Identity Theft

Tax Day — April 15 — is fast approaching. And if they're lucky, that means Americans will be deciding what to do with their refunds.

Q. Last fall I received a letter from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM), whose records had been hacked, saying my information was included in the intrusion. I don’t know if it’s true. It offered me free identity theft insurance and identity restoration services for three years. When I called for more information, they said I’d have to sign up using my Social Security number, birth date, and all the information I don’t want give out. Do I need to sign up?

Q. My parents both died years ago, but I still get lots of mail for them — credit card offers, junk and other stuff. Do I need to worry about someone stealing their identities? What should I do?

Here is what’s coming up on today’s show.

Synthetic identity fraud continues to grow in the U.S., costing billions and impacting millions.

The theft or possession of someone else’s mail is a federal crime, but that doesn’t stop everyone.

Each year, more than 16 million Americans experience at least one instance of identity theft. The annual cost due to identity theft totals tens of millions of dollars.

Most of us have heard about the long list of breaches at big companies like Target, and even the Internal Revenue Service in recent months, but you might not be aware there's a growing problem of identity theft being committed by people you know and trust.

As computer breaches at major banks and retailers increase with alarming frequency, one New Jersey legislator is seeking to create a law stating that if you're a victim of identity theft and you can legally verify your information, collection agencies would be forced to stop hounding you to pay debts you do not owe.

Lost between Gov. Christie's presidential campaign and the state budget drama was the passage of a bill designed to put strict limits on the information NJ companies can collect when they scan a driver's license or credit card.