Identity Theft

November 8th, 2009 admin If you think that identity theft can never happen to you, think again. Just take a look at statistics concerning identity theft, and you can see that the crime of identity theft is closer to you than you may realize. According to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), identity theft affects as many as 10 million Americans each year. Nearly 5% of the people living in the US will become an identity theft victim and the numbers are increasing each year. The FTC even reported that they currently received nearly 40% more identity theft complaints than the previous year. What ... Read Full Story

November 7th, 2009 admin Are you thinking of subscribing to an Identity Theft Protection company? Given the growing crime rate of identity theft, it is definitely wise to take this particular action in protecting yourself from identity theft. Here?s what you should know before subscribing to an Identity Theft Protection company. An Identity Theft Protection company usually offers the following services: 1. Tracking of credit report, police report and medical records. Whenever your credit card is used or whenever your social security number is included in an application form, your Identity Theft Protection company will notify you. If the transaction was unauthorized, ... Read Full Story

The U.S. House of Representatives this week unanimously passed legislation that would exempt certain small organizations from complying with the Red Flags Rules.The rules, developed in accordance with the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003 (FACTA), require financial institutions and other organizations classified as “creditors” to develop programs to identify, detect and respond to indications of identity theft. A bill passed this week would amend FACTA and exclude health care, accounting and legal practices with 20 or fewer employees from having to comply with the regulations, set to be enforced starting next month.Also, the bill would create a provision to enable other ... Read Full Story

Identity theft prevention provider LifeLock has agreed to not place any fraud alerts on customer credit files, under a settlement with credit bureau Experian.The settlement, announced Thursday, rose from a 2008 lawsuit in which Experian contended that LifeLock violated the Fair Credit Reporting Act when it placed fraud alerts on behalf of consumers, according to an Experian statement. The company had alleged that it was "harmed" by LifeLock being able to set fraud alerts.The alerts, which require creditors to verify any credit extensions, can only be placed with the three major credit agencies -- Experian, TransUnion and Equifax -- by consumers, under federal law.LifeLock ... Read Full Story

November 2nd, 2009 admin Identity theft is the fastest growing crime in America today. More than 9.9 million Americans were the victim of many types of identity theft scams in 2004, which ended up costing them almost $5 billion. Most identity theft victims suffered sever financial damage and even financial ruin because they thought identity theft would not happen to them. No matter what your current financial state is like, where you live, or what your spending habits are, you are a target for identity theft. The truth is that everyone is at risk for identity theft, but fortunately there are things you can ... Read Full Story

By Doug Pollack , Chief Marketing Officer for ID Experts Because data breaches have become such commonplace incidents, there is concern that people have become desensitized to the potential harm they face upon receiving a notification letter from an organization informing them that sensitive information has been lost or misappropriated. A recently published report from Javelin Strategies should be a wake up call to those people. The Javelin report, Data Breach Notifications: Victims Face Four Times Higher Risk of Fraud , is based on multiple years of data and includes updates on 2009 data breaches, implications of changes to the legislative landscape and the ... Read Full Story

Posted on | October 20, 2009 Hey, remember those Red Flag Rules ? Okay, maybe not, so let me back up the cart. After numerous delays, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) appears ready to start enforcing compliance with its Red Flag rules. Those rules are designed to get businesses to help in the fight against identity theft, by requiring them to have a written Identity Theft Prevention Plan that identifies ‘red flags’ that may signal a problem (hence the nickname “Red Flag Rules”) and that takes steps to prevent or mitigate said Identity Theft. Unfortunately, it has taken quite a long time for the ... Read Full Story