Most of us don't think too much about identity theft. I know that at one time I didn't give it much thought. Then, in April of 2006, I became a victim of identity theft. In what seemed like the blink of an eye years of hard work and discipline were thrown into confusion and chaos. Before the dust started to settle I had lost tens of thousands of dollars, my self esteem, and my credit rating. In the aftermath of this truly traumatic event I resolved to learn all I could about this terrible crime and make the information available to other people in a single, easy to use place. As I started my research I was struck by two things. First, it surprised me how little had really been done, or even how little useful research had been done, about this crime or its long term effect on the people who are victims. I am very happy to say that much progress has been made in the years since my experience. The second surprise was that nearly all of the research, reliable information, and resources available at that time came from the private sector; government at every level, even as they expressed "grave concern" about the issue, seemed to assume a hands-off, "gee, that's too bad" attitude about the whole thing. In my research, however, I did find a couple of places where there was information, guidance, and support available. I am listing them here, and whether you are already a victim and are trying to recover from the event, trying to help someone else through the event, or you are simply trying to learn all you can to minimize the likelihood of becoming a victim I know these websites will be helpful. Simply click on the site you want to view.
Whether you have already been a victim or not I hope these websites will help you in your search for answers to questions about identity theft. If you are a victim, trust me when I say you can recover from this. I'll be posting more sites as I have a chance to look at them.
