Why did banks give this little girl credit cards, home mortgages, and car and boat loans? And how did she keep getting them after defaulting time and time again? The answers should be a warning for every parent in America.
Just because you're dead doesn't mean you can't be robbed. Identity thieves steal the personal information of about 2.4 million deceased Americans each year to apply for credit cards, cell phones and anything else requiring a credit check.
Each year, some 14,000 people are wrongly declared dead by the Social Security Administration, CNNMoney reports. Data-entry errors can lead to major financial turmoil for victims of these mistakes, who they can lose their benefits and credit.
At least 16% of Americans have engaged in some kind of identity fraud -- lying about their Social Security number, name or birthday -- on applications for goods and services, a new study reveals. That's 45 million people trying to game the system, and every time one succeeds, he or she may be making trouble for you.
With identity theft on the rise, more consumers are actively seeking ways to protect themselves. New companies have sprung up to address their fears, but how well do they really work?
A St. Louis homeless man, trying to stay warm, stumbled on the personal information of Macy's shoppers as he was building himself a bed with trash he found in a downtown store's Dumpster. And it's not the first time that's happened for that particular store.
