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| Report: medical identity theft a growing problem |
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| www.secureidnews.com |
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6/16/2009 - Medical identity theft is a problem and many individuals may not even know they’re victims, according to a New York Times report.
Fraudsters can steal a Social Security numbers or take medical insurance information and impersonate the policy holder. This is possible because most medical office don’t ask for identification beyond insurance information.
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Consumers don’t have the same protection for medical identity theft than they do for traditional identity theft either.
The Fair Credit Reporting Act enables consumers to obtain a free copy of your credit report each year, put a fraud alert on an account and have erroneous charges deleted from your record. Also, if your credit card is stolen and the thief goes on a spending spree, consumers aren’t liable for more than $50. With medical identity theft the fraudulent charges can remain unpaid for years damaging your credit rating.
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