When it hits

Identity theft is a nightmare that seems to be terrorizing an increasing number of people.

Most of us are inclined to think it’s something that only happens to somebody else — until it strikes home on a personal basis.

We’re talking about identity theft, and it is no small matter. Anyone who has been through such an ordeal can tell numerous horror stories and they do not have to make up anything outlandish. It’s usually every bit as bad as it sounds.

More than 17 million Americans have been victims of identity theft in the past years, according o the Federal Trade Commission. This has cost individual victims more than $5 billion and business and financial institutions almost $48 billion. Those are billions, not millions. The FTC has a new survey that shows that in the past year alone, 9.9 million people were hit by identity theft.

“For several years we have been seeing anecdotal evidence that identity theft is a significant problem that is on the rise,” says Howard Beales, director of consumer protection for the FTC. “Now we know. It is affecting millions of consumers and costing billions of dollars.”

The condition occurs when someone gets identifying information on somebody else or some firm and uses it to make purchases or other financial commitments. Credit card numbers, Social Security numbers, bank account information, hospital and medical records, these and many other factors figure in the criminal mix.

In 2002, the FTC received 161,819 complaints of identity theft. That is double the total for the year before, and experts admit that a number of people never report the crime. The Justice Department estimates that as many as 700,000 Americans are hit annually and the cost averages more than $1,000 each to correct the damage to their accounts and reputations.

Not surprisingly, credit card fraud was the most common form of identity theft last year. It accounted for 42 percent of the formal complaints to the FTC. Second at 22 percent was telephone or utility fraud while bank fraud comes in at 17 percent.

Those trained in the field advise consumers to check their credit reports twice a year, shred personal documents before discarding them and clear wallets of old receipts and printed Social Security numbers which can fall into errant hands.

In 2001, the FTC introduced a Web site and toll-free telephone number for “IT” victims, and these have helped many. But the totals keep rising as increasing numbers of crooks figure ways to exploit the system for improper gain.

Victims of identity theft stress that while the loss of money can be quite damaging, even worse is the tarnish many get on their reputations for alleged bad debts and questionable purchases, such as for pornographic material.

Little wonder more people every day get more secretive and suspicious in their dealings, even with reputable firms and agencies. There are no pleasant stories from victims of identity theft.