July 22, 2006

Best of Crosstalk (First aired July 21, 2006)

Ethan Pope is the president of Foundations for Living and is the author of the book, Identity Theft: Protecting Yourself from an Unprotected World.

Identity theft takes place when someone else, by some means, obtains your personal information and opens an account under your name for their financial benefit.

Pain, helplessness, confusion, anger; these are some of the emotions many people experience when their financial records are tainted by someone who makes them a victim of identity theft.

Ethan gives timely advice for people to remember in order to prevent identity theft. The key is to prevent unauthorized individuals from obtaining your personal information, particularly your Social Security number. Criminals often do this through e-mail, telephone, and snail mail scams.

This Crosstalk also details the process of checking your credit report and encourages listeners to invest in a high quality paper shredder to destroy any paper trail of your personal information.

More Information

To receive a copy of the book, Identity Theft, for a donation of $16 call:
1-800-729-9829

Or write to:

Crosstalk
3434 W. Kilbourn Ave.
Milwaukee, WI. 53208

To monitor your credit report go to:
http://www.annualcreditreport.com
877-322-8228

To opt out of pre-approved credit card offers go to:
http://www.optoutprescreen.com

Or call:
1-888-567-8688

For more information on identity theft go to:
http://www.foundationsforliving.org