Introduction to Identity Theft

The day begins just like any other one normally would.  You’re on your way to work in the morning and realize you need to make a quick pit stop at the gas station before you run out of fuel completely.  You fill up the tank and grab a coffee and newspaper once inside the store.  You offer the cashier your credit card and are stunned when she tells you that it has been rejected.  As the wave of embarrassment rushes over you, you fumble around in your pockets for enough cash to cover the entire bill.  On the way out you stop at the ATM to replace the money you had in your pocket and to your horror the screen tells you that your account has insufficient funds.  Panicked now, you arrive at the office and immediately check your online credit card and bank statements.  Your checking account is in overdraft which means there must be some kind of mistake as you know there was enough in there for the next mortgage payment and then some.  Your credit card statement shows thousands upon thousands of dollars worth of purchases over the last two weeks that you know you didn’t make.  When you finally call the bank to find out what’s going on they pass you over to a supervisor who tells you that the loan you recently applied for has been denied.  Because you’ve applied for credit at a number of other places within the last month they aren’t comfortable in extending a loan to you based on your current debt load. 

With your head spinning and thoughts coming at you a million a minute you finally realize…you have just become the latest victim of Identity Theft.