Identity
theft, possibly one of the country's fastest-growing white-collar
crime, can happen to anyone, even golf-legend Tiger Woods. According to
an article in the Sacramento Bee on December 19, an identity thief used
Woods' name and Social Security number to rent cars, open new accounts,
and defraud him of $17,000.
Because
of his celebrity status, Woods was able to quickly bring his thief to
court and speed up the process of cleaning up his good name and credit
history. Unfortunately, most victims are not this lucky, and spend an
average of 175 hours to clear their names, according to the May 2000
PIRG report, Nowhere To Turn. According to industry estimates, 750,000
Americans will become victims of identity theft this year.
Identity
theft occurs when an unauthorized person uses pieces of your personal
financial information, such as your Social Security number, to open new
accounts in your name or to access your current accounts. In Tiger
Woods' case, a thief applied for credit at a furniture store and put
money down on a new Lexus. Thieves have also been known to rent
apartments, establish phone service, obtain drivers' licenses, and
commit crimes in their victims' names. They can obtain the information
in various ways, including going through trashcans, purchasing
information over the Internet or from "inside" sources in companies or
government agencies and stealing wallets.
"There
are two parts to the crime of identity theft: the first is when a thief
gains access to your personal information. The second is when the thief
uses that information to trick creditors and the credit reporting
agencies into granting him credit in your name," said Emily Hoopes,
Consumer Advocate with CoPIRG. "Until the credit industry tightens up
its sloppy information handling practices, we are all vulnerable to
identity thieves," continued Hoopes.
