Financial identity theft is on the news, in the newspaper, and a topic of conversation wherever you go. It seems everyone you talk to either knows someone who’s been a victim, or has been a victim themselves.
Findings on the impact and scope of financial identity theft:
Some people respond to all the identity theft hysteria by taking all suggested precautions, and subscribing to a credit monitoring or identity theft protection service. Others listen to reports of identity theft and data breaches with skepticism, or even cynicism, believing the reports are hyped by the companies that benefit from it most – the companies that sell credit monitoring and identity theft services. (more…)
By now every consumer knows they’re vulnerable to identity theft, and about 8 million consumers a year learn it the hard way. But small business owners might be surprised to learn the business they’ve nurtured along may be an even more attractive target to identity thieves.
It can all be explained by one of the basic principles of business: return on investment.
One of the red flags that an individual’s identity has been hijacked is a sudden up-tick in big-ticket credit purchases. But, increased expenditures for new furniture, electronics, cell-phone accounts or travel doesn’t so much as raise an eyebrow when they’re being charged to business accounts. (more…)
It’s an old expression, but you probably know what it means. It’s about the mechanic whose car is always breaking down; the computer tech whose home computer is disabled by viruses; the doctor who’s always sick.
It’s also about a South Florida Sun Sentinel consumer affairs and watchdog reporter who becomes a victim of identity theft.
McNelly Torres’ first indication that something was wrong was the delivery of a Dell credit card in her mailbox. Over the next days she received more credit cards from Lowe’s, Macy’s, Bloomindales, Crate and Barrel, Radio Shack and Toys R Us. Ten new credit card accounts had been opened in her name. She hadn’t applied for any of them. (more…)
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…)
Bottled water? Check. Canned soups? Check. Cars fueled up? Cash on hand? Windows boarded up? Battery-operated radio? Check, check, check and check. Sounds like you’re ready for hurricane season, but what have you done to protect your identity if a storm hits? What should you do?
Place all personal and financial documents inside a plastic freezer bag, and keep them on hand in a lockbox. If you decide to hunker down and wait out the storm in your home, you want to make sure you can easily lay your hands on your information after the storm. If you need to evacuate, carry them in a backpack that will allow you to leave your hands free.
Your “identity kit” should include birth certificates, Social Security cards, marriage certificates, drivers’ license, medical records, health insurance cards, car titles and registrations, deed for your home, homeowners’ insurance, credit cards, investment documents.
If you’re faced with a question about what to take and what to leave behind, picture New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, when thousands of personal and financial documents could be found floating in floodwater all over the city. As a result, there was a huge spike in identity theft after the hurricane.
Imagine the damage you could incur if an unscrupulous identity theft (or a desperate evacuee) found your documents. You’ll need many of these documents to receive assistance, or to file insurance claims. Even if a document doesn’t seem like anything you’ll need while you’re away from your home, you don’t want to leave it behind if it could help someone else assume your identity or access your finances.
When you get to the shelter–or whatever your destination–never let the backpack out of your sight. If you’re traveling with another adult family member, take turns wearing the backpack.
LifeLock has consistently offered free identity theft protection to those affected by hurricanes. Don’t wait for disaster to strike to take advantage of Life Lock’s industry-leading services. More than 1 million Americans are already protected by their services; visit LifeLock.com to find out why. Use LifeLock promo code RD17 and receive the deepest LifeLock discount available.
We’ve all been told not to carry our Social Security cards with us. We all know that we’re supposed to keep our Social Security cards locked up at home somewhere. If the card is lost or stolen, identity theft and credit fraud become huge risks, and could result in the loss of thousands of dollars, erroneous arrest warrants, medical ID theft, and a plummeting credit score.
So why is it that more than 40 million people covered by Medicare are forced to carry their SSN? It’s simple. Medicare prints their beneficiaries’ SSN directly on the card.
Medicare officials claim that issuing new cards to the 40 million beneficiaries would be “a huge undertaking” that would cost $500 million to update, take three years to plan, and another eight years to implement.
They also worry that issuing new cards might “startle or alarm” current beneficiaries. As if learning you’re months behind in mortgage payments on a house you didn’t know about wouldn’t be startling. Receiving a $40,000 medical bill for the amputation of your left foot would probably be alarming. And having a sheriff’s deputy come to the door with an arrest warrant for a crime they didn’t commit would probably be both startling and alarming. All of these things have happened to real people. (more…)
If you’re among the 100 million users of Facebook, you need to know about this week’s New York Times’ story on a recent blitzkrieg of phishing attempts, malware, spam, viruses, Trojans, worms, account deactivations and out-and-out computer takeovers.
Losing you Facebook account is a bummer, but the huge fallout of all this is the increased risk of identity theft. You need to protect yourself. If all this is new to you, these are the basics of computer and identity protection: (more…)
Paying bills can be an onerous task, made only a bit easier by the ability to pay them online. But then you have the frustration of trying to keep track of all the passwords for all your online accounts. Thanks heavens for that friendly little “I forgot my password” link.
Unfortunately, identity thieves might be thinking the same. It’s just not that hard anymore to mine Facebook, MySpace and other blogsites to discover someone’s mother’s maiden name, or their pet’s name, or their college alma mater. How many accounts to you have with a login name made up of your last name and first initial? Add that information to your name and address which is readily available in lots of online public records, and anyone bent on identity theft can easily hack your accounts.
Back to the basics
Just like it’s not that hard for criminals to harvest your personal information, it’s not that hard to thwart them. Just use these simple tips to better secure your identity: (more…)
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