Archive for October, 2010

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Botox Bandit gets 5 years for ID theft

Friday, October 29th, 2010

A Southern California woman may be free of crow’s feet and brow lines, but that’s about all she’s got that’s free.

Forty-six-year-old Melissa Chesney, who has become known as the Botox Bandit, was arrested and charged with fraud, burglary and identity theft. Her crimes were, law enforcement professionals say, fueled by her obsession with the popular anti-wrinkle drug. She has been sentenced to five years in prison.

According to reports, between February and May 2009, Chesney went to Orange County salons and spas 17 times, using fake names and fraudulent checks to purchase bottom, body products and skin treatments.

Chesney pleaded guilty to 21 felonies, including nine counts of burglary, and was also ordered to pay restitution in addition to serving time behind bars.

Chesney’s reaction to her sentence was not clear – her face showed no reaction.

Business owners must be as vigilant about protecting themselves from identity theft and fraud as individuals are. Make sure you get proper identification when accepting checks, including picture ID – no exceptions.

Business people should also be sure to keep private records locked away in a secure location, not accessible to the public.

Many businesses accept debit and credit cards. Those who do should be extra careful to properly dispose of receipts and copies of transactions. Those documents include customers’ personal information, and should be shredded before disposal. You should also shred any documentation that contains your business information as well, prior to disposal.

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ID theft is on the rise, so be on your guard

Thursday, October 28th, 2010

It’s no secret that identity theft is on the rise, and while it is difficult to investigate, law enforcement authorities catch some of the thieves and are looking for ways to combine resources to increase their success rates.

The best deterrent, authorities say, is for people to guard their personal information.

ID theft often involves fraudulently using someone’s credit card information to make purchases, using someone’s identity information to open credit accounts and various schemes, usually over the Internet, to obtain money.

Identity theft is a federal crime, and if it’s carried out inter-state, federal agents become involved. Sometimes the cases are international. Local law enforcement agencies don’t have the resources to follow up on these cases.

How do thieves steal an identity? One of the most common is dumpster diving, in which thieves literally dig through dumpsters and garbage cans to get personal information. They also will utilize skimmers, stealing credit card numbers by using a special device when processing a card.

Others utilize a technique called phishing, which means a thief just pretends to be a financial organization or company, sending spam or pop-up messages to get personal information. Thieves also submit changes of address through the post office, diverting mail instead to their own address or another location to steal information.

Then there’s the old-fashioned way: stealing a wallet or bribing an employee who has access to personal information through employee records.

How do we protect ourselves? First of all, carry your credit cards, Social Security card, passport or birth certificate in your purse or wallet on when needed. Monitor your monthly credit card statements and order your credit report yearly to check for inaccuracies or fraudulent entries.

If your cards are lost or stolen, report it to the credit card issuer immediately. Check your cards for the expiration date, and if you don’t receive a replacement in a timely manner, contact the issuer to find out why.

Never give out credit or bank account numbers over the phone, unless you have initiated the call and are sure of the person at the other end. If shopping online, make sure the Web site is secure.

When ordering checks, don’t have your Social Security number, telephone or driver’s license number printed on them. Never leave receipts behind, at ATMs, on counters or at gasoline pumps. Shred them when you are done with them.

Keep your personal information in a safe place. Shred documents you don’t need before discarding them. When you mail bill payments in, put them in a secured post office box.

Watch out for e-mails that appear to be official messages from banks or merchants asking you to update or verify account or billing information. While they may look realistic, they are attempts to phish for your personal information. Check with the bank or merchant to be sure.

These steps take a little time, but can help prevent becoming a victim of identity theft. A little time spent now can save you a lot of time – and heartache – later.

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Be wary this holiday season: you’re not the only one shopping

Wednesday, October 27th, 2010

LifeLock is warning consumers that with the holiday season fast approaching, there will be increasing threats of identity theft – so you should arm yourself with smart shopping habits now.

The National Retail Federation is forecasting holiday retail sales to reach $447.1 billion this year, a 2.3 percent increase over last year.

As the industry leader in proactive identity theft protection, LifeLock offers these tips:

• When dining out, be careful about giving your debit or credit card to someone. Identity thieves are using skimmers all over the country at restaurants. Here’s how it works: you hand over your plastic to a waiter, who runs it through a credit card machine, then through a skimmer. The skimming device captures your name, card number and expiration date from the magnetic strip. A thief can then download the information later, which can be loaded onto a duplicate card.

• Pay attention to your surroundings when using an ATM. Thieves can place a skimmer device over the top of the card reader on the ATM, so be sure to check the ATM thoroughly to confirm that the reader on the machine is flush with the system, and that no metal or plastic devices are protruding. If something looks strange, alert the bank.

• When paying for fuel at the pump, make sure the card reader doesn’t look tampered with. To be safe, walk in and pay, so that you can watch the attendant swipe your card. If you want to use your debit card at the pump, choose the credit option.

LifeLock is seeking to educate consumers about identity theft this holiday season and empower them to start protecting themselves against one of the fastest-growing crimes by hosting numerous free educational presentations around the country. The LifeLock Speakers Series program provides attendees with a better understanding of the various risks associated with identity theft, current trends of the crime and the diverse ways identity theft can happen, including during the busiest shopping season of the year.

For more information on the LifeLock Speakers Series, go to http://www.lifelock.com/about-us/about-lifelock/free-identity-theft-education.

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Stolen medical information could cost more than just your good credit

Tuesday, October 26th, 2010

When Joanna Saenz opened her mail several years ago, she got quite a surprise. She had delivered a baby girl, born in Nebraska, and she’d just received the hospital bill.

But here’s the glitch – Saenz doesn’t have a daughter, and she’s never been to Nebraska.

The child’s mother had stolen Saenz’s identity, using a birth certificate and Social Security card stolen 10 years ago from Saenz, when she was 17 and in Mexico visiting relatives.

Saenz says her situation consumed 10 years of her life. She is now the founder of Identity Recovery of Colorado, a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping victims of identity theft. Saenz says in her case, the thief had obtained an education, houses and cars in her name.

In the realm of identity theft, medical identity theft is a small slice, compared with incidents of theft stemming from stolen credit card information. But because medical records are so complete, they can pose an even greater risk. These records often include payment data, leading to financial and credit fraud. Payment information is worth a lot when sold on the black market.

But even more frightening is the possibility that a life-threatening error can be made as the medical histories of thief and victim become intertwined over time. A person with an allergy can be given the wrong medication or the wrong blood type.

To protect yourself, ask for your medical records, and review them for any inaccurate or false information. Work with providers and your insurance company to correct them. This will take time…but it could save not just your good name, but your life as well.

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Medical identity theft will cost you – big time

Friday, October 22nd, 2010

A Texas woman has been sentenced to 15 years in federal prison for orchestrating a scheme to steal the personal information of patients while she was employed by a medical billing contractor.

Katrina Candrick, 34, of LaGrange, Texas, was sentenced in early October on charges of conspiracy to commit identity theft and for unlawful possession of fraudulent identification documents. She has also been ordered to pay more than $163,000 in restitution.

Candrick was employed as a patient account representative at MedAssets, a Richardson, Texas-based health care billing company, from July 6 to Nov. 13, 2009. While employed by the company, Candrick illegally obtained the personal information of more than 1,200 individuals from billing accounts she handled. Many of the victims were patients at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston.

When Candrick was arrested Dec. 14, 2009, she was using the name of a person whose identity she had stolen, and was using stole information to pay for living expenses, vehicles and other items.

This case highlights the rise of insider threats to personal information. These types of crime are committed by employees who have access to sensitive data and more often than not, the employer does little or nothing to perform any monitoring.

Medical identity theft has been on the upswing in recent months, partially due to the wealth of information available in medical records. Thieves can use this information to obtain medical treatment or prescription drugs that they otherwise would not have had access to. Medical records contain not only names and addresses, but also employer and financial account information. Information is also shared between doctors’ offices, insurance companies and other health care facilities.

According to a Ponemon Institute study, nearly 1.5 million Americans have suffered from medical identity theft. It is estimated that the cost of medical identity theft totals $29 billion, approximately $20,000 per victim.

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The Three Little Pigs learned a tough lesson – we can benefit from that

Thursday, October 21st, 2010

You can learn a lot from children’s stories, if you’re willing to give them more than a cursory glance. Today we look at “The Three Little Pigs.”

Once upon a time there were three little pigs, and the time came for them to leave home and seek their fortunes. What those fortunes were, no one knows. Perhaps loads of mud or corn cobs?

Before they left, their mother told them, “Whatever you do, do it the best that you can because that’s the way to get along in the world.”

So the three pigs set out to seek their cobs…um, fortunes.

The first little pig, who was a tad bit on the lazy side, decided the first thing he wanted to do was to build a house for himself. But he took the easy way out, and built his house of straw. Not a lot of resale value there.

The second little pig, not quite as lazy but still a little bit so, also decided to invest in some real estate. But he won’t see much return either, since he built his home in an area with a bad school district and really high crime rate. And he used sticks to build his home.

The third little pig apparently got the brains in the family, because when he built his home, he invested in a corner lot in a great neighborhood, with choice schools, no crime, and near some great parks and the mall. He built his house of sturdy brick, and installed a mud pit and stainless steel slop trough.

One night, while the first pig was watching Jeopardy and getting all the questions wrong, the Big Bad Wolf showed up, and said, “Dude, let me in or I’ll blow down your crib.” (The wolf was from the south-central part of town.)

The pig refused, so BBW took a deep breath and blew on the little house until it was just a big pile of hay. He then had a BLT, heavy on the B.

The next night, BBW went to the second pig’s house, and the scene repeated itself. Long story short, the wolf dined on a delicious plate of bacon and scallop roll-ups, since he had been to the shore the prior weekend.

The next night, feeling quite confident, the wolf went to the third pig’s house. Seeing that it was made of brick, and knowing his lung capacity wouldn’t be enough, BBW climbed up to the top of the house, and took a peek down the chimney, looking for a way in.

But the smart pig saw BBW climbing, and he quickly lit a fire and put a big pot of water on to boil. The wolf was so intent on looking for his way in that he slipped and fell down into the pot.

The pig dined on a wolf-loaf for weeks.

The lesson here for consumers? Build a big fire and wait for identity thieves to fall in your pot.

Not really. But we can learn from the third little pig to be prepared. Don’t wait to become a victim of identity theft. Be proactive.

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Debunking the myths about ID theft

Wednesday, October 20th, 2010

There are some prevailing myths out there about identity theft. Here’s the truth.

No. 5: Checking your credit report protects your from identity theft. Checking your report just tells you if your identity has been stolen. But you should still check it as often as possible.

No. 4: Caller ID is safe. Caller IDs are easily spoofed with technology that allows the bad guy to change what shows up on your handset. First, no matter who calls, never give personal information to anyone over the telephone. If you initiated the call or are sure of the person at the other end of the call, it’s okay. Be sure to check the person and/or organization out thoroughly and verify the call before you respond to any questions.

No. 3: Technology and computers are why identity theft is so big. Certainly data breaches are responsible for some identity theft. However, low-tech identity theft is the bigger problem. A lost or stolen wallet, or stolen debit or credit card, is still the most common way identity theft happens.

No. 2: Identity theft is only a financial crime. There is also medical identity theft, which is when someone poses as you to get medical attention. Then there’s criminal identity theft, which is where a thief commits one or more crimes using your identity. Then there’s employment fraud, where a person uses your Social Security number to get a job. And don’t forget about identity cloning, which is where a thief uses your information to avoid law enforcement or others. In other words, there’s a world of ways an identity thief can take advantage of his victims.

And at No. 1: You can’t protect yourself from identity theft. Some, but not all, identity theft is preventable. There are many things you can do to minimize your risk, both online and off. Shred anything that has your personal information on it before you dispose of it. Keep financial records protected and private, in a locking file cabinet. Opt out of junk mail. Get a locking mailbox. Protect your personal information, and don’t provide it to anyone unless you know how it will be used and protected.

The best thing you can do is to sign up for the proactive services offered by LifeLock. LifeLock will monitor for any threat to your personal information, whether credit-related or not, and notify you the minute any threat is detected. And if there’s ever any issue while you’re a LifeLock customer, you’ll be notified immediately, and LifeLock will work with you to resolve the issue.

Call LifeLock today. Receive 30 days free and get a 10 percent discount on enrollment with the LifeLock Promo Code “Defense.”

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Swedish professor happy thief returned data

Tuesday, October 19th, 2010

A Swedish professor is a happy camper after a thief returned the contents of his laptop on a flash drive.

After recent surgery, the professor, who wasn’t identified, couldn’t carry his backpack, which contained the computer, his keys, calendar and other documents, up to his apartment before going to the laundry room. He instead left it hanging behind a door in the stairwell, thinking it would be safe while he made a quick trip to the laundry room.

But when he returned a few minutes later, the bag was missing. He was most upset because of the stolen calendar, which he said contained everything that has happened in the last 10 years of his life.

The professor reported the theft to the local police and blocked the credit cards that were in the bag.

A short time later, he was surprised to find the backpack had been returned to the stairwell, containing everything except the laptop. The professor was relieved to have most of his belongings returned, although he commented he was terrible at remembering to back up the contents of his backpack.

But about a week after the theft, the professor came home to find an envelope containing a flash drive, which had been attached to the computer at the time of the theft. The thief had copied all of the documents and personal files from the professor’s laptop onto the memory storage device.

The professor was delighted to receive the flash drive, and said he hopes other thieves will follow suit and learn to be as compassionate.

“Often when people lose their computers and cameras, it is understandably not the gadget itself that is the most important. The content is often irreplaceable,” he said.

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Protect yourself from ID theft: be prepared

Monday, October 18th, 2010

It seems that everywhere we turn these days, there’s a new threat to our personal information. Identity theft is a continuous problem and it truly is just that – everywhere.

Identity theft is truly the crime that won’t go away, and it can be both costly and time consuming. The average victim i 2009 lost $4,840 and spent 21 hours cleaning up the mess left by identity thieves, whose motive was to swipe your information and use it to drain accounts, obtain credit cards and create havoc in your life.

Identity theft can happen anywhere to anyone. but there are some known areas of risk that you can avoid, if you know how.

• Thieves are preying on people’s urgency to find work. In some cases, phony online ads ask that a resume include a Social Security number, or that applicants bring personal documents to a location that’s not a real office. If you can’t see a person face to face or can’t check out the company by doing a little basic research, beware. Limit personal information on your resume; include your e-mail address and telephone, but not necessarily your home address, and never a Social Security number.

• Children are being targeted for their Social Security numbers and clean credit records. Scammers zero in on them because the crime can often go undetected for years. Signs of possible child identity theft include bills, credit cards or debt collection calls coming to you in your child’s name. If you suspect your child’s identity has been stolen, check with the three credit reporting agencies to see if a credit report exists in your child’s name. If there isn’t one, it’s good news. If there is, it’s likely your child has been victimized. You should be stingy in giving out your child’s Social Security information, and be sure you know why it’s needed and ask if there’s an alternative form of identification that can be used.

• The holidays are coming, and it can be an especially risky time. Remember to never carry large amounts of cash or your Social Security card. If you’re not using your checkbook, leave it at home. Be careful using ATMs, and if something looks strange about the ATM, don’t use it. Make copies of your credit cards, front and back, so that you can easily report a loss or fraudulent charges. Check your bank and credit card statements to be sure all the entries are yours. If you shop online, be sure the site is secure.

• Experts say one of the easiest and best things you can do to protect yourself is to shred any documents that bear your personal information. You should also be sure to remove your information from old cell phones and computers.

Remember, fighting identity theft is a constant battle that requires constant attention. Attacks can come from all fronts – and it pays to be prepared.

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Don’t answer that IRS e-mail; it’s a fake

Friday, October 15th, 2010

According to a bulletin released by the Internal Revenue Service, there is currently a phishing scam being perpetrated by identity thieves involving communication between the IRS and taxpayers. It is important to note that the IRS does not communicate with taxpayers through e-mail.

If you receive a notice or letter in the mail from the IRS that leads you to believe someone may have used your Social Security number fraudulently, respond immediately to the name, address and number printed on the IRS notice. Be alert to possible identity theft if the IRS-issued notice or letter states more than one tax return was filed for you, or indicates that you received wages from an employer unknown to you.

An identity thief may also use your Social Security number to file a tax return in order to receive a refund. If the thief files the tax return before you do, the IRS will believe you already filed and received your refund if eligible.

If your SSN is stolen, it may be used by someone else to obtain a job. That employer may use your SSN to report income earned to the IRS, making it appear that you did not report all of your income on your tax return.

If either is the case, contact the IRS Identity Protection Specialized Unit at 1-800-908-4490.

If your tax records are not currently affected by identity theft, but you believe you may be at risk due to a lost or stolen wallet, questionable credit card activity, credit report or other activity, you will need to provide the IRS with proof of your identity. You should submit a copy of your federal- or state-issued identification, such as your Social Security card, driver’s license or passport, along with a copy of the police report and a completed IRS identity theft affidavit, Form 14039. You can submit these to the IRS by mailing them to P.O. Box 9030, Andover, MA 01810-0939 or by fax at 1-978-247-9965.

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