Identity theft and tax season
It’s tax season. It’s an annual occurrence, happening at the same time of year, every year. And in observance, here’s our annual phishing, scamming and identity theft warning with tips for avoiding getting taken to the cleaners … by anyone but the IRS.
Your mailbox
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? (more…)
Ever bounce a check? Then you know the sickening feeling you get in the pit of your stomach when you pull that slim envelope from the mailbox. You know how anxious you are to make the check good and assuage your feelings of humiliation. But what if you never get that bank notice? What if you get a letter from a collection agency first? (more…)
We’re all experiencing anxiety (or outright panic) in the face of diminishing job security, escalating interest rates and sinking home values. I hate to add to the daily financial sturm und drang—and I beg your forgiveness—but you need to know about the increasing risk of identity theft related to data breaches and this recession. (more…)
As of January 2009, 11.6 million Americans are unemployed, according to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics. Jobs are hard to come by these days, and job seekers are desperately applying a shotgun approach, using headhunters, professional networking and a number of online job sites.
Unfortunately, rather than becoming full-time employees, many applicants may become identity theft victims instead. (more…)
There’s a reason bloggers like me are always harping about the need for identity theft services like those offered by LifeLock: it’s because so many nitwits are in charge of your personal information.
Before I begin my rant, let me start by saying the folks in the Madison, Wisconsin Human Resources Department are probably good people. Like their imaginary Minnesota neighbors of Lake Wobegon, they’re probably a bunch of strong women, good-looking men and the parents of above-average children.
But how did their kids get so darned smart if their parents are nitwits? (more…)
Reading this blog is one way to learn more about identity theft and how to protect yourself from it. But if you belong to an organization whose other members are interested in learning more, you can take advantage of the new LifeLock Speakers Series.
“The series has been designed so that individuals with similar interests can come together and learn about the latest identity theft trends, the inherent risks associated with the crime, as well as the types of proactive measures all consumers should take in order to minimize their risks of becoming a victim,” said Mike Prusinski, LifeLock’s Vice President of Public Affairs.
LifeLock provides this service free of charge as part of their mission to reduce the number of identity thefts. The US Department of Justice has called identity theft the number one crime in the United States, surpassing drug trafficking. Every three seconds another American becomes an identity theft victim. (more…)
Identity theft stories don’t get much freakier than this one from Annapolis, MD. And, making it worse, the guy responsible is out on bond and probably reprising his act.
OK, here’s the story of the identity theft crime allegedly committed by Thomas Calvin Eichelberger:
Last September Eichelberger entered into a job contract with a man we’ll call Bob (because, trust me, “Bob” doesn’t want anyone linking him to this story). Afterwards, they stopped by a gas station where Eichelberger bought Bob a cappuccino. After he drank the coffee, Bob said he started feeling lightheaded, but the two went on to have a few drinks at a local restaurant and then went back to Eichelberger’s place where they had a couple more drinks and Bob got sick.
When Bob comes to, he finds himself naked on Eichelberger’s bed while his host sits clothed in a chair looking at him. Bob hung around a little longer, found a camera under Eichelberger’s bed and got sick again. Can you guess what was on the camera? Good guess! The camera held pictures of Bob and Bob’s naked butt. (more…)
Last year someone used my husband’s identity to buy almost a thousand dollars worth of Star Wars light sabers online. After filing the police report, canceling the card and doing battle with the bank, I began researching identity theft services.
The first thing I did was go to LifeLock.com because I’d seen their commercials. (I have insomnia, so I see a lot of their commercials!) Besides giving out his Social Security number (a lot), their CEO Todd Davis goes on (a lot) about all the wonderful things LifeLock does.
Is LifeLock that good? I visited the websites of a half dozen other ID theft services. I checked them all out with the Better Business Bureau. I read the reviews. I compared prices. In the end, I chose LifeLock. (more…)
If you’ve been thinking about how to mitigate your chances of becoming an identity theft victim, but don’t want to pay a lot of money for an identity theft program, LifeLock discounts are the answer.
Though it’s true you can place fraud alerts and obtain your credit reports without assistance or fees, it’s also true that you get what you pay for. (more…)
