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What’s it spell? ID THEFT!

Identity theft charges have been filed against Wendy Brown, of Ashwaubenon, Wisconsin for using her daughter’s Social Security card, birth certificate, official school transcript and other personal documentation to enroll at the local high school. Why? She wanted to be a cheerleader. And if she hadn’t been arrested her dream would have come true.

Brown registered at the high school as a 15-year-old transfer student and tried out for the cheerleading squad. Being picked as a cheerleader meant she was that much closer to realizing her dream. She attended a party with the other kids at the cheerleading coach’s house, and went to classes with them on the first day of school. (more…)

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The mother of missing 3-year-old, Caylee Anthony, now faces identity theft charges in Florida. Anthony has been charges with one count of grand theft, three counts of fraudulent use of personal identification, three counts of check forgery, and three counts of uttering a forged check.

A friend and roommate of Casey Anthony’s returned from a vacation in July and found that three of her checks were missing, and her checking account had been cleaned out. According to court documents, Amy Huizenga reported to police that Anthony stole the checks and used them to make purchases at three Target stores in Florida. (more…)

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What do the Los Angeles-based Crips have in common with white supremacist gangs? Identity theft.

The Los Angeles Times reported earlier this month that the 31% spike in ID theft police reported for 2007 can be tracked directly to gangs. Some examples:

• The Mexican Mafia, a gang that runs most of its operations from prison, has been linked to the theft of 5,000 Social Security numbers.
• The Long Beach Insane Crips netted more than $88,000 from Washington Mutual Trust through a check-cashing scam.
• Members of the Armenian Power gang victimized more than 120 people by placing fake keypads in ATM kiosks, recording their account numbers, PINs and passwords, and then using the information to clean out their accounts.

But the California gangs aren’t the only ones taking advantage of the relative ease of identity theft. Many western state law enforcement agencies say there is a direct link between identity theft and methamphetamine. US Postal Inspector Bob Maes announced in 2007 that the white supremacist gang Aryan Nation was deeply involved in methamphetamine manufacturing and distribution, and was financing their operations with the ill-gotten gains of identity theft.

Utah especially has seen an increase in ID theft and methamphetamine arrests committed by white supremacist gangs, such as Aryan Nation, Fourth Reich, American Peckerwoods, Soldiers of Aryan Culture, and Aryan Brotherhood.

If there’s any good news to be found in all this, it’s that their criminal activities aren’t motivated by a racist agenda anymore. “Everything about these guys is just meth, meth and meth,” said Ogden police Detective Tony Hansen, a member of the federal Joint Terrorism Task Force. “They’re not the neo-Nazis you see on TV.”

Life Lock protects the identities and finances of more than 1 million Americans. Visit LifeLock.com to see how their innovative services have made them the industry leader in ID theft protection. Use the LifeLock promo code Defense, and get the lowest possible price for their award-winning protection.

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It’s the big corporate and government data breaches that get the most attention: 94 million credit records exposed in TJX hacking attack; US Department of Veterans Affairs loses records of 26 million current and former soldiers. When millions of people become vulnerable to identity theft because of laxity in security procedures, it should make the headlines.

But all too often it’s the smaller incidents that illustrate how vulnerable consumers really are. Unless you work for the East Burke High School in North Carolina, you might think that their little data breach is insignificant. If only 163 employees are affected, it might seem more like an “oops” than the egregious mishandling of private information that it really is.

For five years the employees’ names, Social Security numbers, addresses, phone numbers, e-mail addresses and job titles were posted on the school’s website. If this sort of careless, irresponsible oversight were a singular occurrence, it would be worthy of attention only in that small community. But it’s not. (more…)

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The first thing identity theft victims want to know is who’s the culprit. Most people assume an internet purchase led to the crime, or a waiter in a restaurant copied the info from a credit card. Maybe it was a dumpster diver.

Most people will never know who the perpetrator was, but 25% of all victims do find out who stole their identity. Half of those people will discover they’ve been taken advantage of by a relative, a neighbor, an employee, a repairman, a former boyfriend—someone they knew and trusted. (more…)

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It’s anyone’s guess whether it will help or not, but new identity theft protection guidelines are about to go into effect. The same 1993 Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACT Act) that gave consumers the right to free annual credit reports, contained additional steps creditors must take to protect consumers from identity theft. After five long years, creditors and financial institutions must be in compliance with the Federal Trade Commission’s new Red Flag Guidelines by November 2008 or face penalties.

Generally, the guidelines cover three areas: (more…)

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