Issue 4.11
Kimberly was having a fun breakfast with her 3 children (ages 3-7) when the doorbell rang. It was the police coming to arrest her for endangering the life of a child. Horrified and fearful, Kimberly was told, “The baby you gave birth to last week was addicted to heroin”.
Kimberly had not given birth to a child for 3 years.
Much as she denied it, they insisted she was the mother of that newborn baby. She was arrested and her traumatized children taken away by Child Protective Services.
Turns out, Kimberly was the victim of identity theft. Some unknown woman had walked into the hospital and given birth, using Kimberly’s stolen driver’s license, and leaving her $10,000 of medical bills.
The bills were eventually straightened out, and she got her kids back, but that’s not the end.
Kimberly’s medical record now shows the wrong blood-type, and other medical history, that could someday result in Kimberly receiving some treatment or medication that is wrong for her, maybe even fatal.
Many people think Identity Theft is mostly just someone using your credit card, and the bank will cover it. Wrong.
If you don’t look over your statement regularly, the bank may not cover your losses.
A thief could use your name and information when arrested. They post bail, but skip town, leaving a warrant out for your arrest.
Even a traffic ticket you don’t even know about could result in a warrant for your arrest. Then when you are stopped for a minor violation, you are taken to jail.
And your credit report could be smirched, preventing you from getting the financing you want and deserve.
Identity Theft is the #1 crime in America today. Over 27,000 reported victims per day. The average victim spends $1500 out of pocket, and what’s worse, 160 frustrating hours trying to get their life back.
For more free information, and some steps you can take to protect yourself, call our office.
Tony and Catherine Jensen are retirement financial advisors in St George and all of Utah and Idaho.