Identity TheftDon't let it happen to you!Identity theft is when someone steals your identity using your Social Security Number (SSN) or other personal information. They use this information to steal money from you, or to apply for new accounts in your name, which you end up having to pay. It is said to be the fastest growing form of financial fraud affecting millions of everyday people like you and I. Basically, it involves someone impersonating you, typically followed by fast spending. How is this related to prepaid wireless? You might be asking yourself: "What in the world does this have to do with prepaid wireless?!" Along with not having to lock into a long term contract, and a number of benefits of prepaid wireless (read more here), prepaid plans do not require you to provide personal information. While they typically ask you for your name and address, you don't necessarily have to provide your real name, and you most certainly never have to provide your driver's license or social security number. The only exception tends to be if you're trying to setup payments using a bank account or credit card number; then they'll need to valid certain personal information. But the extend of that tends to be the last four digits of your SSN, and they're doing that only to validate that you are who you say you are, as opposed to collecting it for reporting to the credit bureaus (which they don't do!). The point is that prepaid wireless plans provide an excellent option for people who are concerned about identity fraud. It's one less account with personal information on it! How does it work? The perpetrator will collect personal information about you, they can do in a number of ways, including:
What are the impacts? Being a victim of identity theft not only hurts your reputation, but has a long lasting impact on your credit score, which affects your ability to get a home loan, get approved for a good rate on an auto loan, sign up for credit cards, and even getting different forms of insurance. Also, not only do you spend a lot of time resolving problems when you learn that your identity has been stolen, but there are also out of pocket costs for filling claims, lawyers fees, etc. According to a 2007 study by Identity Theft Resource Center (ITRC), identity fraud victims spent an average of $550.39 dollars in out-of-pocket expenses for damage done to an existing account, and an average of $1,865.27 for new accounts. This was an increase from the previous year. They also reported that victims spent an average of 116 hours repairing the damage done by identity fraud for existing accounts, and 157.87 hours for new accounts. The main point here is that identity theft is a serious problem and a big pain, both financially and in terms of personal time.
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