Protecting Your Identity and Personal Information

The 'cutting head' of a small shredder.

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Identity theft is one of the fastest growing crimes in the world. Advances in technology and the ability to send and receiving information over a wide range of Wi-Fi networks allows anyone with access to a computer to become potential prey for identity thieves.

Before you find yourself a victim of identity theft, there are a few things you can do to protect your personal information and your identity.

Shred Any Documents and Mail

Many people believe that ripping up documents and mail is enough to prevent identity thieves from stealing their identity. The problem is these thieves can easily piece together information and use it to open up credit cards and take out loans.

To prevent identity theft, shred all documents and mail with a crisscross shredder. This will cut everything up into tiny pieces so the thieves cannot gain access to any information.

Don’t Put Your Social Security Number on Papers

People don’t think twice about placing their social security number on documents such as those in the doctor’s or dentist’s office. However, placing that number on the paper can make you a victim of identity theft. When filling out papers for doctors or dentists ask why they need your SSN and if the reason isn’t good enough or they can’t process your insurance without then you can give it to them. Don’t just write it on random papers.

Shedding your documents and being very careful with your social security number can help you protect your personal information and your identity from identity thieves.

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Giving Back to the Community

From the perspective of a business, it is important to support the local community. As time goes by, you will have opportunities to become involved and lend a helping hand from time to time. Here are some tips to recognize and act on these ideas.

Sometimes helping out is in regard to the business world. Making business contacts is extremely important, and in your network you will likely have opportunities to give back, whether you are giving advice or donating something for a good cause. This can also be good for business and networking, as close ties to other businesses are a good idea.

Donating objects is another good idea that comes up from time to time. For instance, charitable events may take place within the community. If the event calls for donations, perhaps you could donate custom designed poker tables for the tournament. Adding the company logo could be a nice touch, putting the company name with the support that you are providing.

Be aware of more ways to give back to the community. Keeping a watchful eye on rallies, charitable events, and other opportunities are high on the list. These ideas may perhaps provide ways for your business to help out the community. While you can certainly put your name out there, more important is the intrinsic aspects of supporting your community. This will help transform your business into an active leader in the community, not just a place where business is conducted.

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Identity Theft and President Bush

During his eight years in the office as the President of the Unites States, George W Bush has been criticized profusely for a number of issues. From issues that range from how he handled the economy to the issues of the Iraq war. During his rule, the cases of Identity theft have increased by a huge number which has pushed Bush to pass on many acts to make identity theft cases fewer.

The identity theft criminals are well equipped and the people who fall for identity theft cases are incredibly stupid. This makes the part of stopping crimes that much harder for the governments. During President Bush’s rule, the cases of identity theft have increased by 40 percent. Almost half of consumer complaints received by the Federal Trade Commission are related to identity theft. Social security numbers are used by majority of Identity Thieves. Crimes involving social security number have increased by 500 percent. By 2002 the cases of identity thefts had caused losses worth $1 billion for the banking industry. On an average $18,000 was lost by every victim of Identity theft. Even after this huge number of identity losses, only three people were convicted of identity theft crime.

President bush has passed the The Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act in 2003 which has helped to a certain degree with solving problems of identity theft. This act orders all online merchants to delete all credit card information from these online business transaction systems. Only the last five digits can be saved and used by the merchants for detection purposes. This act also provided customers with a system of saving all information that can be used by criminals safely. Another act passed by Bush was the Identity Theft Penalty that charges criminals according to the crime they have committed. This act has also been useful in spreading more information about this law among people and pushed people to report if they have ever been criminals of identity theft. It can be said that president bush has done whatever he could, but only one person has been charged till now.

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Legal Laws to Protect From Identity Theft

Earlier people did not think twice before throwing out a credit bill or bank papers into the trash a few years back. Nowadays a common habit such as this will have a lot of consequences for the person who throws out these papers with important information. It could lead to thousands of dollars in loss and may be even take you to jail for the crime that the identity thief has committed. Before when people use to lose their credit card information, they would call their banks and creditors and settle all disputes. But with more and more innovative identity thieves taking birth, a person has to know all the legal laws. In a 2004 estimate, more than 27 million Americans have been victims of various identity thefts. There has been a constant 33 percent increase in identity theft cases since 2003 and has pushed government

In the United States all identity theft covering laws are not held under one common law. Many crimes of identity thefts go unreported. Several agencies investigate identity theft cases like the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Secret Service. The local U.S Attorney’s office prosecutes the cases by the Department of Justice. Most cases go directly to the court instead of a compliant being filed. Since most of the criminals of identity theft are hard to detect, the court cases are mostly to recover back the money lost. The IRS has also found tax returns for identity theft cases. Many cases are frequent claims which push the IRS to investigate about the claims.

The first law that defines the identity theft law was passed in 1998 called the Identity Theft and Assumption Deterrence Act. This law made is easier for courts to prosecute criminals of identity theft. In 2004 another act known as the Identity Theft Penalty Enhancement Act defines various penalties for different identity theft cases. People who have committed serious identity theft crimes were charged with higher penalties. Depending on the money they steal from how many number of people also depending on the identities these criminals used, the punishment is based.

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