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Identity Theft is the fastest-growing crime in America, affecting half a million new victims each year. Identity Theft or Identity Fraud is the taking of another person's identity to obtain credit, credit cards from banks and retailers, steal money from a victim's existing accounts, apply for loans, establish accounts with utility companies, rent an apartment, file bankruptcy, or obtain a job using the victim's name. Thousands of dollars can be stolen without the victim knowing about it for months or even years. The crime of Identity theft is governed by Missouri revised statute 570.223.
How Thieves Ruin Your Credit
How Your Wallet Can Hurt You
What can I do?
Take the Vulnerablility Test
- Act immediately. Contact the Missouri Attorney General's Office with your complaint.
- Have a Fraud Alert placed on the account(s).
- Notify the police, your bank, your credit card companies, and the Fraud Units at the credit bureaus.
Remember…
The person who steals your identity may be someone you have never met and will, in all likelihood, never meet.
In our society they only need a minimum amount of information about you to ruin your financial status and reputation.
Be aware and take some simple steps to help lessen the chance that you will be a victim of identity theft.
From the Federal Trade Commission:
www.privacyrights.org
www.fraud.org
www.identitytheft.org/faq.htm
Federal Trade Commission
www.identitytheft911.org/home.htm
National No Call Registry
Social Security Administration (Identity Theft and your social security number)
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