Terry Savage
Identity theft is the fastest-growing crime in America. According to the FBI, an estimated 10 million Americans are victims of identity theft each year -- costing an incredible $50 billion a year, either to the individual, the creditors, financial institutions, or ultimately to the consumer who bears the burden of these losses in higher prices for goods and services.
A new book by Frank Abagnale, the FBI identity theft expert -- and former impostor whose life was the subject of a hit movie, Catch Me if You Can -- gives some frightening statistics. In Stealing Your Life (Broadway Books), he details just how vulnerable we all are. Abagnale is traveling the country on behalf of Staples, the office supply retailer, to promote a new "micro-shredder," the latest in personal finance tools. As he notes, the investigators in the Enron case were able to reconstruct files that were simply shredded into ribbons. While those credit card offers you toss in the trash might not tempt an identity thief if they're simply torn into pieces, Abagnale's story is a reminder of how loosely we treat our important information. It's important to define exactly what identity theft is -- and how it can happen to you. Your first instinct is to think about the hassle of having someone steal your wallet and use your credit cards. But that's only the most basic level of identity theft. If your wallet is stolen, hopefully you've made a list of all your credit card numbers and the toll-free numbers to call in case of loss. (For a free copy of my Personal Financial Organizer that includes this information, and more, go to my Web site, fill in the pop-up box, and you'll get a reply that links you to this form. Then click to print it out on paper, and then fill it out with all the information, ranging from your bank, mutual fund, and brokerage account numbers to contact information for your personal advisors. Tell your spouse, trusted child, or friend where you've placed this form, in case of an emergency.)
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