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San Diego, CA. - The crime of identity theft is a
widespread and growing problem that has caught the
attention of the media. Generally overlooked, however,
in the ensuing publicity was an interesting piece of
demographic information, the Federal Trade Commission
found in recent studies that young people in the 18-29
age group experienced the highest levels of
victimization, comprising 31 percent of the total
thefts.
When Javelin Strategy and Research co-released its 2006
Identity Fraud Survey Report with the Better Business
Bureau, it revealed the number of US adult victims of
identity fraud decreased by a half million over 2005,
but the total one year fraud amount rose to $56.6
billion and a fraud amount per fraud victim of $6,383.
These statistics are included in a new college level
identity theft prevention course developed by Johnny May
of Bloomfield Hills, MI., an independent security
consultant, trainer and the author of "Johnny May's
Guide to Preventing Identity Theft" May teaches the
courses to students at two Michigan colleges, Madonna
University (Livonia, Michigan) and Henry Ford Community
College (Dearborn, Michigan).
"How often does a young person order a credit report? I
think the mind-set is they don't have anything worth
losing", said Johnny May. "A lot of them work part time
or for minimum wage, some don't work at all." "The
reality is this makes it easy for identity theft to
occur and the identity can be used for a long time
without the victim's knowledge".
In a 2004 Summit on Protecting Teens from Identity
Theft, one of the recommendations was for both high
schools and colleges to integrate identity theft
awareness and prevention techniques in to their
curriculums. "Young people are extremely susceptible to
identity theft, for this reason they need to be educated
on this topic," May said.
Mr. May, who obtained his ICFE Certified Identity Theft
Risk Management Specialist (CITRMS) certification in
April 2007, has also developed a new identity theft
prevention and awareness training program which is
geared at college students and high school juniors and
seniors. Mr. May's web site is: IdentityTheftInfo.com.
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About the ICFE:
The Institute of Consumer Financial Education (ICFE) was founded in 1982 by the late Loren Dunton (creator of the Certified Financial Planner (CFP) designation). The ICFE is dedicated to helping consumers of all ages to improve their spending, increase savings and use credit more wisely.
The ICFE is an award winning, nonprofit, consumer education organization that has helped millions of people through its education programs and resources. It publishes the Do-It-Yourself Credit File correction Guide, which is updated annually. The ICFE has distributed over one million Credit/Debit Card Warning Labels and Credit/Debit Card Sleeves world wide.
The ICFE became an official partner with the Department of Defense/Financial Readiness Campaign in June of 2004.The ICFE was an active partner in the California Student Debt Resource Awareness Project (CASDRAP) which resulted in a new web site: (studentdebthelp.org). CASDRAP disbanded in 2010, shortly after the web site project was completed. In 2011 the ICFE assumed the single sponsorship of the (studentdebthelp.org) web site and is now responsible for its content and operation.
The ICFE is also an on-line help for consumers who spend too much. ICFE's spending help was featured in PARADE Magazine in the Intelligence Report section. The money helps and tips are from the ICFE's Money Instruction Book, our course in personal finance.
Visit the ICFE's other web sites at: www.icfe.info and studentdebthelp.org. Both sites helps consumers and students with mending spending, learning about the proper use of credit, budget and expense guidelines, how to set up and implement a spending-plan and also how to access financial education courses and how to teach children about money. Other ICFE services include: Ask Mr. G, a free eNews, and an online resource center for students, parents and educators, plus financial education learning tools and a book store.
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