PROTECT YOURSELF AGAINST IDENTIFICATION THEFT.

• Author: BERNSTEIN, JODIE

"It can take a considerable amount of time, and sometimes money, to get all your credit accounts straightened out once an ID thief has struck."

IN THE COURSE of a busy day, you may write a check at the grocery store, charge tickets to a ballgame, rent a car, mail your tax returns, call home on your cell phone, order new checks, or apply for a credit card. Chances are you don't give these everyday transactions a second thought--but someone else may. The 1990s spawned a new variety of crooks called identity thieves, and your everyday transactions are their stock in trade.

Many of your transactions require you to share personal information: your bank and credit card account numbers; income; Social Security number (SSN); and name, address, and phone numbers. Con artists are hijacking this personal information to open new charge accounts, order merchandise, and/or borrow money. You probably won't know that you are a victim until the hijackers fail to pay the bills or repay the loans, and collection agencies begin dunning you to pay accounts you didn't even know you had.

The problem is big, and getting bigger. The numbers tell the story. Trans Union, one of the nation's major credit reporting agencies, reported that calls to its fraud line increased from 35,000 in 1992 to more than 500,000 in 1997. The U.S. Secret Service made nearly 9,500 ID theft-related arrests in 1997 involving losses of $745,000,000. MasterCard reported that, in 1997, 96% of its fraud losses of $407,000,000 involved ID theft. In 1999, the Social Security Administration received nearly 39,000 complaints about the misuse of Social Security numbers.

At the same time, consumer concerns with ID theft is soaring. The Federal Trade Commission's Identity Theft Hotline and Clearinghouse have received more than 16,000 calls and letters since they opened for business in November, 1999. It is anticipated that call volume will eventually grow to 200,000 a year. Tens of thousands of consumers have accessed the FTC's identity theft website--www.consumengov/idtheft--since its launch in September, 1999. More consumers are asking for information from the FTC about identity theft than any other subject.

Observers in both law enforcement and security note several reasons for the increase in ID theft. Criminals are using real names and credit card numbers in their fraud attempts instead of phony names and credit card or Social Security numbers. That creates real victims. There are more transactions taking place over the phone and the Internet...