Identity Thief  Investigation

Identity Theft is one of the fastest growing crimes in the United States. Anyone can become a victim. Unfortunately, law enforcement is focused on preventing and solving violent crime making Identity Theft and other financial crimes a low priority. 

Wilcox & Associates will assist the client with identifying fraudulent accounts or debts, gathering evidence, obtaining a credit check, placing a "fraud alert" on their credit report with the 3 leading credit bureaus and the Federal Trade Commission, and assist the Client with reviewing their financial statements. Whenever possible we will locate the possible suspect. We will assist the client with organizing the evidence and presenting it to the police for their investigation.

There are a couple different types of identity theft investigations, but both can result in severe damage to the victim’s credit score and financial stability, among other things.

Identity theft is a rapidly growing crime throughout the world.  Types of theft range from stolen credit cards and bank account numbers to the misuse of personal information for various reasons.  You should always keep a close eye on your credit card and bank statements each month to ensure there are no suspicious or unauthorized transactions.  If identity theft goes unchecked, it could ruin your financial status for years to come, lowering your credit score and putting you in to a great deal of debt.  If you suspect that you might have been victimized, call Wilcox & Associates immediately.  Our team of identity theft investigators will get started right away, and we will track down any lead that turns up.  We work quickly and efficiently to provide you with the professional, reliable results you expect.
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Identity Theft Investigation Information:

• Types of Identity Theft:
  • Account Takeover 
    • Occurs when a thief gets your existing credit account information and makes purchases using your credit card, and/or your account number and expiration date
    • Occurs when a thief takes over your bank account and makes electronic withdrawals, or uses forged or washed checks from your account
      • Check washing is the process of acquiring a filled out check, soaking it in a solution that dissolves the ink, then using the blank check to fill out any name and amount they chose in the ‘payable to’ lines (often, thieves will steal your mail to acquire checks)
  • Application Fraud
    • Occurs when the thief uses your social security number and other identifying information to open new accounts in your name, without your knowledge
      • This is more difficult to discover than account takeover, which will appear in monthly bank/credit statements
      • Often, this is not discovered until you are denied a loan or credit card because of a surprisingly low credit score, or you start receiving calls from debt collectors for moneys owed that you are not aware of
• Methods for Stealing Information
  • Dumpster Diving: going through one’s trash to find bills, bank statements, or other paper with personal identifying information
  • Skimming: stealing credit/debit card numbers by scanning your card with a special storage device when processing it
  • Phishing: pretending to be legitimate financial institutions or companies and sending spam email or pop-up messages asking you to reveal your personal information
  • Changing Your Address: diverting your billing statements to another location by completing a change of address form
  • Old-Fashioned Stealing: stealing wallets, purses, mail, pre-approved credit offers, etc.; hacking into computers to steal personal identifying information at home or at the work place