Are Identity Theft Laws Effective?
If you have ever been the victim of identity theft, you know how hard it is to catch the culprit. Someone can steal your information and can have a credit line opened in your name and then have the bill sent somewhere else. You wouldn't even know you had that line of credit opened unless you viewed your credit report, or tried to get a line of credit yourself. By that time it's too late. Someone has stolen your identity and has racked up a huge charge. How can you prove it's not yours? Will they be able to catch the person or people who did this to you? To be sure, you need to contact your state representatives and make sure they're doing everything they can to make sure identity theft doesn't happen and that the people who commit this crime are punished. Identity theft laws are in place and they can protect you but they need to constantly be updated as technology becomes more advanced.
Protect Yourself
Don't always rely on identity theft laws to protect you. You need to be proactive and make sure you are always watching your steps. That means when you're online use passwords that aren't easy to guess, change your passwords often, always log off of whatever you're doing and make sure the sites you use are secure. Identity theft laws can help but if you protect yourself, you're less likely to become a victim of identity theft in the first place.
What If It Happens To You?
What if you become a victim of identity theft? First, you need to go to the police and ask them about the identity theft laws in your state. You shouldn't be liable for any charges racked up in your name that aren't yours. You can easily prove that the charges aren't yours if you the police can determine that you were in fact a victim. Identity theft laws are in place to catch those criminals so you should cooperate as much as you can with the police or any other law enforcement agencies that may be involved.
Learn The Laws
It helps to learn the identity theft laws, which ones are in place, how they are affected in your state, and whether or not they are up to date. If they aren't as effective as they could be, contact your representatives and make sure they do something about it before someone else becomes a victim of identity theft and has to rely on the identity theft laws to help them recover any damages they may have incurred.
