Archive for December, 2009

Red Flag Rules delayed … yes, again

Saturday, December 26th, 2009

delayedIt’s impossible to write about the Red Flag Rules without an apologetic “stop me if you’ve heard this one before” preface. So don’t shoot the messenger, but the deadline for the Feds’ identity-protecting Red Flag Rules has been delayed. The newest deadline—the fifth—replaces the January 1 deadline with one of June 1, 2010.

Congress created the program in 2003 in an attempt to stem the tide of identity theft by forcing creditors to use a common sense approach to identity theft prevention. It was originally slated to take effect in November 2008.

From its inception the rules have met with formidable pushback from the American Medical Association, the American Bar Association and the nation’s bankers, each group taking exception to the FTC’s interpretation of “creditor.” (more…)

Express Script hackers update: 1,700 added to victim list

Wednesday, December 16th, 2009

Apparently, hackers stole even more of Express Scripts’ member information than was initially revealed last fall. An additional 1,771 New Hampshire residents are being sent data breach notification letters this week, according to a September 14 letter from Express Scripts.

Express Scripts, one of the world’s largest pharmacy benefits management companies, revealed in November 2008 that hackers demanded ransom in exchange for stolen customer information. Unless the ransom was paid, the hackers threatened to reveal the members’ information.

To strengthen their threat, the hackers sent personal information–including names, birth dates, Social Security numbers and some prescription details–of 75 of the firm’s 50 million customers. (more…)

LifeLock Command Center: Personal review

Monday, December 14th, 2009

I just recently upgraded my LifeLock membership to include their new LifeLock Command Center™. I felt good about the services I was already getting from LifeLock, but because I know so many ID theft horror stories—some of them firsthand—I decided to pony up the extra $4 a month for the additional services available with Command Center™.

I’m impressed. Less than 48 hours after my upgrade I received extensive Command Center™reports from LifeLock that summarize the findings of all the efforts they’ve taken to protect me. (more…)

LifeLock Command Center raises the bar

Saturday, December 12th, 2009

commandcenterLifeLock’s new Command Center service provides an additional level of ID theft protection that’s very good news for their nearly 1.5 million current members and for new LifeLock members.

For current members, LifeLock Command Center is an optional add-on to the already extensive steps LifeLock has been providing. New enrollees can choose between LifeLock’s existing, industry leading suite of service and LifeLock’s Command. (more…)

Evil ID theft elves

Monday, December 7th, 2009

Contrary to popular belief, not all of Santa’s elves are jovial, industrious toymakers; there are also evil elves that take temporary holiday retail jobs to commit ID theft and credit fraud. And, they’ll steal your identity in less time than it takes Santa to slip down the chimney.

Big retail stores hire as many as 50 new employees during the holiday season, and many of them don’t get vetted as thoroughly as year-round workers. Adding to the ID theft risk is the fact that these additional employees aren’t management—they double the number of employees management typically oversees.

So, how can shoppers protect themselves from the evil ID theft elves? (more…)