A recent article from PalmBeachPost.com shows how identity theft can catch up to strong, fast, and talented athletes in all sports – even Tiger Woods.

Back in 1998, someone used the golfing great’s personal information to make more than $50,000 worth of bogus charges. Woods, and the sport of golf, is not alone in being a victim of what could be termed "athlete identity theft."

In baseball, Geoff Jenkins, a former outfielder with the 2008 World Series Champion Philadelphia Phillies, once had someone use his name to open several credit cards and rack up debt. It took Jenkins over a year to clear up his credit and deal with banks that had been defrauded in his name due to identity theft.

In football, an identity thief withdrew $10,000 from the bank account of cornerback Ty Law when he was a member of the New England Patriots, and quarterback Danny Wuerffel was victimized by identity theft when someone opened a credit card in his name while he played for the Green Bay Packers. The latest victim of athlete identity theft, Miami Dolphins rookie cornerback Vontae Davis, is also a football player.

In this case of identity theft, a man stopped for traffic infractions on June 9 in Champaign, Illinois showed police Davis' driver license (Davis' wallet was stolen several months ago while he was a student at the University of Illinois) and drove off a free man.

Soon after, national media reports identified Davis as the man cited in the incident, only Vontae was practicing with the Dolphins over 1,000 miles away in Davie, Florida on June 9. He even sent his brother Vernon – a tight end with the San Francisco 49ers – a text message that joked: "Your brother got arrested in Illinois."

However, identity theft is no laughing matter, for once someone has stolen another person’s identity, the identity theft victim must spend time and money clearing up the financial, criminal, and psychological problems left behind.

Athletes, in particular, are vulnerable to identity theft because details about them – dates of birth, names of family members, schools attended, and salaries – are available in press guides, on the Web, and even during national broadcasts. Also, athletes travel extensively throughout the U.S. and the world while using their financially attractive credit cards and bank accounts.

The crime of athlete identity theft has become so prevalent that major pro leagues are teaming up to produce a video that all players see during their pre-season training camps. Recently, the leagues have talked to their players about limiting the amount of information they share on social networking sites such as Facebook in an effort to curb identity theft.

Even those people who are not superstar pro athletes with millions of dollars at their disposal can become victims of identity theft. According to Javelin Research, identity theft affected nearly 10 million Americans in 2008 – most of them ordinary men and women – at a cost of more than $48 billion.

In sports and in life, sometimes the best defense (against identity theft, in this case) is a good offense. Some athletes – and non-athletes – are hiring services to monitor individual and family credit and bank accounts. But criminal records that are usually reserved only for background checks should also be monitored, since someone who committed identity theft could also commit other crimes in someone else's name.

Since most background check firms only focus on employers and large corporations, where can individuals find a "self background check" to help control personal information, protect privacy, and stop identity theft? Introduced in 2000, MyBackgroundCheck.com was one of the first web-based consumer requested background check services available for individuals. Today, the company helps over a million individuals perform personal background checks on themselves each year to use as jobseekers, students, tenants, volunteers, parents, friends, and consumers.

To learn how personal background checks can prevent identity theft, visit www.mybackgroundcheck.com, email info@mybackgroundcheck.com, or call 1-800-503-2364.

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Until recently, Bozeman, Montana required jobseekers looking to work for the city to reveal all of their passwords and logins to social media networking sites like Facebook, MySpace, and YouTube – and to email accounts such as Google and Yahoo – during background checks. News of the requirement created such a controversy over privacy rights that the city’s practice of reviewing information found on password-protected sites has since been suspended pending “a more comprehensive evaluation.”

According to reports, a news station in Montana was informed about Bozeman's background check policies from an anonymous individual. Jobseekers for Bozeman city posts were required to sign a background check waiver requiring applicants – in addition to undergoing usual criminal records search and past employment reviews – to list their involvement with online websites “to include, but not limited to: Facebook, Google, Yahoo, YouTube.com, MySpace, etc.” The city form then offered three lines for applicants to list websites, their user names and login information, and their passwords.

Not surprisingly, the requirement raised questions concerning the privacy rights of applicants. Bozeman officials were receiving an e-mail a minute about the background check policy while an online poll tallying more than 5,000 votes found 98 percent of the respondents thought the policy was an invasion of privacy. In addition, Article 2, Section 10 of the Montana Constitution reads “the right of individual privacy is essential to the well-being of a free society and shall not be infringed without the showing of a compelling state interest.”

Initially, the Bozeman City Attorney was quoted as defending the background check policy: “We have positions ranging from fire and police, which require people of high integrity for those positions, all the way down to the lifeguards and the folks that work in city hall here. So we do those types of investigations to make sure the people that we hire have the highest moral character and are a good fit for the city.” The city has since ended the policy which “appears to have exceeded that which is acceptable to our community.”

Regarding the city's former background check requirement, officials from online social networking website Facebook.com – which currently has more than 200 million active users worldwide – were quoted as saying the Bozeman policy “is a violation of Facebook’s Statement of Rights and Responsibilities, which received feedback from users and was ultimately approved in a site-wide vote.” This proves once again that while some employers favor using social media sites for employment background checks, the process does come with certain risks and liabilities.

Whatever their opinion on privacy issues, jobseekers in today’s job market should expect a thorough background check that could include a criminal record search, resume validation, and even a credit report. While social networking sites probably should stay off limits, employers will have plenty of information left in the background check to ponder. Jobseekers should do their best to make sure that the information found in background check reports is current, accurate, and secure from identity theft.

One way to accomplish this goal is with a Self Background Check – a background check that is ordered by an individual and for the individual. Self background checks help jobseekers keep the information that will be viewed by potential employers mistake-proof and error-free. While most background check companies only service employers, MyBackgroundCheck.com specializes in personal background checks for individuals to use as jobseekers, tenants, students, volunteers, and everyday consumers. For more information on self background checks, please visit www.mybackgroundcheck.com, email info@mybackgroundcheck.com, or call 1-800-503-2364.

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Identity theft can steal everything from an individual – from money and valuables, to a driving record or medical information, to even one’s personality and reputation – leaving the victim cleaning up the mess for years. In today’s digital age, people are what their personal information says they are – personal information that is usually discovered during a background check. Here are FIVE common types of identity theft that can strike any unsuspecting individual, and how a "Self" background check can help stop them.

• Criminal Identity Theft: This type of identity theft allows identity thieves to commit crimes posing as other people. Consequently, the innocent victims could end up being arrested for a murder or bank robbery that they know nothing about and end up having to then prove their innocence for a crime they did not commit.
• Driver's License Identity Theft: A stolen driver's license provides a name, address, and date of birth, as well as a State driver's identity number, information identity thieves use to apply for loans, order credit cards, open checking accounts, and buy expensive items. Most drivers' licenses also contain current street addresses.
• Financial Identity Theft: This type of identity theft involves a criminal posing as another person to empty that person's bank account(s) and other financial holdings, max out credit cards, as well as buy and sell expensive properties such as homes, cars, land, or businesses.
• Medical Identity Theft: This type of identity theft can be deadly as well as expensive, since identity thieves can not only use medical information to file false workers' compensation claims, have surgeries, and file for phony disability claims, but also leave the victim's medical record full of false medical information that could cause harm during emergency procedures.
• Social Security Identity Theft: The ultimate goal of all identity thieves is the Social Security card, since this information can lead to all the crimes listed already, along with claiming Social Security benefits that the victims have worked for, welfare benefits, and false passports.

To help prevent all forms of identity theft – and avoid the fraudulent charges and destroyed reputations that can remain unpaid and unresolved for years – consumers need to protect themselves with a “Self" Background Check, which is the same type of background check performed by employers but in this case individuals order the background checks on themselves.

These personal background checks can help stop identity theft by keeping track of personal information contained in criminal files, driving records, and financial accounts, and are also a good way for individuals to correct any errors or inaccuracies that would appear on a background check for an employer, landlord, or school.

While many background check firms only service employers, MyBackgroundCheck.com offers self background checks for individuals and performed background checks for over one million people last year. Self background checks are also a good way to keep personal information current, secure, and accurate.

For more information about how self background checks can help prevent identity theft, please visit www.mybackgroundcheck.com, email info@mybackgroundcheck.com, or call 1-800-503-2364.

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Personal background checks are a good way for individuals to take control of their personal information and can help prevent identity theft. Recently, however, a new type of identity theft has appeared that may also be revealed during a personal background check: medical identity theft.

A New York Times article tells of a man from Houston, TX who had never stepped foot in an emergency room, but who ended up owing thousands of dollars worth of emergency-service medical bills. He is one of the more than 250,000 Americans – as estimated by federal data on the crime collected for a 2007 report – who suffer from the fast-growing crime known as medical identity theft each year.

The number victims of medical identity theft have probably increased in recent years because of the increased use of electronic medical records systems built without extensive safeguards. However, medical identity theft is also an uncountable crime – espeically those who do not check their personal information through background checks – because many people do not yet know that their medical information has been tampered with for months or even years until it shows up in collections on a credit report.

For example, the victim in Times story made the discovery of medical identity theft in 2003 and is “still cleaning up the mess.” He learned about the medical identity theft only because he was about to get married and buy his first home. Before applying for a mortgage, he requested a copy of his credit report – something that could be viewed during certain background checks – and was surprised to discover debts in the form of collection notices in his name for emergency room visits at places in the country he had never visited.

Medical identity theft can take on many guises:

• Someone gets hold of another person’s name and Social Security number and use them to receive emergency medical services, which many hospitals are obliged to provide whether or not a person has insurance.
• Someone uses stolen insurance information, like the basic member ID and group policy number found on insurance cards, to impersonate another person and receive everything from a routine physical to major surgery under someone else’s coverage.
• The most common cases involve medical information stolen by insiders at a medical office, where thieves download vital personal insurance data and related information from the operation’s computerized medical records to sell on the black market or use it themselves to make fraudulent billing claims.

Even worse, victims may also have erroneous information in their medical files, which could pose a bigger danger than the financial risks since the medical record may now contain vital information like blood type, allergic reactions, or disease history that is wrong. In an emergency, doctors could treat a medical identity theft victim based on this misinformation.

To help prevent medical identity theft – which has far fewer of the consumer protections that exist for traditional identity theft – and avoid fraudulent charges that can remain unpaid and unresolved for years, patients need to track insurance statements, check credit reports, and get copies of medical records. Patients who suspect medical identity theft may also want to give themselves a “Self Background Check” that includes a credit report and criminal background search to uncover any possible crimes committed in their names. These personal background checks are also a good way for individuals to correct any errors or inaccuracies that would appear on a background check done while trying to gain employment, rent an apartment, or volunteer for a non-profit organization.

While many background check firms only service employers, MyBackgroundCheck.com offers self background checks for individuals and has performed background checks for over one million people last year. Self background checks are also a good way to keep personal information current, secure, and accurate. For more information about how self background checks can help prevent medical identity theft, please visit www.mybackgroundcheck.com, email info@mybackgroundcheck.com, or call 1-800-503-2364.

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According to a recent LA Times story, some of the 14 million unemployed jobseekers currently looking for work are caught in a vicious cycle of being behind on bills after losing a job and then having the bad credit created by the job loss spoil any chances of finding new employment. The story outlined cases of recruiters rescinding job offers after performing background checks and finding credit histories marred by overdue credit card payments, impending home foreclosures, or bankruptcy protection filings. A credit report review done during a background check has become a high hurdle for jobseekers to jump in a terrible job market.

To avoid future trouble, companies are using proactive background checks to gain insight into how jobseekers conduct their personal lives, since many believe that is how they will also conduct business. For these employers, examining credit reports during background checks helps them hire the best employees. Some staffing experts claim that money problems uncovered durnig background checks can be a sign of bad work habits in a jobseeker, while a good credit history means a worker is more likely to be trustworthy and reliable, two important traits for U.S. companies that lose billions – with a median loss of $150,000 – to employee theft annually.

Even if a background check shows a clean criminal record, many employers still aren't willing to take a chance on a jobseeker with bad credit. According to the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, U.S. companies lose in average 5 percent of their annual revenue to employee fraud, 90 percent of which is from misappropriations like pilfering. The Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) estimates that up to 50 percent of employers, including the U.S. government, run jobseeker credit checks. For example, applicants for security officer positions at the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) will be refused if a background check turns up more than $7,500 in past-due debt, delinquent taxes, or late child-support payments.

In most of the U.S., screening jobseekers with credit reports during background checks is legal as long as it is disclosed to applicants, who must give permission for a credit check to be run. Even with bad credit, most jobseekers agree to a background check since they believe any job offer would be lost if they refused. Most companies use reports produced for them by major credit bureaus. Federal law permits employers to see if jobseekers are paying their mortgages, credit cards, and bills on time, but does not allow them to see overall credit scores and they must notify candidates if they are rejected because of credit.

While no clear connection between credit history and job performance has been found yet, evidence exists that some information used by employers contains errors. In 2004, over one-third of companies surveyed by SHRM said they found inaccuracies in the credit histories they pulled on jobseekers. For that reason alone, jobseekers need to be aware what information will be contained in background checks performed on them, including criminal histories and credit reports. Since today’s bad job market can be even worse for those with bad credit, jobseekers are advised to run a “self background check” to see what information employers will see – before they see it – to help them find work.

While most background check companies only service employers, MyBackgroundCheck.com – a leading provider of consumer-requested background check services – has performed background checks on over one million individuals, including jobseekers, in the past year. For more information about our Jobseeker Background Check package, visit www.mybackgroundcheck.com, email info@mybackgroundcheck.com, or call 1-800-503-2364.

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