Identity Theft Knows No Boundaries
New study highlights crime's impact on African Americans
Columbus, OH (BlackNews.com) - A new financial identify theft survey, one of the first to examine how the crime affects African Americans, reveals that no ethnic group in the U.S. is safe and that all struggle equally to recover when their identity is stolen. The consumer poll, released today by Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company, uncovered unique differences in how the crime impacts the daily lives of different populations.
In a crime where time is of the essence to prevent further loss of assets, the survey indicated it took African-American victims two months longer than the general population to discover the crime.
"Educating the entire population is key to early detection and ultimately prevention of the crime in the first place," said Kirk Herath, chief privacy officer and associate general counsel for Nationwide. "In addition, providing support in the identity recovery phase can speed response time, protect assets and preserve an individual's integrity."
The survey results also indicated African Americans also are more likely than other victims to have the crime target their checking or savings account.
There also were other slight differences. African-American victims spent an average of 54 hours trying to resolve their case and victims from the random sample average 53 hours. Thieves racked up an average of $2,914 in charges using an African-American victim's identity. The general population averaged $3,240 in fraudulent charges.
"While there are interesting differences among the various ethnicities, identity theft is a crime with the potential to impact anyone," Herath said.
It takes African American victims just as long as other victims from the random sample to restore their identity. One in four African-Americans financial identity theft victims have not been able to restore their identities despite averaging nearly nine months trying, according to the new survey. These findings mirror a survey of the general population conducted by Nationwide last July. The survey also shows 95 percent of all victims - regardless of ethnic background - say they were frustrated or had difficulty trying to restore their identity. African-American victims gave a variety of answers on what was the most difficult or frustrating aspect of the crime:
20 percent of African-American victims say the worst part is having their privacy invaded. "The thought that someone could and did invade my privacy and charge medical things to my account," Dallas
18 percent of African Americans say they were most frustrated with not knowing how their personal information was obtained in the first place. "Overall, the most difficult/frustrating aspect of my financial identity theft has been with the person who did this to me. Who was the person? Was it someone I knew?" Atlanta
10 percent of African Americans say they were most frustrated by all of the paperwork, phone calls, closing and opening of accounts, etc., that need to be done to resolve the case. "The red tape was awful and it took too long to resolve the issues with paperwork. There was also no real-time access. I kept getting placed on hold or transferred several times to different representatives," New York City
According to Herath, there are things anyone can do to protect their identity:
Always sign the back of your credit cards and watch your card when transactions occur. Or, instead of signing the card write, "Ask for Photo ID." Check your statements with receipts to make sure the charges are correct. Notify all card companies of address changes.
Avoid leaving cards out for others to see the numbers and don't let others borrow your credit cards
Buy a shredder and shred any papers with personal information before throwing the papers away.
Participate in the annual free credit report program to verify all transactions on your credit report. (www.annualcreditreport.com)
Keep a record of all your account numbers, company names, expiration dates and toll free numbers in a location separate from your cards in case they become stolen.
Avoid giving your account number out on the phone or internet unless you are certain you are dealing with a trustworthy company.
Never respond directly to an e-mail asking you for personal information. Instead, go to your web browser and contact the company to determine the e-mail's authenticity.
"You need to take all these steps to protect yourself, but you also need a safety net," Herath concluded. "The survey clearly illustrates that most victims had to find out about the crime themselves and are on their own when dealing with it. Most recognize that recovery can be hard work, and very time consuming and that is why it is helpful for victims to have someone working on their behalf that will treat the crime like an emergency."
The survey also provides a statistical snapshot of identity theft victims. According to the survey, the most common African-American victim is a 38-year-old woman who is a college graduate or has some college education. The most common general population victim is a 46-year-old white male, who is married and a college graduate or has some college education. Victims in each group had an average household income between $50,000 and $75,000.
Independent Associate
Identity Theft Specialist/Small Business Specialist
Esther
585-503-4114
http://www.estherpinkston.com
Posted By: Esther Pinkston
Saturday, August 16th 2008 at 4:02PM
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