Public records Public risk!

Everyone in the world is at risk of falling victim to identity theft. Infants, the deceased and even (Believe it or not) criminals!  Yes people have stolen wanted criminals identities an then been arrested on the warrants of those criminals, a bit of poetic justice perhaps.

In America, one of the things that opens us to risk is "public records".  Many of the things we do everyday becomes a matter of public record.   Have you ever called the police?  Your complaint is a matter of public record.   Have you ever filed a court case?  Public record.  Have you ever received a ticket or been arrested?  Again public record.

There are companies in existence that will for a small fee, give you access to public records.   Identity thieves know this and take advantage of it.  So how could an identity thief do this?  Let's look at one of the common variations of the "Second Mortgage" scam.  The second mortgage scam is when a thief cashes out the equity on your home by placing a second mortgage.

It can go something like this.  The thieves will choose a nice middle class neighborhood.  They case the area looking for older people at the homes.  As they drive along they spot an older man say 50 or more years old.  They will note the address.  They can then use a reverse directory to find out the name of the person that lives there.  A quick trip to the courthouse or Tax Assessor's Office can not only tell them who owns the home but often if it is paid for.  They can also go through a title search company.  What the thieves end up with is the information on the homeowner. 

They then begin the con of applying for a mortgage on the home.  Since many of these second mortgages never require face to face contact the mortgage company approves the loan, never realizing that it is an identity thief who is applying.  The thief takes the money with no intentions of paying it back.  Meanwhile the homeowner has no idea someone has gotten a loan using his home as collateral until he either gets a bill or a notice of foreclosure.

The thieves simply picked his home out of all the others in the block and used public records to obtain all the necessary information about the homeowner and the value of the home.

This method can also work with criminal histories.  Criminal history is also a matter of public record.  All you have to do is contact the state agency that stores the record, and follow the request procedures.  The state will send you a copy of the person's criminal history.  They can verify if a person has a clean record or minor charges.  If the thief wants to cover his own activities he can simply slip into a nice fresh clean identity, the victim is none the wiser.  When they thief gets arrested his history shows him to be squeaky clean.  The judge will set low or no bail and the criminal is long gone leaving an innocent victim to face the charges.

Opting out of marketing lists will do nothing to prevent your information from being released.  Once it is public record any member of the public can request copies of that information.

We need to realize that we are ALL at risk.  We can minimize our risk by taking proper steps to protect ourselves but you cannot ever completely eliminate it.  You can only be vigilant and prepared should it happen to you.  To make sure you are truly prepared, an identity theft product that offers total restoration like Identity Theft Shield can drastically lower your losses.  With the new IDT Gold plan you get constant monitoring of all three major credit repositories.  Immediate notification allows you and the licensed investigator assigned to you to take steps before the situation escalates.