Medical identity theft can be a nightmare for those unlucky enough to become victim to it.
The repercussions of this theft can endanger your life at the time you need medical assistance the most. Stats reveal that well over two million Americans have become victims of this scourge. Medical identity theft refers to the theft of your personal information such as name, Social Security Number (SSN) or Medicare number in order to obtain medical services, purchase drugs, or submit fake billings to Medicare using your name. Medical identity theft has a number of far-reaching consequences for victims. For starters, it can damage your credit rating. Even worse than this, if wrong information is added to your medical history, it can have life-threatening consequences for you whenever you do access medical care. In addition to all of these, medical identity theft can leads you to thousands of dollars in medical bills. The consequences of such breaches can be daunting. However, there are steps that every individual can take in order to protect themselves.
Here are 5 ways that you can stop yourself from becoming a victim.
- Be Stingy With Your Information
- Learn to Spot Phishing Emails
- Store Your Information Carefully
- Never use Public Wi-Fi
- Review Your Medical Records for Accuracy
Medical identity theft is a threat faced by millions of people on a daily basis. Its consequences can be devastating both to you and your family as well. Luckily, however, there are many precautions that we can take to prevent these types of security breaches.
Click here to read the full article and learn details to help protect yourself.
June 15, 2016 By Rahis Saifi, The Huffington Post
