By: Jo Johnson | Category: Financial Services | Issue: September 2007
Curtis Martin and Dr. Ron Kite discuss identity theft preparedness with a client.
The threat is real, and everyone is at risk. In fact, according to the Federal Trade Commission, also known as the FTC, you do not have to be wealthy to be a target. Identity theft is an equal opportunity crime, and can strike regardless of your age, race or gender.” FTC statistics show “an estimated one in five of us have or will be victimized by this crime.” When thinking about identity theft, most people immediately think of financial or credit identity. Unfortunately, although the mainstream media has focused primarily on credit-related identity, it is actually one of the lowest forms of identity theft occurring today.
In reality, more than 70 percent of identity theft occurrences are non-credit-related and involve the other four types of identity theft:
The mainstream media does not alert people, however, about what to do when you are arrested in the middle of the night for a crime someone else committed in your name. Do not call your credit card institution! It only addresses part of the problem with identity theft issues. Pryor Mayor Jimmy Tramel says, “The city of Pryor has utilized the services of Dr. Ron Kite and Mr. Curtis Martin to provide the much needed expert advice on dealing with this tough issue. As mayor, I strongly endorse the expertise of Dr. Kite and Mr. Martin to assist either your company or you as an individual family to resolve any issues that you have with this horrific crime.” If you are a victim of identity theft today or if you become a victim in the future, you will need:
Dr. Kite and Mr. Martin provide these services to help victims overcome identity theft and to keep others protected.
An article in Your Business magazine states, “Understanding how criminals access your information may not keep them from stealing your identity, but knowledge is the key to protecting and reclaiming what belongs only to you.” Even though it seems like it would be very difficult to have your identity stolen, thieves can steal it very easily in countless ways. All he or she needs is access to certain key pieces of information that belong to you, which is much easier to obtain than one realizes. One of the easiest methods being used by thieves is to just pass by you within close proximity in a crowd of people. Recently, CNN did a special report on “Dateline” showing the public that there is a virtual, worldwide black market on the web where individuals buy and sell stolen credit cards and Social Security numbers.
There are several things you can do in order to protect yourself from becoming a victim of America’s fasting-growing crime.
Betsy Broder, assistant director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, which oversees the agency’s identity theft team, says, “Only about half the people who are victimized by identity theft can say how it happens, such as having their wallet stolen. The rest of the identity theft cases could be caused by thieves stealing electronic data or it could be from thieves stealing something from the trash.”
In its article When Bad things Happen to Your Good Name, the FTC states, “People whose identities have been stolen can spend months or years – and thousands of dollars – cleaning up the mess the thieves have made of their good name and credit record.”
Dr. Kite and Mr. Martin would like to provide to you at no obligation an answer to the following questions:
By contacting Dr. Kite at (918) 747-9803 or Mr. Martin at (918) 274-3635, you will receive additional information on how to avoid being a victim of identity theft. You can also take a no-obligation quiz, which will allow you to personally see if you are a potential victim of this horrible crime, as well as steps to take to minimize the possibility of becoming a statistic. Please call the experts today to get this free quiz and see how you stack up.
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