† ID Theft Victims Support Group of North America †

WHY ARE YOU HERE
By coming to this web site page,  you have probably already become a "Victim of Identity Theft." If not you, maybe a family member, neighbor, friend, co-worker or business colleague has.

Or maybe you have heard about all the news stories about "Identity Theft Victims" and have said "There's No Way That Could Happen To Me".  That is similar to what 40 million plus victims said.

Full blown "Identity Theft" can cost you 1200 to 2000 hours of your time and $10,000 to $20,000 of out-of-pocket expenses.  If you have the time and money to lose, then this web site is not for you.

If you can not afford the time and money losses, then you must read through the rest of this web site.

We  will be offering "Identity Theft Awareness and Prevention Seminars" in forty-two cities through-out the country this year.  Depending on host city locations, your investment to "NOT BECOMING A VICTIM" will be  less than $50.00.

"Identity Theft Prevention is like giving your car's engine an oil change.  If you wait until the red warning lights start flashing, you could end up with some very costly damage.". 

Has someone stolen your "Identity"??

It could be your debit or credit cards, checkbook, driver's license, or your social security card number.

Now you are a "Victim of Identity Theft".

What do you do?  Where do you go for help?  How do you assess the damage?

Most victims become victims again by the current systems in place.  According to the Federal Trade Commission, 67% of all victims never file a police report.

By now you are over-whelmed with what has happened. First your in shock; then you try to figure out how it happen; then you get angry. You cannot understand how somehow could do this to you. You have no idea of what direction you need to go to clear up the problem.

THIS IS WHY?

For the fifth year in a row, identity theft topped the Federal Trade Commission's list of most-reported frauds, the agency announced Tuesday (Feb 1,2005). The number of complaints about ID theft jumped 15 percent from the previous year, the agency said -- and represent about 40 percent of all consumer complaints.

The FTC concluded that 40 million adults (A/O 12/31/04) had been victimized by some form of ID theft in the past six years. Victims spend between 30 and 2000 hours cleaning up the problem, depending on how severe the theft is (one credit card stolen or your whole wallet), the agency said.

ID theft can be extremely lucrative for criminals, the survey found, who can walk away with over $10,000 per victim when they manage a full-blown identity theft.

Despite consumers' increased willingness to share information with the Federal Trade Commission, many still aren't telling law enforcement agencies about their crimes. About 61 percent told the FTC they didn't complain to a local police department. Another 8 percent went to police, but did not get a police report. That is 28 Million Victims of “ID Theft” that never hit the police blotters. That's important because several consumer rights are only available to those who obtain police reports which confirm the incident.

Less than two (2 %) of all “Identity Thieves” are ever caught and convicted. So the best protection is not avoidance, but awareness and prevention. Recent reports suggest that a new “ID Theft Victim” occurs in Texas every 8 minutes. Texas is now number two (2) in victims behind California.

Didn't 9/11 teach us what can be done when stolen credit cards, ID’s, and drivers licenses are in the hands of criminals and terrorist. Each terrorist came into the U.S. with at least 5 different fake personas (2004-U.S. Congressional 9/11 Report).

Here is one prevention step that is available but not used. Most, if not all, credit and debit cards have a four digit password code available for ATM Withdrawals/Cash Advances (these codes have been used since 1975-BankAmeriCard was the first). These codes could be used on gas pumps (First place Identity Thieves Test the stolen card).