by P.D. Rivers

Created on: November 21, 2010

Identity theft; just these two words can send a person into instant shock. It is the single most devastating thing that can happen to a person. The worst part is that it is totally out of anyone's control. You can do everything right and still be an ID theft victim because of something done by a third party. Think about where you have to divulge your personal information. You have to give your name, address, birthdate, phone number, AND your social security card number to various government entities. You are forced to give this information to people you have never seen before in hospitals, medical clinics, banks, the telephone company, and assorted business offices. Since you do not know any of the people who are getting this information, you have no idea whether or not they are honest or if they might possibly steal this information and use it for nefarious means.

Another way for identity theft to be taken out of your hands is through the U.S. Mail. Suppose you go on vacation for three weeks. You go to your local postmaster; fill out the requisite forms and leave with the assurance that your mail will be stopped on a certain day and delivered to your house on a different one. Or will it? Please read the following story.

Dan had to go out of town for three weeks for business. He lived alone with his wife in a single family dwelling in a well populated gated community. He had good friends on either side of his home. They agreed to check his mail box daily to see if mail were delivered there by mistake. The local post office was supposed to be holding the mail and then delivering it at the end of the three week period.  At the end of the three weeks, the mail carrier brought his pouch of mail that had accumulated. Dan went through the mail, paid his bills and didn't notice anything wrong. Several weeks later, bills began to arrive for items Dan had not bought. A letter from the court ordering him to turn himself in for writing a bad check was hand delivered to his door. The telephone began to ring incessantly.

Dan tried to explain that he had been out of town for three weeks and could not have charged at the local stores or written the bad check. No one would listen. He found himself being sued for the purchases. The credit card companies refused to pay the charges to the stores and the stores began to call Dan or his wife daily. Mrs. Dan had a breakdown from the pressure. Dan's work ethic suffered and he nearly lost his job.

Finally, in desperation, Dan

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