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Home Purchases on the Rise Thanks to Identity Theft

June 16, 2009 – 5:09 pm

While searching through the web today I came upon this story posted by the Des Moines Register: click for article. It seems that a woman in Des Moines was the victim of identity theft and that the person responsible used her social security number to obtain credit cards to Von Maur and the Gap. Oh, and the thief bought a house too.

That’s right, with a simple social security number the suspect was able to buy a house in a nearby community. Maybe this is a sign that the housing market has reached bottom and is on its way back up! It certainly seems to be a buyer’s market in this case.

The article does a good job of listing the victim, her name, how her identity is stolen and what store credit cards were issued, however it contains absolutely no information about the thief who did it. In fact, the Des Moines police have a “suspect” in the case, but there has been no arrest yet. It seems like this would be a very easy case to solve. I know! Maybe it’s the person living in the house that was bought through fraudulent identity theft. I don’t have my degree from Detective University, but I’m pretty good at Clue. Maybe the Des Moines police house an overabundance of Barney Fifes and not enough Sherlock Holmes.

Whatever the case, it’s painful to see a victim have to go through so much just to get her name cleared. Even if the police follow their instincts and arrest a suspect, how long before it goes to trial? And what restitution does the victim have to fix her credit? That’s why it’s very important to protect your social security number and other aspects of your identity. In addition, it’s always great to have a prevention service that can catch the crook before he strikes. Make sure you’re protected today.

Tags: barney fife, bought house, buyer's market, home, home purchases on the rise, housing, housing market, identity theft, market, police, social security number, ssn, victim