Some Facts About Medical Identity Theft

Can identity thieves be using your medical records and health insurance information to get medical treatment and prescription drugs? Do people use your information to submit false bills to insurance companies? You bet they do and that's why millions of people worldwide have been victims of medical identity theft.

Medical identity theft occurs when your medical records or health insurance records are used by someone else to obtain medical related services. This could be the worst type of identity theft because it can affect you in so many ways. If someone steals your medical insurance number and goes to a doctor or hospital and receives services, possibly even surgery, you can have some huge problems. It can also mean that your private medical information that should be confidential, may now be public.

Whenever someone uses your identity to get treatment, this becomes a part of your medical history which will contain information that is inaccurate, possibly leading to improper treatments. That information could be a different blood type, misleading test results, allergies or perhaps even a diagnosis of an illness such as HIV. This can result in adverse reactions to medications or getting the wrong blood type in a transfusion. There are enough errors that occur in medical treatments already without making the problems worse through bad information.

Now that your medical history has been altered, the effects on your insurance coverage and premiums are also in jeopardy. You may have unpaid insurance bills from services you didn't receive. Usually medical insurance does not pay for all of the charges leaving you responsible for the unpaid deductibles and co-payments. Your insurance benefits can reach their limits so when you do need medical care you will find that you are no longer insured. Not having health insurance can be a big problem anyway, especially for the elderly and people who have chronic health conditions.

Other issues could be credit problems and legal issues. Suppose someone receiving treatment using your information is found under the influence of illegal drugs, that may bring the police to your home or business. You can be denied employment because your credit rating has been damaged from the inaccurate information that now appears in your medical history. The HIPPA laws make it very difficult for you to get access to medical information. Just like other types of identity theft that everyone can fall victim to, you can count on a long battle to restore your identity by yourself.

It's everyone's responsibility to protect their own personal medical information. Identity theft cannot be completely prevented and with the rising costs of medical treatment along with the economic downturn, I only see this problem getting worse. This is just another reason why it's necessary to have a plan in place that works quickly to minimize the damage and restore your identity.

Afraid Of Identity Theft? Why It Happens And How To Help Prevent It   Instant Steps That Every Identity Theft Victim Must Take   Identity Theft - Different Ways People Steal Your Identity   Identity and Theft: Solving The Identity Theft Nightmare   Identity Theft Facts   

Identity Theft - Get the Facts Before It's Too Late

Are you concerned about someone stealing from your home - breaking in when you aren't there and robbing you blind? Luckily, you probably have taken steps to prevent that since you are aware of the threat. How about your online identity and credit history, are those protected as well? If you answered no to this question, please read the rest of this article for your own good.

You say you aren't that worried about it? OK, so you don't go online to make a lot of purchases. Did you know that your information is already being stored in numerous databases around the country, even though you don't shop online? If you have a credit card, any kind of loan, an account with your utility company, even having an iPhone or other smart phone that you use, your information can be vulnerable to web hackers. The scams and schemes these criminals have devised over the past few years is astonishingly clever, and they get better at it every year. In fact many supposedly secure databases have been hacked into the in the recent past, some with millions of accounts. This has become almost routine, and no end is in sight. Most of these thefts aren't even making the news, since the companies involved don't want you to know about the break-in.

So what can be done to protect yourself? Of course experts recommend checking your bank balance and credit card statements routinely to make sure there aren't any unauthorized charges. But what if someone finds your credit card statement you threw away in the trash? They can actually pull this information and with a few other items from your identity, create an alternate identity that you would be totally unaware of. Sounds scary, I know. It happens almost every hour and every day in this country, and in many ways.

If you download music onto your iTunes account on your computer, and also routinely "share" songs with others from so-called sharing networks such as Limewire and Kazaa, hackers may have planted viruses in any one of the songs you downloaded. Unknown to you, this virus may open up a port on your PC while you are not aware, and send information to the hackers PC in another country. This is another reason you should also have a strong anti-virus software, but many people don't even realize how important these things are and fail to exercise caution.

There are also other ways that criminals can steal your identity, such as Vishing (virtual phishing) - sending text messages or emails that mimic contacts you already know and trying to get your social security number or even your bank login and password. You would never fall for that though, right? Many people unfortunately do, and without some kind of protection their identities are stolen and their credit is ruined in a matter of days or weeks.

Criminals have gotten much smarter over the years, since they know that people are more aware of their tactics. Coming up with newer and better scams is all they do! So each year more people lose their good credit, lose thousands of dollars from their bank accounts, or have many thousands of dollars charged to their credit cards. Without any type of protection, it is hard to restore your good credit again and can take years. Don't go without protection any longer, take steps today to protect your financial future.

Afraid Of Identity Theft? Why It Happens And How To Help Prevent It   Instant Steps That Every Identity Theft Victim Must Take   Identity Theft - Different Ways People Steal Your Identity   Identity and Theft: Solving The Identity Theft Nightmare   Identity Theft Facts   Identity Theft By Family And Friends