A Georgia teenager is facing felony charges after he unknowingly stole the Social Security number of a senior White House official and tried to apply for a Discover card.
The teen has been charged with identity theft, even though he had no idea whose identity he had stolen. He apparently googled different areas and eventually came up with a random Social Security number, which he used to apply for the card. The card didn’t match the applicant, so a credit agency alerted the Secret Service, once it realized who the number really belonged to.
The boy’s attorney said the 17-year-old isn’t a “terrorist,” but also expressed that since this number was so easy to obtain, she’s concerned about what other personal or financial information is easily attainable via the Internet.
So if you discover your Social Security number or some other personal information is available via Google, what do you do? Google will remove your Social Security number or government ID number, bank account or credit card number, an image of your signature, or your name or business name if it appears on an adult content site. Any other information and Google will point you toward contacting the offending site and requesting the information be removed on your own.
You can file a Web page removal request with Google at tinyurl.com/7zm3576. You can also read more about Google’s removal policy at tunyurl.com/84r4wpx.
Be careful with your personal or financial information. Only enter it on secured sites, and never on social media sites.
Tags: google Social Security numbers, Identity Theft, identity theft prevention, personal information
