Look, we all know that Identity Theft is an epidemic, and that unfortunately it isn't going anywhere. It's a "Hot Topic" for the media, and especially early afternoon talk shows. It's terrible! Somehow, somewhere, somebody slipped up and let somebody else obtain their information. It's not the victim's fault, these ID theft specialists are pretty crafty. If they get enough info, they will take you to the cleaner's for certain. I have heard many stories myself. If you fall victim to Financial Identity Theft, it could take weeks, even months to get it all straightened out. Hopefully, you'll be lucky enough to break back even in the long run, right?
What if I told you that these are the lucky ones? You see, there is a whole different type of Identity Theft out there, it is labeled as Criminal Identity Theft. Criminal Identity Theft is when the perptrator (ID THIEF) uses an individuals personal information in the commission of crimes. It works out great for the perp. Let's say he/she gets arrested for any reason. If he is convincing enough, he can totally get away with having these crimes go on the victims record instead of his own. If he gets out on a bond before his court date, what does he care if he shows up to court or not. Are you following me, he skips bail and the victim unknowingly has warrants for his/her arrest.
That's not all. Sometimes the perp actually does get convicted and serves a sentence, all under the victim's name. These crimes all go on the victims Criminal Background Check and the victim still has no idea at all. When the victim does find out, that's just the beginning of the hardships. Usually the victim has no idea until someone runs a Criminal Background Check, usually for employment reasons. Once they find out, there's really not much he/she can do about it. It is a long tedious process of spending hours a day, every day for months (sometimes years) being passed around from one person who has no idea what to do, to another, until eventually you are re-calling the same people in the circle of the clueless.
In my particular case, even though I caught it early, there were still issues of the Police making grave mistakes in fixing the problem. Mostly because they were embarrassed that they were fooled in the first place. So they tried to fix it without the only person who could fix it finding out. So they put a band-aid over a gaping hatchet-wound, so to speak. So paperwork never got filed and never got in the right hands. Now, not only are the 4 felonies that he got under my name on my CBC, but also every crime that this career criminal did under his own name. Now my Criminal Background Check shows me as being convicted of Capital Murder, because my name is his ALIAS (The only way the Police could not look stupid). If you think that can't affect you more than just a few thousand dollars, try getting a decent job with my record. Also, up until recently, I had warrants for my arrest in the great State of texas for the last 10 years. Which, by the way, is where all of my family lives. Almost all victims of Criminal Identity Theft that have contacted me have a similar story. Few have even got near as far as I have in resolving it.
For a REAL example of how Criminal Identity Theft can affect the victim: Read "GOOD NAME GONE" my own personal tragedy at : http://thestorytellerblog.com
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=John_Shelby
