Information and Resources about Identity Theft

Imagine this: you are driving home late some Saturday evening after having a fun time at a party.  You just finished dropping off your friends because you were designated driver for the evening.  You see flashing lights in your rear-view window and you pull over, confident that there is nothing wrong since you hadn’t been drinking.  The officer informs you that he stopped you because your back tail light was out and, as the officer returns to his car to write the fix-it ticket, you breath a sign of relief knowing that it is easily fixed in the morning. 

However, when the officer returns, he requests that you exit the car.  He soon has you spread eagle over the hood and is handcuffing you while his partner holds a gun on you.   You are dumbfounded, absolutely petrified and without a clue as to what is happening to you.  The officer starts reading you your rights and informs you that you are under arrest for several Failure to Appears on drunk driving charges and a drug charge out of two states you have never even been to.  No explanation from you stops the officers from putting you in their car and carting you off to jail.  You have been a victim of driver’s license identity theft. 

Driver’s license identity theft occurs when a thief utilizes your personal information from either easily obtained identity documents or carefully crafted forged documents in order to receive a driver’s license or ID card in your name.   Then, if they are caught in a drunk driving or drug related driving charge, or any traffic violation, they just give the police their driver’s license with your name and information on it, secure in the knowledge that they won’t ever have to appear in court and it will ultimately be you that the police will come looking for when they fail to appear.    

Your driving record now includes these driving related offenses which can lead to having your driver’s license suspended or revoked.  These offenses can also effect your current car insurance, or any attempt to obtain car insurance.   You may be looking at cancellations or increases in rates on insurance.   Collateral issues are that driver’s licenses are also used for identification purposes, especially on check cashing.  In a connection with financial identity theft, a thief forges a check and uses your driver’s license as identification, and you may be liable for that.   Fraudulent use of your driver’s license or ID card can also result in incorrect records being stored in other places causing unforeseen problems in the future for you. 

“What comes out of your mouth is determined by what goes into your mind”.  Zig Ziglar