It would have been just another run of the mill car break in, except this particular violated car belongs to a home-health care employee from St. Rita’s Medical Center in Lima, Ohio. In the car was a bag, and in the bag was the personal and medical information of 242 St. Rita’s patients.

So, what this means is that somewhere there is a cretin who is in possession of the patients’ names, addresses, phone numbers, dates of birth, patient ID numbers. For some patients the identity theft threat is even greater because their Social Security numbers were also in the stolen bag. And for some, the privacy violation is even worse because their case managers’ and physician’s names and the details of their treatment were also stolen.

Let’s try to make something positive and hopeful of this, shall we?

One lesson we can all take away from this despicable crime is that identity theft and privacy violations can happen to anyone and in myriad manners. We can’t trust the people storing our information to safeguard it responsibly, so we must proactively protect ourselves, even if it means availing ourselves of professional expertise like that of identity theft protection services.

And, we can hope that St. Rita’s has also learned from what will no doubt be an expensive lesson. First of all, their employee should never have been carrying around the files of 242 patients; surely she wasn’t planning to see them all in a single day, so the excess files should have been stored securely in her office.

Secondly, those files should have been digitized, encrypted and stored on a password-protected laptop. Thousands upon thousands of laptops are stolen every year, but few low-life criminals have the skills to access the data within them.

Visit LifeLock.com to learn more about your options for protecting your identity. If you decide to enroll in their program, use the LifeLock promotion code DEFENSE for the lowest price and 30 days of free service.

At the end of the 30-day free period, your card will be automatically billed $9 monthly unless you cancel within that first 30-day period. You can cancel anytime without penalty by calling 1-800-LIFELOCK. This offer is for new LifeLock members only.

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I saw a news story today about a guy in Muncie, Ind. who’s been getting calls about late payments on his new Jeep Cherokee.

Yeah, I know, millions of people get calls like that every day. This guy’s calls are a little special, though, because he doesn’t own a Jeep Cherokee, but a favorite relative of his, Cory S. Kortman, just got a new Jeep Cherokee! Small world, huh?

Before long the guy who’s been getting the dunning calls put two and two together and good ol’ Cory got himself arrested last week on charges of forgery and identity deception.

Every family’s got one, right?

There are a couple things about this story that are classic.

First, the victim didn’t discover the ID theft on his own. He didn’t find a new car purchase on his credit report, or get a call from a prospective creditor like he would if he had a fraud alert on his credit file. He found out he’d been robbed when a bill collector called him–just like 82% of all identity theft victims who find out they’re victims because of an adverse action.

Secondly, he knew the perpertrator, and the perpetrator is a relative. Among identity theft victims who know for sure who ripped them off, roughly a third of them can point to a family member or friend.

Got a relative who’s always in financial trouble? Maybe a “friend” who drinks a lot or has a nasty drug addiction? A ne’er-do-well brother-in-law who’s been in trouble with the law in the past. An ex-wife with expensive taste and a vindictive streak? These are the folks who want your name, your good credit and your clean-as-a-whistle background check.

Don’t wait for these losers to come around flashing their new cars or their sparkling rings. Visit LifeLock.com and enroll using the LifeLock promotion code Defense. You’ll get 30 days of free identity theft service and then pay only $9 a month after that. It’s the lowest price and the sweetest deal available.

At the end of the 30-day free period, your card will be automatically billed $9 monthly unless you cancel within that first 30-day period. You can cancel anytime without penalty by calling 1-800-LIFELOCK. This offer is for new LifeLock members only.

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If you’re considering identity theft services, visit LifeLock.com to learn more about their strategies. Use the Life Lock promotion code “Defense”to get the lowest available price. LifeLock provides identity theft services to more than 1 million Americans. Read on to find out why you would benefit from it, too.

Employers know a lot more about you than you know about them. Anyone with access to your human resources file has your name, address, phone number, date of birth, Social Security number, place of birth, credit history, work history, salary history and physical description.

But who are these people who hold all that information about you? If you’re unfortunate enough to be an employee of the Library of Congress, one of those people was William Sinclair.

Sinclair, a former personnel executive, was charged by information this week for using the library’s payroll records to steal at least 10 employees’ identities. He then passed the employee information to Labiska Gibbs, his cousin, who used it to obtain credit cards.

And then the cousins went shopping. The two charged more than $38,000 to the newly minted credit cards, according to court documents.

Sinclair could receive up to 20 years in prison if he’s convicted. Gibbs is looking at as much as 37 years behind bars because she was the one who actually obtained the fraudulent credit cards.

Your personal information lives a life of its own in hundreds of databases. Schools, employers, creditors, health-care providers, hospitals, marketers, cities, counties, states, nations—they all have your information. Don’t you ever wonder what they do with it, who has access to it or how they safeguard it?

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LifeLock provides identity theft services to more than a million Americans. During this holiday season, it’s more important than ever that you stay alert to identity theft risks and do all you can to avoid becoming an identity theft victim.

Take common sense precautions and let LifeLock do the rest. Visit LifeLock.com to learn more about how Life Lock can help protect your credit, finances and reputation. Enroll using the LifeLock promotional code Defense for the best LifeLock value.

“City sidewalks, busy sidewalks
Dressed in holiday style
In the air there’s a feeling like Christmas
Children laughing, people passing
Meeting smile after smile
And on every street corner you hear …

“Ho, Ho, Holy @!*%, My Identity’s Been Stolen.”

That’s the title of a recent press release with tips for avoiding identity theft from the Identity Theft Resource Center, a nonprofit organization that works to raise awareness and educate consumers about ID theft.

The Christmas shopping season is well underway, and the standard store Muzak has been replaced with Christmas carols. The mall parking lot is full. The food court is like a Marrakech market. Identity thieves are watching your every move and thinking to themselves, “I’ll be him for Christmas, just you wait and see.”

And another holiday tradition? The increase in calls to the Identity Theft Resource Center. Linda Foley, ITRC co-founder, said this year’s no exception.

“Calls about lost wallets and checks are already up,” she said.

Anytime you have large crowds in a contained area—whether it’s the Olympics, the Super Bowl or the mall at Christmastime—there’s an increased risk of picketpocketing. And people get distracted; they put down their purse or wallet and forget it. “

But because of the economic downturn things might be just a little bit different this holiday season
.
“We don’t know if the economy will affect identity theft rates, but because credit issuers have made credit tighter, there’s probably also going to be lower credit card usage.”

And, Foley said, that’s going to make things tougher for identity thieves who will have to jump through more hoops to steal your identity.

The ITRC recommends shoppers take only a single credit card when they go shopping, and never carry their Social Security cards.

Another point of access for ID thieves is mailboxes. Never leave bill payments in your home mailbox; take them to the post office instead. This time of year people are shoving hundreds of Christmas cards into those boxes, so be sure your mail goes into a box with enough room that it’ll be out of reach.

“While you cannot completely prevent yourself from becoming a victim, the tips above should help you from becoming an easy target.” (From the ITRC press release)

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How much is your good credit worth? If an identity thief wrecked your credit without stealing a single penny, how much money does owe you?

That’s the question facing Brevard County Prosecutor Joseph Downing this week when he hears the identity theft case David Welch filed against Kevin Landivar.

There’s an endless supply of bad landlord stories, but Welch’s story might be the strangest.

According to police, it all started when Welch was moving out of the house he’d rented for two years in Plantation, FL. Welch refused to pay the $200 fee his landlord, Landivar, wanted him to pay for listing the property with a Realtor … who just happened to be Landivar’s brother.

And then the flood of credit card and loan applications started pouring into Welch’s mailbox and his email inbox. He started getting calls from people who said they were responding to his request for a cash advance.

And then Welch’s credit dropped 170 points; too many credit inquiries will do that. When he was unable to increase the credit line for his business, he had to lay off employees and leave bills, rent and taxes unpaid. Plans to open another business had to be jettisoned.

“When I tell you I almost lost this business, I’m not exaggerating,” he said. “I was literally days away from saying I’ve got to close this down.

“This is the worst thing I’ve ever gone through. It devastated me.”

Visit LifeLock.com to see why nearly 1.5 million people have chosen LifeLock to help protect their credit. Enroll in their identity theft protection services using the LifeLock promo code Defense and get 30 days of free service and the lowest price available.

At the end of the 30-day free period, your card will be automatically billed $9 monthly unless you cancel within that first 30-day period. You can cancel anytime without penalty by calling 1-800-LIFELOCK. This offer is for new LifeLock members only.

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Galveston and Houston residents returning to their hurricane-ravaged homes have been warned to watch for snakes and alligators. The same warning should be issued for residents still living in the shelters two weeks after Hurricane Ike.

Michael Scott Biles and Gregory Lewis have been arrested after visiting two shelters posing as recruiters for RDL Energy Inc., RDL, a local company, rovides contract workers for the oil industry. Job seekers at the shelters were instructed to complete an application, and attach a voided check so their paychecks could be direct-deposited.

A shelter employee called RDL to confirm Biles and Lewis were who they claimed to be. RDL said they had no knowledge of the “recruiters,” so shelter workers took approximately a dozen completed applications from the men, and told them to leave.

Undeterred, the men then took their show to a second shelter. An administrator at the shelter called the police who arrested the men.

Though neither man has ever been an employee of RDL Energy, Biles had applied for a job there.

Biles and Lewis are being held on charges of fraudulent use/possession of identifying information, a second-degree felony, and could serve as much as long as 20 years in prison if convicted.

Identity theft complaints spiked dramatically after Hurricane Katrina in 2005. In response LifeLock, Inc, offered free identity theft services to hurricane survivors. Life Lock was incorporated in 2005 and is now the industry leader in identity-theft prevention, with more than 1 million customers.

Visit their website at LifeLock.com to learn more about their services and how they can protect you from vicious and venomous predators. Use promotion code Defense for a significant disount.

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LifeLock’s usual price is $120 a year. Sometimes there’s even a promotion code available online that brings the cost of LifeLock down to $99 a year, and then they throw in an additional month for you and your kids, free. They’ll even set you up on a pay-by-the-month plan if that works better for you.

Most people would see that as a good value, considering all the service and protection that provides. Others call it a rip-off, and say that the services LifeLock provides—like credit reports or fraud alerts—can be had for free. And they’re correct, except for the key word “service.”

What LifeLock members pay for isn’t the credit report or the fraud alert; it’s the service of ordering the credit report for you. It’s the service of placing the fraud alerts, and then renewing them for you every 90 days. It’s the service of removing your name from junk mail and phone solicitation lists. And they do more than just those things.

What’s it worth to you?
You’ve probably known for years that you could do these things yourself at no cost. But have you done them yet? If you have, and if you continue to do them quarterly or annually as required, then LifeLock might not be a terrific deal for you. But if you haven’t done this stuff yet, or if you placed one fraud alert but never renewed it, you’re the kind of person who really benefits from these services.

In addition, LifeLock adds another service you can’t get anywhere else, free or otherwise. Lost you wallet? Purse stolen? Passport gone missing? If you’re a LifeLock member, just make a call and they’re on the job. All the documents you were carrying will be replaced, including professional licenses, driver’s licenses, Social Security cards, insurance cards, credit cards, bank cards, traveler’s checks, passports and visas.

Need more convincing about the value of a LifeLock plan? How about a $1 million total service guarantee that if somebody gets around LifeLock’s defenses and steals your identity, LifeLock will make things right for you.

That’s a lot of service. No, it’s not free…but it’s good.

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When you’re shopping for something based solely on price, you’re looking for a bargain. But when you’re shopping for identity theft protection, you need value–the best product at the best price. That’s Life Lock.

With the Life Lock promo code, you can save money while protecting your credit and good name from identity thieves. That Life Lock’s identity theft prevention service is the best in the industry makes it a good value. That their usual price is only $10 a month makes it an even better value. Using the promotion code to get a year of Life Lock’s superior service for only $8.25 a month: that’s not only a great value, that’s a great bargain.

What makes Life Lock the best?

• Life Lock prevents identity theft by placing and maintaining fraud alerts on your credit records. And, they’ll order a copy of your credit report and mail it to you so you can audit it. Other companies base their services on credit monitoring; once someone else has credit in your name, they’ll bring it to your attention.
• They’ll take your information off the junk mail and telemarketing lists, because so many identity thieves use those as sources.
• Life Lock is also the exclusive provider of WalletLock, the new free service that will replace all official documents in your wallet if they’re ever lost or stolen.
• Finally, if you fall prey to identity theft while you’re a Life Lock customer, their $1 million total service guarantee kicks in. You can have compete confidence that Life Lock will do whatever it takes to restore your records, even if it means paying a team of attorneys, auditors, accountants, investigators and case managers.
• And, with this promotion code, you get 30 days of free service for yourself and your family.

The promotion code savings
All of these services usually cost $120 per year, or $10 per month for an individual. By using the link above, you can get all of those services free for 30 days for yourself and your children.

After 30 days, your cost is only $99 for the year, or $9 by the month. Including your children costs only $22.50 a year, or pay for their protection by the month for only $2.25.

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