Privacy Means Profit: Prevent Identity Theft and Secure You and Your Bottom Line

Chapter 10. The Seventh Mind-Set: Monitor the Signs

As an added layer of protection, we must keep close tabs on the various red flags that indicate our identity may have been stolen. Generally, the best strategy is to catch identity theft in its earliest stages, before it becomes a more difficult problem to solve.

Over the past three years, stolen data that was subsequently used in less than one week jumped from 33 to 71 percent.^[18] Clearly, identity thieves are counting on our lackadaisical attitude toward monitoring our wealth.

Victim #3,903,392: Friendly Fraud

Dixie's sister, Danny, came to live with her for the spring. Recently out of drug rehab, Danny didn't have a way to make ends meet and needed help getting back on her feet. Dixie, a deeply caring and religious person, decided to fill that role. Unfortunately, it didn't take Danny long to revert to her old habits.

Danny began using drugs almost immediately after her release, and stealing petty cash from Dixie's home that she believed would never be missed, to support her habit. This source quickly ran out, however, and because she was left alone while Dixie was at work, Danny had access to virtually every document and piece of information in the house. Dixie and her husband had taken no special preventative steps to protect their sensitive information, and Danny thought this was careless of them; more, she believed they were deliberately tempting her.

In April, Danny was able to look through the couple's tax documents, which ...