id theft fraud prevention

Lisa Carey asked:


Yearly Reports of Identity Theft to the Federal Trade Commission:

In 2007 identity theft accounted for 36 percent of the 674,354 fraud and identity theft complaints (reported to the Federal Trade Commission.

In 2005 -255,565 cases of identity theft were reported to the FTC

In 2004 -246,847 cases of identity theft were reported to the FTC

In 2003 215,177 cases reported of identity theft were reported to the FTC

In 2001 CBS News reported that someone became the victim of identity theft every 79 seconds (CBSnews.com, 1/25/01)

Between 1997 and 2005 the Federal Trade Commission reported that over 3 million cases of fraud and identity theft were reported to over 1400 law enforcement agencies in 19 nations. Identity theft crimes are not limited to the United States but are committed world wide.

Facts every consumer should know:

- Credit card fraud (26%) was the most common form of reported identity theft followed by phone or utilities fraud; (18%), bank fraud (17%), and employment fraud (12%). Other significant categories of identity theft reported by victims were government documents/benefits fraud (9%) and loan fraud (5%). (Federal Trade Commission Complaint Data)

- the majority of cases go unreported to Federal or local authorities

- the most common age group affected by identity theft is 18-29

- the top 10 metropolitan areas affected by identity theft include: Phoenix, AZ; Las Vegas, NV; Miami, FL; San Francisco, CA; and Dallas, TX (2005)

- California had the most reported cases of identity theft with a total of approximately 45,000 cases of identity theft (2005)

- the most common method of retrieving information for use in identity theft is through lost or stolen wallets, theft of mail, dumpster diving, and information obtained through friends, family or consumer providers

- another common method of obtaining your information is by “stealing” it at a business that you may you frequent

New, Harder to Detect Form of Identity Theft

Synthetic identity theft occurs when bits and pieces of several people are used in order to create an entirely new identity. Information may come in the form of an address from one person, the social security number of another and employment or banking information from a third or fourth.

Your Damages resulting from Identity Theft:

In a study conducted of 173 victims of identity theft by The Identity Theft Resource Center specific damages were explored. In each case the victim’s damages included:

- an extended period of time to correct their credit status;

- 85% of the victims found out about the theft when they attempted to apply for a job or credit;

- victims are currently spending over 600 hours attempting to repair the damages to their credit

- victims are spending money in the approximate a amount of over $16,000 per victim to repair their credit

- it is taking longer to remove negative, incorrect or falsified information from their credit reports

- many victims equate the emotional impact of identity theft with that of a violent crime – in some cases similar to a rape as the violation can be that personal.

Identity theft is a serious crime. Damages result to individuals, banks, and businesses as well as families. Imagine going to purchase your new home to find out that your credit is damaged and now you are unable to. Imagine the time and money you will spend to correct the problems associated with identity theft. Millions of dollars and Hundreds of thousands of people in the United States and millions worldwide are affected each year by identity theft. Victims, both personal and business must use valuable time, effort and resources to correct the situation, which in some cases is beyond total repair. Damages are not only to your credit and your finances but also to your emotional, physical, and psychological well being.

Reporting suspected identity theft is essential to protecting yourself further and protecting others. Reports should be filed with local authorities, your State’s Attorney General’s office and the Federal Trade Commission. Consumers need to not only protect their information but by reporting efforts at identity theft may be able to stop it from happening in the future.

Consumers can report ID theft to the FTC by calling the agency’s toll-free number: 877-438-4338.



Pamela

Lisa Carey asked:


Consumers are not the only ones concerned about and taking steps to protect against identity theft. Many states are taking important steps to protect their residents. A few of these steps include stiffer penalties, imposing sanctions and fines on careless companies and providing their residents with many tools necessary to correct the errors that identity theft has caused.

Many identity theft savvy consumers are: installing anti-spy ware, using shredders, reducing the use of their social security number, using services to stop junk mail and risky credit card applications. But what about the actions of others? After all the care you take to protect yourself, what happens when others, such as companies or service providers do not?

Businesses that have access to your information aren’t always looking for you. It is far too easy to simply throw important personal information away, than to take the sometimes expensive steps needed to have it professionally disposed of. But many states are looking out for your best interest, especially when it comes to identity theft. Texas has a growing reputation for being proactive in preventing identity theft and tough on punishing businesses who don’t protect the consumer. Texas law requires vendors to take specific precautions before disposing of personal documents that may include customers’ bank accounts, driver’s license and Social Security numbers. In the state of Texas, you can bet companies will be thinking twice before dumping your credit application in a public trash can.

Examples of Poor Business Practices:

Public trash cans outside a local Radio Shack were filled with thousands of customer’s sensitive personal and credit information after the dumping of these documents. Credit applications containing names, social security numbers, debit and credit card numbers as well as addresses and telephone numbers and receipts were located, exposing many Radio Shack Consumers to identity theft or credit card fraud.

After investigations by the State of Texas Attorney General’s office, a settlement was reached. Under the settlement with Radio-Shack, the retailer is required to enhance security procedures and implement employee training. Radio Shack also agreed to unannounced compliance audits in all Texas stores bi-annually.

Select Medical was investigated after a report that over 4,000 documents were found in the garbage behind their Select Physical Therapy Location. These un-shredded records included bank account numbers, drug testing results, insurance verification sheets as well as sensitive social and vocational therapy questionnaires.

Select Medical will also be required to amend security procedures and implement training for Texas employees about the newly established state laws governing customer record disposal.

The insurance forms are of particular concern in light of the growing trend of medical identity theft, in which an individuals’ insurance information is used to obtain medical services or to commit insurance fraud.

Under the settlement agreement, the state of Texas will receive nearly $1.5 million in fines, including attorney’s fees. As outlined in the Identity Theft and Protection Act, the remainder will be used for the investigation and prosecution of future cases of identity theft.

Stiff penalties are just one of the steps taken to protect and prevent identity theft. The Texas Attorney General’s Office has created a checklist for victims of identity theft to take steps and track their progress during recovery. The identity theft check list includes information and forms on: closing all fraudulent accounts made in your name, contacting the 3 major credit reporting agencies and requesting a fraud alert or security freeze for new accounts, reporting identity theft crimes for local law enforcement and obtaining a copy of the police report, and reporting identity theft crimes to Federal Trade Commission and completing and ID Theft Affidavit. Victims are also advised to file a consumer complaint with the Office of the Attorney General in the event that they are harassed by credit collectors as a result of identity theft. Additionally The Texas Attorney General’s Office also offers an Identity Theft Victim’s Kit.

According to 2006 state statistics on identity theft, Texas ranks fourth in the area of identity theft. States are ranked according to victims per 100,000 people, and it should be noted that Texas also has a higher population than many other states. The top ten states with the Most Victims of Identity Theft Per Capita are: Arizona, Nevada, California, Texas, Florida, Colorado, Georgia, New York, Washington, and New Mexico.

Just because your state did not make the top ten list, doesn’t mean you are safe. No matter where you live, this crime is a real problem. Information, advocacy, laws and prosecutions in any state will ultimately help everyone but in the mean time consumers must educate themselves and arm themselves with protection against identity theft as well as the remedies available to them. With the continued efforts of law enforcement, state and federal agencies, stiffer fines and penalties as well as requiring a higher standard of care from businesses, progress is being made on many levels in protecting consumers.



Jennifer

Keith Londrie asked:


Identity theft crimes are not new, but they have become more persuasive in the past decade. In mid-2005, San Francisco Chronicle discovered that holders of more than 40 million credit cards were vulnerable to financial fraud because identity thieves had compromised their credit card information. Earlier that year, information and data broker, Reed Elsevier Group PLC, revealed that several hundred thousand people might have had their profiles stolen from one of its U.S. databases. One quickly learns to secure their computer networks so that these kinds of attacks, or leaks are non-existant.

Information compromised included names, age, physical descriptions, mailing addresses, Social Security, and driver license numbers. This is virtually everything an impersonator needs to set up a clone of the identity theft victim, enabling him to make a number of financial and personal transactions in the victim’s name. Usually an identity theft victim is usually under age forty, while about 11 percent of victims are age sixty or older. According to Federal Trade Commission (FTC), one in six identity theft victims said that thieves used their personal information to open at least one new account, such as credit card accounts or loan accounts, to rack up debts on existing accounts. The most recent data indicates that 9.3 million Americans (or 4.25% of all adults) are victims of ID theft on an annual basis. This is an alarming rate and should show you that you NEED to take preventative steps toward protecting your identity.

An identity theft victim risks the destruction of his/her good credit history, and may spend years, and large sums of money restoring the credit history and goodwill. There are instances of an identity theft victim been denied work or insurance or been detained for crimes he did not commit! Some victims of ID theft found that their names have been misused after police stopped them for a traffic violation and discovered that there is a warrant for their arrest. There are also times when an innocent person receives a summons to appear in court to answer for a criminal act. FTC’s latest survey shows ID theft losses to businesses and financial institutions total $52.6 billion annually. Recently, Federal Trade Commission launched a website annualcreditreport where all consumers are eligible for a free copy of their credit reports. Take the time to go to that site and get your free credit report. This can be a step to alerting you to suspicious activity.



Theodore

Shawn Phillips asked:


ID theft is one of the crimes that folk are always talking about.

Media is one of the best identity theft resource centers. You’ll be able to find all related stories, new methodologies and solutions for this crime through media. It is also due to them that folk have gotten all the required info to battle the spread of identity theft.

theft resource centers that are focusing on the difficulty to hand it seems that this crime is steadily expanding in numbers. Can all this be accredited to the fact that these thieves are getting wiser everyday?

There are more factors that could be contributing to the spread of I.

Personal data storage.

One of the reasons for its expansion is the wrong up keeping and dropping of individual’s imperative info and financial information. This could be due to the myth that I. D. theft is only limited to trading and patron based areas.

But then, all kinds of business are in peril. Though the most vulnerable would be and banking and lending institutions, real estate and facilities management and other related fields.

It can be noted that the government are also not taking these crimes sitting.

Other means of prevention.

New and different measures can be seen in the way credit and other financial transactions are done. One example is the so-called security freeze. When somebody is making an application for credit, the freeze can be lifted off for a certain time so that application can be processed.

The advance technology of today is also helping people and companies protect and store info. With the portability of computers and the speed of Web connections, people are shifting to using electronic pictures more.

The higher cost of having electronic storage info made is only reasonable when you compare it to the cheaper ones that are not really working effectively for your business. Besides, the advantages you’ll be getting out of this electronic deals are sufficient to make up for the pricetag you paid initially.

You probably will get more customers because they are assured of the security measures that you can give them.

Each format is created safe and access can be encrypted or can be protected by a password.

A lot of pages can be saved on a single CD ROM. Thus abolishing file cabinets and the potential risk of identity thieves finding vital information in back room storage areas. Disaster recovery is also made easy when information is archived electronically and stored in a secure off site location by a service provider.

There should be no doubt in your mind that this crime is rising and it can get to you when you least expect it. By adding important features to business establishments, its owners and customers will have a peace of mind that they will not become victims of fraud and there will be no more identity theft.

You can check some more identity theft resource center to find out what is being developed to help prevent this crime from getting to you and going out of hand. Help stop this madness and add to the effort of making sure there is no more identity theft

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Joyce

Ed Opperman asked:


(c) 2008 Ed Opperman

(What is Identity Theft and How to Avoid It)

O.K., I’ll protect myself from identity theft; but first I have to know what it is. So, what exactly is identity (ID) theft?

Succinctly put, it is the crime of obtaining your personal and / or financial information (i.e. name, address, Social Security number, credit card information, bank information, etc.) to assume your identity to either commit a criminal act, fraudulently secure credit or services, make purchases or secure money while impersonating you.

Several Federal agencies in tracking the incidences of identity theft have found this crime to be on the rise and the fastest growing in the U.S. The following alarming statistics provide this information:

More than 9 million new victims per year for two straight years Over 30 million identified new victims in past five years Is the top consumer complaint to the FTC five years in a row

How is it possible that this incredible number of people fall victim to this crime? There are several avenues through which dumb criminals fraudulently obtain credit in your name, all of which you can do something to stop.

Several years ago, many fell victim due to their disposal methods of personal papers and files. Criminals had a field day with just picking up you garbage from curbside, taking it home and gleaning from its contents your Social Security number, bank, credit card and other personal information.

Many people have now become aware of this and aggressively secure their personal documentation. While this is a good first step, another avenue of breech is your friendly credit-reporting agency. That’s right; I did say your credit-reporting agency.

It seems that it’s too easy for someone to impersonate you in the process of securing credit in your name. That’s because Credit Reporting Agencies do not meticulously check the information on credit applications. They do not have in place a checks and balance system of correctly identifying the applicant. These Credit Reporting Agencies do not screen applicants with personally identifying queries designed to identify the credit requestor definitively.

Once a credit application has been approved you may be going on with your day-to-day life until somewhere out of the blue you begin to get nasty calls and correspondence from a creditor whom you’ve never heard of. This is your first inkling that something is terribly wrong.

Then, when you’ve determined what happened, not only are you stuck with the bill but also with a Credit Reporting Agency’s demand that you pay them $35 to obtain your credit report. What’s that for? Well, to see if someone actually did get credit in your name without your knowing it.

“Wait a minute,” I can hear you say. “You mean to tell me that not only do I have a new bill that I did not create but it came by way of a watch-dog agency that should have caught it but didn’t?” That’s right. So, now they’ll tell you, by way of the credit report, that they actually did let someone get credit in your name but, that’s not their fault. Yeah, right!!

So, how do you avoid being the victim of identity theft? Ask yourself, which do you prefer, an ounce of prevention or a pound of cure?

If you answered an ounce of prevention, you’d be on target. Most identity programs however, suggest that you work with the pound of cure premise. That is, periodically obtain your credit report to see if anyone has already secured credit in your name. That will only let you know whether someone has already ruined your credit, run up bills in your name and where, when and how much of a good time they had spending your money.

Wouldn’t it be far better to determine your vulnerability to identify theft and take steps to avoid it in the first place or the ounce of prevention tact, if you will? That’s why securing the services of an investigative professional is so important in this 21st century; they are your ounce of prevention. Criminals will continue to create new ways to steal your identity but investigative professionals will stop them dead in their tracks and before you become their next victim.



Carla

Lisa Carey asked:


Law enforcement officials have entered on line chat groups and showed up at ball parks to show young kids how something as simple as a photo with a team uniform can lead child stalkers right to their ball field. The public has a heightened sense of protecting children on-line but adults are often just as easy prey when it comes to fraud and identity theft.

What are some other types of On-Line Identity Theft Threats

Pop Ups at Gaming Sites- You’ve Just Won!

It’s easy to get comfortable on your favorite gaming site. It’s hard to resist when a pop-up tells you that you’ve just won a free digital camera, an iPod or a gift card to a popular store if you just simply fill out this claim form. If it’s too good to be true, it usually is. At best, you’ll be asked to buy something else to qualify what’s worse, it may be an identity thief. Identity thieves can use the same technology other marketers do and once you fill out the registration form, they can use your information to get credit cards, mortgages or utilities.

Spearphishing in E-mails- Important Notices

Spearphishing is a method of con in which consumers receive what looks like a very legitimate e-mail from their bank warning of a serious security issue and asking customers to type in their log in and password to rectify this breach. Regardless of how professional and insistent the e-mail appears, don’t do it. If a bank becomes aware of a security issue you will be notified by mail, not e-mail. If this is an identity thief that is spearphishing, following through will give them access to wipe out your bank account.

On-line Communities -So Many Friends

On-line communities are very popular and can be a lot of fun. While you may “feel” that you’re interacting with just a few people, remember that Facebook, for example, has over 80 million active members.

Tips to Avoid Identity Theft in On-Line Communities

1. Never give out your birthday. It seems simple and fun to get all those good wishes but your birth date combined with other information can open the door for identity thieves to come into your life.

2. Be very careful of the photos you post. Is your house number showing in the background? Remember the example above about team uniforms? This would also apply to work uniforms. Look at each photo and think, what can this tell someone about me?

3. Never let your phone number be exposed. Using a reverse search, your phone number also gives away your address. Most people wouldn’t post their phone number on a profile page but it is easy to be lured to in a community chat.

The world-wide web opens a lot of doors for work and fun but remember there’s no “eraser” on the internet pencil. Be very careful about e-mails or promotions you respond to and what you share on profile pages and on discussion boards because you can’t take it back and identity thieves are all ears.



Mildred

Keith Londrie asked:


Identity theft crimes are not new, but they have become more pervasive in the past decade. One of the most insidious forms of white-collar crime, identity theft is a federal offense under the Identity Theft and Assumption Deterrence Act. It occurs when someone deliberately assumes your personal identity to impersonate you in a legal sense. There are people out there who are malicious and want to mess your life simply because they can. Businesses and financial institutions that lose $52.6 billion each year are under tremendous pressure from consumers to tackle this problem.

Last year, identity fraud crimes topped the list of complaints reported to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the leading governmental agency offering identity theft help, for the fourth consecutive year. The FTC collects complaints about identity theft from consumers who have been victimized. Although the FTC does not have the authority to bring criminal cases, it can offer identity theft help by providing information to assist the victims in resolving the financial and other problems that can result from this crime. As additional identity theft help, the FTC also refers victims complaints to other appropriate government agencies and private organizations for further action. The support of these knowledgeable resources expedites recovery, while enhancing your peace-of-mind.

Accurate and up-to-date information is the most critical element to minimize risk. For this reason, Federal Trade Commission recently launched an identity theft help web site called annualcreditreport where all consumers are eligible for a free copy of their credit reports. In order to effectively respond to suspected ID fraud you should place an identity theft alert in one of the three consumer reporting agencies and that agency will notify the other remaining two. These agencies are: Equifax at 1-800-525-6285, TransUnion at 1-800-397-3742 and Experian at 1-800-680-7289. These credit reporting agencies can also be found online.

The ID Theft Clearinghouse managed by the FTC is a tool designed to coordinate law enforcement efforts in the United States. But, in the end, local law enforcement agencies like the police and district attorney end up dealing with most identity fraud cases. If you have been a victim of identity fraud, it’s these local agencies that will mostly likely offer identity theft help.

It would also be a good idea to study some of the different methods of identity theft so that you can effectively combat them. Do things like shredding your important documents with any account information or identifying information.



Sandra