I was reading about the person who had a question about Trade Electronics in the writers forum. It’s bad enough that people get ripped off by doing extensive hard work for publications tgat don’t print the articles or pay what the writer is owed. But something even worse, I believe, could also happen.

I have no experience with Trade Electronics. But the person writing was trying to apply for a sort of “work at home” situation for the company. When I saw the required info she sent them–which any legitimate employer would need–warning bells rang like crazy.

It’s so important to do your research on a company “before” submitting any work. But the research is even more important before sending off such things as info for W2s or W9s, or copies of social security cards and driver’s licenses. Depending upon which source you believe, between 10 and 20 million people last year were victims of identification theft. That’s “million”!

I hate to panic people who already feel victimized enough from any publication who hasn’t answered them, printed their article(s), or paid them. But if this isn’t a perfect opportunity to steal someone’s identity, I don’t know what is.

So my suggestion for those who are victimized is they have one other thing they must do while trying to get their payments and/or articles back. Check your credit reports if you have sent them any identification info! Do it every three to six months for at least a year or even up to two years. It might sound like a lot to do, especially when you’re crunched for money. But you can get one free credit report per year. Just don’t get those free reports from all the large agencies at once. If you only do one agency at a time spaced out every few months, then you shouldn’t have to pay anything to do a credit check for identification theft.

Then, never send such private info. again without finding out whether the “work at home” company is a legitimate employer.

Karen Carver