We recently had the chance to chat with Cortney Read, Communications Coordinator for Lifelock. Lifelock is the leading company offering identity theft protection. With identity theft and security breaches so prevalent in the news today, it is more important than ever to protect yourself. We asked Cortney how they protect their customer’s data and what distinguishes them from the competition.
Q: LifeLock has quickly risen to the top spot in the identity theft protection field. What... Read Full Story
In the US alone, there are almost 15,000 criminal organizations that are trying to scam the elderly. Each year that passes, these thieves and con artists will net more than $40 billion dollars from their victims, and that amount continues to rise. Everyone is susceptible to a scam of some kind, but seven out of ten of these criminal acts will be geared toward senior citizens.
Most men will die long before their wives, and these older women will sometimes have to take care of their finances... Read Full Story
Scams and fraud crimes are most dangerous when they are highly complex and there is little information available to successfully warn and educate potential victims and the public at large. A fairly new and little known scam involves two common crimes, mortgage fraud and identity theft, and it goes by the names of “home stealing” or “house stealing”.
This crime is so new that the average home owner may be unaware that they are the targets of a new scam. Warnings need to go out at a faster rate... Read Full Story
In the United States, everyone has the right to contact the major credit agencies like Equifax, and ask them to put up a fraud alert. This alert means that you will have to be contacted whenever an application of credit is attempting to be put in your name. You can ask for a fraud alert but none of the companies have to comply.
A credit freeze, which was first allowed back in January 2003 to victims of identity theft, allows you to have much more control over your credit and its history. Once... Read Full Story
Cleaning Up After the Crime
Once someone has found that they are a victim of identity theft, they may try to begin the long process of paper work and phone calls that is necessary to clear their good name. When they begin, hope is still present as they assume that everything will be cleared and automated. It will only take a few short days or weeks for the victim to learn that the burden of proof is on them.
When they contact a government agency to report the crime or to get help, they will... Read Full Story
Stealing the Identities of Children
To an identity thief, there is nothing better than the profile of a child. They have a clean history that is free of debt, fraud and criminal activities. Even better, nobody will think to check their credit history - after all, they shouldn’t have one! All the thieves will need is the social security number of a child and they can give themselves a new life. To them, it is like they can start over with a crystal clear government record.
Besides the fact... Read Full Story
Protecting your identity and credit is absolutely critical, as nearly 25,000 people daily become victims of identity theft. People are losing their personal and financial information at alarming rates all over the country. According to Garter Research, the number of identity theft victims in 2006 has increased by 50% since the FTC reported 9.9 million in 2003.
In addition, the financial damages done to an ID theft victim are enormous. On average, thieves commit $5,700 in fraud per identity... Read Full Story
Guaranteed loan and credit scams typically take your money in the promise of a loan, credit card or another type of credit. Their emails and advertisements guarantee that a loan to you will be awarded, and credit history is not a hurdle.
The scam begins when the loan starts, you have to pay a fee. It’s a fairly substantial fee, but if you are short of cash and someone offers you a chance to get back on top, who wouldn’t take it up?
With these scammers, you won’t see a loan or credit card... Read Full Story
Dating fraud is a crime that has many names. One of the most popular names for it is the “sweetheart scam”. The crime is so named because the criminal, male or female, will begin a relationship with the victim for the sole purpose of getting as much money from them as they can before they are discovered.
Before the internet, scammers would meet the potential “suckers” at a party - maybe they passed each other on the street or they were introduced by a third party. All of this is still... Read Full Story
Social Networking and Identity Theft
There are a lot of things to beware of when interacting with the online world. It is impossible to be sure that the person you are talking to is actually the person that they claim to be. A teenager could think that they are having a nice chat with another teen on the other side of the world, but it could just as easily be a criminal waiting to take advantage of them.
Social networking sites such as MySpace, Friendster, Yuwie, and Facebook are great places... Read Full Story
