IDENTITY THEFT

Identity Theft is one of the most common and dangerous types of theft. It is also the single most difficult to prevent. Although there are hundreds of programs available to allegedly prevent Identity Theft, none are able to do it with 100% certainty. With modern threats such as Network Security Breaches, Hacking, Card Skimming and Card Cloning anyone could potentially be a victim of Identity Theft at some point and the consequences can take years to overcome even with insurance and protection from credit cards and banks. The most difficult obstacle in recovering from Identity Theft is being able to prove that it actually took place. It sounds simple but due to the rise in fraud, the banks and credit agencies are reluctant to simply take the victims word for it especially since the bank now has to cover the financial loss.

This is a personal story about our very first Orlando Identity theft case. The victim was actually one of our senior private investigators and has given permission to share details of his case. As an Orlando private investigator and knowing the constant risk and the consequences of identity theft, he had taken measures that are above and beyond the usual prevention and monitoring for potential identity theft. In spite of his preventative measures, he was still a victim of identity theft and was left with a huge mess to clean up.

“In spite of his preventative measures through the credit bureaus, his bank and credit card companies he began receiving “rejection letters” in the mail by different credit companies. Though he had not yet been notified by ANY of the credit monitoring programs, he requested his credit reports and found 21 total attempts to open credit lines and multiple open lines of credit that he did not authorize. Fortunately his Identity Theft Prevention measures did prevent most of the credit applications from being approved. But Identity thieves work very fast and were able to open several lines of credit in his name in just a few minutes! The open credit lines included an assortment of purchases ranging from online lingerie stores to a Disney movie club! Because of our training and success as Loss Prevention and Theft Investigators the Team at Southern Recon Agency decided to take on the case and immediately began training and research on solving identity theft. As a result, our team was able to positively identify the thief and within a week our Investigators were standing on the sidewalk in front of her house taking photos of her home and the license plate of her car! (She was a registered nurse and lived in a home worth over $400,000 on prestigious Davis Island in Tampa, FL) The next day we completed the report, turned our information over to the local police department so they could prosecute and successfully closed our first Identity Theft case! Our Investigator was able to prove he was a victim of Identity Theft and within a few weeks his credit history was completely cleared up and absolved of any negative effects resulting from Identity Theft!”