, as another person using your personal information, name, social security number, credit card and other identifying information without your permission to commit a crime or fraud.
In Louisiana identity fraud is prevalent, especially amongst college students.
“Teachers usually want you to write your entire social security number when you sign their roll,” said Brittany Howard, a freshman nursing major from Savannah, GA.
University students are usually distinguished in classes by their social security numbers, and that can lead to problems.
” Since the roll is passed around the entire classroom, I always try to write only the last 4 digits to stop problems from occurring,” she said.
It is very easy to commit fraud with another person’s name and social security number.
Criminals open credit card accounts, obtain cellular phones and even in some cases, go to jail and acquire police records under their new alias.
The Federal Trade Commission suggests that people never carry their Social Security card or too many credit cards with them. They photocopy credit card information and keep it in a safe place just in case it needs to be cancelled and never give out personal information to solicitors.
“I try to leave all my credit cards at home whenever I go out,” said Tyrice Munson, a junior nursing major from Shreveport.
“It is very easy to lose or have your purse stolen and I do not want to put myself at risk,” she said.
The Identity Fraud Data Clearinghouse shows there were 724 Louisiana identity theft victims in 2001, with 58 of those occurring in Baton Rouge.
Before alerting the police of a possible identity fraud case, they suggest alerting the three major credit bureaus first, so they can place a fraud alert on your credit file, and closing all accounts that have been tampered with.
Louisiana is among one of the 42 states in America that has laws against identity fraud.
