Kathy Baker Identity Theft

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Single mother of four, Kathy Baker, lives from paycheck to paycheck trying to provide for her and her family. While browsing the vicious world wide web she came across an add reading “Get Cash FAST! No credit check needed just one click away!”. Desperate for cash with Christmas approaching Ms. Baker went against her better judgement and clicked on the add, filled out the paperwork, and patiently waited for her approval mail. With just one click Kathy Baker became a victim of identity theft.
Identity theft is a crime whereby criminals impersonate individuals, usually for financial gains. This crime is more likely to happen than getting your car stolen because every two seconds in the United States of America alone there is a new victim of …show more content…

The scariest part of having your identity stolen is that it can happen by doing some of the most basic things. No one ever thinks that a trip to the bank can result in having your identity stolen, but it can. While you are handling business with your personal bank teller the guy to the left of you can listen to your account information and use it for their personal favor, or sell it to a buyer. Either of these can result in fraudulent withdrawals from your account. This could also happen from a form of theft called “shoulder surfing”. Shoulder surfing is the technique where someone watches over your shoulder as you put in information such as your pin number at the atm. According to 2017 a study by the Ponemon institute 87% of people have have encountered these type of criminals. Along from scam ads and eavesdroppers the people you would least suspect can also steal what is most important to …show more content…

A thief may use your health insurance number to see a doctor or to get prescription drugs. These records can be obtained simply by visiting the doctor’s office and asking for your medical records. This can be detected in various ways because of all the red flags that pop up. Medical insurance is how majority of Americans pay for doctor visits and being denied is something to dread, especially for a medical condition you do not have. This is a sign of medical theft, your medical records showing conditions that you have never been diagnosed with or a bill for medical services you have not received. Another sign maybe a notice from your healthcare plan saying you have reached your benefit limit. Sixty-five percent of victims of medical identity theft pay an average of $13,500 to fix this crime making it more expensive to fix than credit card fraud. Th even more complicated part is finding out when you became the victim. On average victims learn about their credentials more than three months following the crime, and 30 percent do not know when they became victims. According to research done by Ponemon institute medical theft also have a negative impact on reputation. Forty- five percent of respondents say that embarrassment came in due to the exposure of personal health information. Medical records can also be released during a data breach, which is a cause of identity

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