Identity Theft

Identity Theft (2009)
$20.00
The story is paper-thin, the script is juvenile beyond belief, and the acting is just flat out atrocious. As an avid movie watcher and someone who appreciates low budget and independent movies, I can honestly say that this one was not enjoyable at all and left me feeling dumber for having wasted my time watching it. Nowhere near good enough to be a good independent movie nor near good enough to become any kind of cult classic. If you're looking for good movies that share some similar themes as this one, try It's A Boy/Girl Thing, Switch, Zerophilia, or Xchange.

Identity Theft
$24.95
When a Valet Parking Attendant thinks all his efforts to find a better job are in vain by chance he finds the perfect opportunity to get his life on track by stealing an ID card from a dying man. With a new identity as Diego, he finds his dream job, gets married and reaches the financial success he always wanted without knowing that the real Diego has survived. Similar Titles: The Net & Face Off

The Truth About Identity Theft
$18.99
But what I really wanted was more in depth info on how to clear up an ID theft event (since a friend of mine was just one such victim). Many of the books have parroted the same info that is already readily available on the Internet for free - contact the credit agencies, contact the police, contact the FBI (which is now handled by the FTC).

As my friend has been busy getting in touch with credit agencies and government agencies one thing that has emerged is the sheer lack of helpfulness that a few of these groups seem to give to you. The thief lived outside our state, so the police department in that state would not help us file a police report since we did not live in their state. And our own local police will not file a police report since the perpetrator does not live in our state!! Yet, repeatedly, Government and other helpful websites tell you to file a police report... see the problem. They also tell you to notify the FTC, who took over the job of dealing with ID theft from the FBI. But we were told the FTC does not do anything about ID theft, they take your information about the theft but only for documentation purposes, they are not a law enforcement agency and do not track down and prosecute bad guys!

What we did learn was that if the bad guy used the US Mail, by getting your mail forwarded to them, then you can notify the USPS. This might be one of the most valuable insights: if you start to realize that you do not seem to be getting very much mail all of the sudden, please immediately check with your letter carrier to see if you have had a forwarding request placed on your mail. And definitely DO contact the credit agencies, that is very important to help try to prevent charges for things you did not buy.

Stealing Your Life: The Ultimate Identity Theft Prevention Plan
$24.95
A good book overall to be aware of how identity theft occurs and steps to prevent it from happening to you.

I was familiar with most of the tactics identity thieves use, such as the scam emails telling you that millions of dollars will be transferred to your account (I've gotten tons of those emails). Other methods used by identity thieves were unfamiliar to me, such as taking your personal information during supposedly public surveys.

I did find the author a bit repetitious, and felt this book could have been written in a fewer pages. The author does however get his point across, and not only will you be scared, but you will also be encouraged to start taking precautions against identity thieves. You will also wonder whether you are already the victim of an identity thief.

I did find it surprising that most identity thieves are close friends or relatives! This bit came to me as a shocker, and the author gives many real life cases of how children stole the identity of their own parents, or vice-versa. You can really never trust anyone.

I did find it annoying when the author promoted his shredder. I think this could have been discussed in an index, but not within the book itself. This somehow made me take the book less seriously, even though the author is a former counterfeiter and an FBI instructor on identity theft and counterfeits.

This book is a must read for anyone wishing to identify identity theft and learn of ways to prevent it from happening in the first place (like shredding all your documents using the author's patented shredder hihihihihihihi).

The book could have been shorter and more captivating, and I did find myself skipping pages and skimming over others.