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May 30, 2006

America's fastest growing center of....identity theft

Live in Phoenix? If so, you've got a 1 in 6 chance of your identity having been stolen, at least according to this ABC News report.

The high rate likely has to do with the prevalence of meth use, and a high prevalence of publicly available records information, experts say in the story.

Meth use is a serious issue in many parts of America's heartland, but so is the availability of public records. When local and state officials post information such as court documents or other property information, that data becomes a source for individuals and companies who use the information to compile fairly comprehensive consumer profiles.

Still, the sun is nice, isn't it?

Posted by Christopher Kriva at May 30, 2006 03:22 PM

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