Identity Theft 101

Did you know:

that an identity thief could steal your credit identity to obtain money and property by using and ruining your good credit?
that the FBI calls identity theft the fastest growing white-collar crime in America?
that the Federal Trade Commission released a report in September 2003 stating that almost 10 million Americans were victims of identity theft in the last 12 months?
that individual victims of identity theft reported over $5 Billion in out of pocket expenses?
that Travelers Insurance was the first insurer to offer you protection for the expenses that face identity theft victims as they work to repair the damage caused by this crime?
that Travelers offers you the ability to add identity theft protection to your Travelers homeowners, condo or renters policy?

In cases of identity fraud, criminals steal the identities of innocent consumers by theft of Social Security numbers and other forms of personal identification. While generally not liable for the bad debts that the criminal accumulates, the consumer-victim of identity fraud is left with a damaged credit history that can take considerable time and money to restore. In its study released in September 2003, the Identity Theft Resource Center reported victims spent an average of $1,495 in out-of-pocket expenses and 609 hours to clean up the mess resulting from the identity theft.

Identity fraud is a crime rapidly increasing in frequency, especially in this era of electronic record keeping, online financial transactions, and the Internet's ability to rapidly distribute information. Recent federal legislation allows consumers to seek restitution for expenses from the criminal that carried out the identity fraud. However, actually obtaining such restitution might prove impossible if the criminal isn't caught or if there is a long list of creditors seeking similar restitution.

Expenses covered include legal expenses, loan re-application fees, telephone and certified mailing charges, notary expenses, and lost wages for time taken off from work to deal with the fraud.