Anyone who’s ever gotten a driver’s license knows how hellishly boring the state office for such services can be. Well, the semi-comatose Georgia residents waiting in line at the Cordele office of Georgia Department of Driver Services got a welcome break in the tedium when nine people were busted there for being part of an identity theft ring.

According to investigators, four of the suspects were brought to Georgia from Delaware. Once they arrived they were introduced to others who provided them with identification cards and counterfeit employment verification letters to establish them as Georgia residents.

The suspects also had authentic Texas birth certificates and Social Security cards in their possession when they were arrested.

The identity theft ring allegedly intended to acquire entire sets of identity documentation for undocumented aliens in southwest Georgia.

Officers from the Georgia Bureau of Investigations, Georgia Department of Driver Services and the Crisp County Sheriff’s Office participated in the investigation that led to the arrests.

The nine people arrested included three from small towns in southwest Georgia near Cordele. Arrested were Melisa D. Howeger, 25, of Tifton, Ga.; Peggy Sue Duckworth, 60, and her daughter, Rita Charline Rodriguez, 31, both of Moultrie.

The other six were from Delaware. They are Froilan Garcia-Juarez, 38; Jenner Estuardo Garcia-Garcia, 25; Erica Ablizar Perez-Villegas, 27; Hugo Juarez-Niz, 22; Parfecto Delfino, 20; and Portino Perez, 39.

LifeLock provides innovative, comprehensive identity theft services to nearly 1.5 million Americans. Enroll in LifeLock’s services using the LifeLock promotional code DEFENSE and pay only $9 a month after 30 days of free services.

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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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.

The threat comes from those who are unemployed and desperate; those who are bitter about imminent layoff or job loss; and a shrinking workforce that can’t maintain security as they perform work with fewer resources. In fact, there were 47% more data breaches in 2008 than in 2007.

If there’s a silver lining to be found in our ailing economy, it’s the abundance of sales and discounts currently available to consumers. Home sellers, car dealers, restaurants and retailers are all trying to lure nervous customers to their goods with ever deepening savings. Of course, some of us have always been reluctant to pay full price for any products or services. Canny consumers pride themselves on their parsimony and insider information on where to find the best deals.

If you count yourself among this elite, penny-wise club, or want to, you should know about LifeLock’s identity theft service and their promotional codes for discounted services. LifeLock is the ID theft service chosen by nearly 1.5 million Americans because of their comprehensive and innovative strategies. And, the fact that 93% of their members choose to renew after their initial enrollment is a testament to LifeLock’s customer service.

Visit LifeLock.com and enroll using the LifeLock promo code DEFENSE to get the lowest price AND 30 days of free services.

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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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.

Scammers have been known to use information from applicants’ online resume to contact them and conduct bogus phone interviews. After the interview the scammer enthusiastically expresses an interest in hiring the applicant and requests the applicants’ Social Security number and driver’s license number under the guise of conducting a pre-employment background check.

What they’re really doing is using all that information to steal the job seeker’s identity to obtain credit.

Underscoring the need for caution while job searching is news that the online job search site Monster.com was hacked in January. More than 75 million people use Monster.com and the federal job site USAJobs.gov that is run by Monster.com’s parent company, Monster Worldwide Inc.

Pam Dixon, a privacy expert who runs the World Privacy Forum offers these tips to those using online job sites:

Use only your first initial and last name on your resume.
Do not include your phone number or address.
Use a new email account as contact information.

In addition, conduct extensive research on any companies that express an interest in hiring you. Contact the company’s human resources department to confirm that the person posing as the interviewer is employed there.

In such a challenging employment climate it’s easy to understand why a job searcher would throw caution to the wind, but there are worse things than being unemployed. For instance, being unemployed and contacted by collection agencies demanding payment for credit card accounts you never opened.

It’s hard to justify new expenses when you’re unemployed, but for only $9 a month LifeLock will help you protect your credit, reputation and your finances. Simply visit LifeLock.com and enroll using the promotion code DEFENSE to receive the lowest rate and 30 days of free services.

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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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?

This week the city’s HR department announced that a laptop was stolen from a city office, and on the laptop were the names, Social Security numbers and photos of somewhere between 300 and 500 municipal employees who had new job ID cards printed between 2004 and 2007.

First off: Why was the laptop left in an unlocked room used for job applicant testing, new employee orientations and the photographing of all employees needing new ID cards? Secondly, which boneheaded city employee is responsible for storing unencrypted personnel files on a laptop? Finally, why don’t they at least know how many and which employees’ personal information was stored on the laptop?

HR director Brad Wirtz said he recognized that storing such information on a portable computer in a room so easily accessible by so many people was a “bad practice” when his own new ID was printed in 2007. When the city switched to a new practice of identifying employees by their email addresses, they thought the Social Security numbers would be “phased out” as employees were issued new cards.

He was wrong.

“We just didn’t think the computer was going to be stolen,” Wirtz said.

He was wrong about that, too.

The laptop has since been recovered, and police say the data was never accessed.

Visit LifeLock.com to learn more about LifeLock’s ID theft services. Enroll using the LifeLock promo code DEFENSE to get the lowest price and 30 days of free protection. And, take this friendly advice: do it soon … before some nitwit renders you vulnerable to identity theft.

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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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.

Bob went home and told his wife and mother-in-law what happened. (I have to laugh at this part of the story; can’t you just picture it!) By this time Bob was feeling lousy enough that he went to the hospital, where doctors found opiates in his blood. Bob says he doesn’t take drugs.

A month later Bob checked his credit report and—big surprise—someone had taken out a couple new credit cards in his name, but the bills were being sent to Eichelberger’s address.

This is when Bob finally, finally wises up and calls the police. The cops search Eichelberger’s home and find marijuana, cocaine and an email for Bob in which he threatens to send the nudie pics to Bob’s attorney.

Eichelberger was arrested December 1, and charged with tampering with food and drink, second-degree assault, coke and marijuana possession and two counts of identity theft.

And this is where I’d like to send out a big personal “thank you” to Baltimore County, MD for letting Eichelberger lose on a $100,000 bond.

I’m sure a lot of freaks seem like very nice people, the kind of people nice enough to buy you a cup of coffee from a gas station. In the entire world there might not be another identity story like this one, but Eichelberger is still out there, and probably hundreds more like him.

Visit LifeLock.com to learn more about their identity theft services. Enroll using LifeLock promotional code DEFENSE to get the lowest possible 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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Mail stopped? Check.
Newspaper stopped? Check.
Housesitter? Check.
Travel insurance? Check.
LifeLock? Huh?

Travel agents with even the slightest bit of capitalist spirit will recommend you buy travel insurance when they book your trip. In fact, they’ll probably try to sell you on the idea of ID theft insurance for travelers. At first glance the policy may seem like a good idea.

Look closer. For even the most basic coverage, rates can be ridiculously high (usually between five and seven percent of the total cost of your trip) and coverage is amazingly scant. Policies that offer ID theft services for travelers typically limit their coverage to 180 days of credit restoration — a process that could take as long as three or four years to complete.

The better idea is to purchase LifeLock identity theft services that will serve you at home and away, 24/7/365. For only $9.95 a month, LifeLock offers comprehensive customer services that will protect you anywhere in the world in the case of lost or stolen documents.

Further peace of mind comes from knowing that regardless of the time zone, or time of night or day, you can reach LifeLock. Within minutes of your call, they’ll begin helping you replace documents you’ve lost including credit cards, driver’s license, Social Security card, passport, visas, checkbooks, etc.

Tips for protecting your identity while you travel

Photocopy all your documents and leave a copy with a friend or family member you can trust.

Never leave your documents or valuables in your room while you’re out. Lock them in your room safe, or the hotel safe if you’re not carrying them with you.

Leave your checkbook at home. Use credit cards, cash or travelers checks instead. And don’t plan to catch up on bill paying while you’re out of town. Even if no one steals your checkbook, there’s a lot of valuable information on the account statements.

Don’t use ATM/Debit cards while traveling. If someone else does use your credit card, your liability is capped at $50.

Designate only one credit card for travel – preferably the one with the best rewards. Carry one more credit card for emergencies. Leave behind any other credit cards, Social Security cards, and anything else with personal information on it.

If you have to withdraw money at an ATM, make one or two large withdrawals rather than several smaller ones. Every time you use an ATM you’re creating another chance for identity thieves to skim your information.

Visit Life Lock.com and enroll with the LifeLock promotional code Defense for the lowest price available.

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LifeLock has had a pretty great year, and it looks like 2009 promises to bring the identity theft protection company even more growth and prosperity.

2008 Summary and 2009 Projection

• LifeLock reached the magical 1 million member mark in 2008, just 3 1/2 years after incorporation, and will go into 2009 with just under 1.5 million active members. They expect to have 3 million customers by this time next year.
• LifeLock’s superb customer service have given the company a loyal customer base. A huge part of the reason the company has enjoyed such astounding growth is their consistent 93% renewal rate.
• More than 10% of their members are children, probably because LifeLock was the first identity theft company to recognize that children are especially vulnerable to ID theft.
• Like it or not, you can expect to see more of Todd Davis next year in TV, radio and print ads. LifeLock’s sponsorship of sporting events will continue, and an expanded 2-hour episode of Donald Trump’s Celebrity Apprentice will be all about LifeLock.
• This year saw the introduction of two major new services: eRecon™ and TrueAddress™. The company plans to announce more major new products in 2009.
• LifeLock formed several new corporate partnerships in 2008, including Office Depot, AAA Clubs, CVS Pharmacies, H&R Block, USAirways and many banks and credit unions. In 2009 LifeLock will be announcing more consumer pilots.

Visit Life Lock.com for more information about their services. Enroll using the LifeLock promotion code Defense and pay only $9 a month after 30 days of free services.

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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The IT professionals surveyed below will tell you why you need LifeLock identity theft services. A whopping 92% of them say their organizations suffered cyberattacks in 2008. Go to LifeLock.com. Use LifeLock promo code Defense and get the lowest price.

If you think 2008 was a bad year for data breaches (and it was), don’t expect 2009 to be any better. In fact, 2009 is expected to be worse, and the end of failing security efforts is nowhere in sight, according to the 600 IT professionals interviewed by the Ponemon Institute.

The biggest risks the participants identified are:

• Outsourcing, cited by over 50% of participants: More organizations are farming out customer service and human resources functions as a cost saving measure, but many of this year’s data breaches occurred as a result of contracted employees’ and business partners’ failure to protect their clients’ information.

• Mobility, cited by over 90% of participants: Laptop computers and handheld devices such as iPhones, Blackberrys and flash drives are the single most common cause of data breaches.

• Cloud computing, cited by 61% of participants: Newer technologies, including cloud computing and virtualization provide additional access points for cyberthieves.

• Cybercriminals, cited by 46% of IT security workers and 24% of operational employees: Hacking is now within the realm of ever more sophisticated international crime syndicates capable of stealing information affecting millions of customers.

Perhaps the most illuminating response to the question “Has your organization suffered a cyber attack within the past year?” An alarming 92% of the respondents said “Yes”.

The Ponemon Institute independently researches data security risks in the private and public sectors. Lumension, a security applications vendor, sponsored the study.

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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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