Can Identity Theft kill You

A Money Magazine article (subscription required) titled "Are You Terrified About Identity Theft? If Not, Consider this: It Could Get You killed." Cites a conversation with John Gardner who they call a smooth talking lawyer and spokesman for Pre-Paid Legal Services.

The premise is as follows. If someone steals your identity and lands in the hospital and the doctors think it is you, your Medical information Bureau (MIB) identity will be altered. This is part of your medical history and can lead to you being denied insurance. Worse, if you show up as having diabetes or a hear condition, they could kill you while trying to save you.

I thought this was an interesting premise for an article and some of the things I learned while reading were that identity theft is a $50 billion dollar a year industry! I also learned that MIB’s aren’t as centralized as you would think and you can check yours by dialing 866-692-6901. One other thing, 10 million Americans a year are victims of identity theft and in 20% of cases it can take 80 hours to resolve.

Good luck. It’s rough out there.

Jeremy Maddock
August 21, 2005 at 6:34 pm
Scary stuff. There’s probably thousands of people out there who have incorrect medical records due to this, and don’t even know it.
I guess checking up on your medical records is just one more precaution to take if your identity is stolen.
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J.R. Jackson
September 2, 2005 at 11:52 pm
Identity Theft is a major problem and millions are affected by it every year. More info can be found at my website.
http://www.JRJackson.com
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Search Guy
September 8, 2005 at 12:24 pm
Don’t you think that websites that display public records (like unlisted phone numbers, actual addresses) should be illegal?
BEWARE, search engines/portals are listing your private data (it is definitely unethical to post peoples addresses and other personal data), people can attain this data to assist them with IDENTITY THEM (stollen identities).
People do not know that if you even simply register to vote or request to join the army/military in USA, you name/address/telephone are made public information (muti billion dollar industry selling our private info) without you having to sign a consent form or without asking permission! Even where you buy a internet domain name (lease actually, no single person actually owns a domain name, even Bill Gates does not own Microsoft.com), your address, name and telephone number are added to public records that anyone with an internet connection can retrieve this data to harrass you or even SPAM you (don’t forget that deranged cyberstalkers can find you now)!
Some Sites Showing Private/Personal Data (many without persons consent or knowledge):
http://www.zabbasearch.com
http://people.yahoo.com
http://www.lexisnexis.com
http://www.digpeople.com
http://www.ussearch.com
http://www.switchboard.com
http://www.classmates.com
http://www.bestpeoplesearch.com
http://www.abika.com
http://find.intelius.com (paid service)
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Jag Kaurah
August 14, 2007 at 7:31 am
I have had a horrid experience in the last few days with Skype.
My Skype ID was hijacked by someone else and I have been reporting it to Skype repeatedly on an hourly basis.
There was about $40.00 in my Skype out account but what I am more worried about is that it is linked to my PayPal account.
No action has been taken by Skype except to say that someone with the email of [email protected] has now got my Skype ID.
My many pleas for something to be done about it after that one email from Skype have not been answered.
This is a desperate plea for help from the Internet community as Skype is not responding. What can I do?
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Elroi
May 15, 2008 at 2:48 pm
same story happened to me. someone stole my skype identity and even succeeded to charge my paypal. can u imagine???? it is unbelivable that Skype which is owned by ebay even does not reply to my query.
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