Protecting Our Identity

Due to the rise of identity theft incidents being reported yearly, many organizations are implementing their own identity theft programs to provide citizens education to fight this spiteful crime. Since becoming a victim of identity theft can be a life-changing experience, both emotionally and financially, learning to prevent the occurrence of this crime through identity theft programs can help you and your families live a normal and happy life without someone else meddling with your personal information.

Although the government has been working day and night to fight identity theft, busting these criminals could take several years, or sometimes, they can even live their own lives without being caught. For this reason, different public and private financial institutions with identity theft programs, such as the Federal Trade Commission’s “AvoID Theft: Deter, Detect, Defend”, are educating people to avoid identity theft while giving assistance to those who have victimized.

FTC’s National Identity Theft Program

Since the United States has the highest rate of identity theft compared to other countries, the FTC has been working fulltime to distribute online and print informational materials to ensure all consumers are aware of this crime. With over 20 million copies of the information booklet distributed, the FTC identity theft program is reaching one household at a time to reduce the occurrence of identity theft in the country.

Private organization that help consumers fight identity theft are also using the FTC identity theft program to empower citizens in protecting themselves against the damages caused by this crime. The “Deter, Detect and Defend” Program educates people and links to other organizations in both private and public sectors including law enforcement agencies, consumer groups, federal agencies and other trade associations to give consumers options on where to ask for help.

The FTC identity theft program releases an informational kit for all organizations fighting identity theft that include a how-to booklet with instructions on educating consumers to aid organizations facilitate outreach programs. It also includes a brochure that these organizations can easily reproduce to give out to people who attend seminars and education sessions. To capture the level of damage identity theft can cause a person’s life, a 10-minute video of victims is also included in the program to explain to people how to fight this crime.

Using the FTC identity theft program can help other organizations hold seminars and distribute educational materials about fighting identity theft. Since education is the only key to avoiding this crime, consumers can now be aware on how to identify these problems and take immediate actions if ever they become a victim of identity theft.



By: Ann Marier

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Your identity is probably the most important physical aspect that you have. In business transactions, in making loans, in school and work requirements and even in just proving that you exist, your identity becomes a very significant factor in your life, if not the most. It marks your existence and protects the material or immaterial things that you claim as your own.

Now imagine someone else being able to control the very things you worked hard for. What could be crueler than that?

Identity theft is a reality nowadays. More and more people become victims of this crime, which involves stealing financial and other gains by impersonating someone else. Stolen identities can also be used by criminals to conceal themselves from government authorities or to make transactions that they could not have obtained otherwise.

This theft, although a sad and frustrating one, is a reality nonetheless. Therefore we cannot just act hastily, especially when it comes to disclosing personal information. We need not just be naive and hope we would not be the next victims, for the truth is, we could be. Here are some tips on precautionary measures that we should keep in mind:

Hasty Information Disclosure Is A No-No

It is not advisable to disclose any kind of personal information to another person whether via telephone, email or personal conversation when one does not know the other person well. In this world, it has become a fact that we could not trust anybody very easily. This is not a point on cynicism; merely a precautionary measure on any kind of manipulation. When you are not too sure about a persons background (especially if exchanges are made only via email or phone), you should be careful not to reveal any personal information that may be used to pull off an impersonation of you.

Completely Destroy Any Personal Record You Wish To Throw

Criminals can easily obtain any personal information written on or stored in a piece of paper or computer. When you want to throw away these kinds of things, make sure that it is completely destroyed as to not be of any use when obtained. For documents, one could burn them and for computers, one could make sure that everything is deleted from the hard drive.

Look Out For Bogus Offers

Criminals usually advertise offers, especially job offers, in order to entice people to apply and thus be compelled to hand in personal information like your full name, address, contact number and other details. You should look out for this. You could make sure that the job offer and the company offering the job is legitimate by researching about it or calling for information on it. Granted, you may badly need a job, but it would not take too much time and it certainly would not hurt to make sure you are not being manipulated. After all, the problems you would encounter would be greater if you became a victim of identity theft.

It is good to embrace life with every ounce of optimism, but as crimes grow nowadays, can never be too cautious. When something of great importance is at risk, like the possibility of being cheated off an identity, one should always take every measure possible to make sure this does not happen to you.



By: Matthew Stanton

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Identity theft – also known as ID theft, identity fraud and ID fraud – describes a type of fraud where a criminal adopts someone else’s identity in order to profit illegally. It is one of the fastest growing forms of fraud in many developed countries.

In the UK identity theft is increasing at the rate of 500

ach year and, according to Which Magazine, 25 f the population has either suffered from identity theft or knows someone who has.

In the USA, a report issued by the Better Business Bureau revealed that, in 2004, over 9 million Americans became victims of identity theft with the total sum defrauded being $52.6 billion.

With figures like this, it’s no surprise that there is a certain amount of concern regarding computer and internet security. After all, the internet is basically a mechanism for exchanging information and the possibility that some of the information exchanged may be more than intended is never far from many internet user’s minds.

It’s easy to imagine criminal masterminds worldwide using the internet to hack into computers in order to gain access to information with which to advance their devilishly cunning schemes. However, as revealed in the report, the facts of the matter are a little more down to earth and the internet, far from making you more at risk to identity theft, can help to significantly cut your losses if you do fall victim this form of fraud.

According to the Better Business Bureau’s research the main methods by which criminals gain access to information used for identity theft fraud are as below:

Lost or stolen wallet, chequebook or credit card. 28.8Ú

Accessed as part of a transaction. 12.9

Accessed by friend, acquaintance or relative. 11.4Ú

doesn’t know, refused, no answer. 11.1Ú

Information accessed by corrupt employee. 8.7Ú

Stolen paper mail or fraudulent change of address. 8.0Ú

obtained some other way. 7.4Ú

Computer spyware. 5.2Ú

Information stolen from garbage. 2.6Ú

Computer viruses and/or hackers. 2.2Ú

Emails sent by criminals posing as legitimate business. 1.7Ú

* 12.9 ue to transactions – 10.4 ffline transactions, 2.5 nline transactions.

In total, when the instances where information was accessed during transactions are subdivided into online and offline transactions, only 11.6 f the information used to carry out identity theft fraud was obtained from computers.

Of this more than half was obtained by the use of spyware, viruses or hacking – the risk of which can be greatly reduced by installing the appropriate protection software and ensuring that this is kept up to date.

Not only did the survey reveal that the internet was not a major source of illegally obtained personal information, but it was also found that those fraud victims who checked their financial records using the internet, ATM machines or other electronic methods suffered financial losses which were, on average, 8 times lower than those of victims who used traditional paper statements to monitor their accounts. This very significant reduction was attributed to the rapid discovery of the fraud due to “real time” monitoring.

Of course, that’s not to say that you shouldn’t exercise caution when using the internet or take care to protect the personal information which you may have stored on your PC. However, as long as you install suitable virus, firewall and spyware protection, and keep this continually updated the internet can should be more of a help than a hindrance when it comes to avoiding identity fraud.



By: Meena Kumari

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You buy a new computer and within one week, it begins to give you trouble. You experience all types of computer issues that you never thought possible. What will you do? What can you do? First off, get spyware remover downloads for free.

With viruses making it into the news often and hearing about another person’s identity being stolen, the only defense against unwanted spyware is spyware removers. Hackers do not care how your life is only in that they want it.

Hackers do not care if your computer is just out of the box new or even if it is top of the line new, they just do not care. All they want is that data stored onto your computer and to do that, all they need is spyware that sneaks onto your computer to allow them.

Some things you may not have known when it comes to spyware. This is one way clever criminals get a person’s information for identity theft. Be lucky if your only a victim of targeted files and the database.

Imagine thinking you are doing okay only to discover someone has shook that thinking. They wipe out your accounts, sometimes without your knowledge until unauthorized charges start appearing. Would you like to take the credit for that?

These are just a few of the things spyware can do to harm you and your computer. Like many people, you worry you will fall victim to these predators. However, there is a way to combat that problem. It’s called spyware removal.

1. Choosing a spyware removal software

With so many removal software out in circulation on the Internet, how does a person choose which one to download and install?

Before doing any installation of anytime, do some research and talk with friends and family about which products they use. You should compare the features and their capabilities to one another. Don’t forget… your computer needs will need to be taken into account as well.

Does your computer have only spyware that would be simple to heal and get rid of. Does the spyware need some kind of other advanced methods in getting rid of it. No matter your need, there is a removal software for everybody including you.

2. Spyware Removal - Online Availability

When you do a basic Internet search using any of the search engines out there, you’ll be bombarded with numerous spyware removal programs. Most of these you can get for free while some are offered as a free trial with the option to buy at the end of it so long as the user likes their product.

Most of the free software spyware downloads can be upgraded. This means you’ll have your own copy of the removal software and for a small fee, you get the marvel in its benefits, seeing what it is doing to your computer.

You are also not obligated to stick with one program. A person can have as many spyware removal software installed onto their computer should they wish to double or even triple their protection.

However, you must get these software programs downloaded at a site you trust and is reputable. The reason… just as many “real” websites exist as there are “fake” ones. One good site to download from is www.download.com. There are many programs to choose from here.

The best thing to do if you stil aren’t sure is to ask around. Don’t leap; rather take the time to “shop” then “buy” if you like what you see.



By: Abhishek Agarwal

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Posting your CV online is now a standard approach to applying for jobs. However, a controlled experiment showed just how many people are exposing themselves to the risk of identity theft when submitting their CVs online.

Job hunters are being warned to secure their CVs online after experts showed how freely people share their resumes with strangers, effectively handing over all the information criminals need to steal their identity.

In a recent controlled experiment, a job advert for a fictional company was placed in a national newspaper, inviting people to apply by emailing their CV online. Anyone carrying out a simple web search for the company - ‘Denis Atlas’, an anagram of ’steal an id’ - would have found a website telling them the company was fake. In just one week, 107 CVs were received in response to the job advert. The vast majority of the CVs contained enough information for an identity theft to occur.

Reformed identity theft criminal, Bob Turney, said: ‘Whilst many people now routinely shred things like bank statements and utility bills, they still seem happy to send their CVs to complete strangers. They need to realise just how easy it is to use the information in a CV to set up a bank account or take out a credit card fraudulently.’

Typically, criminals need just three out of fifteen key pieces of information to commit identity fraud - the average CV received as part of the experiment contained eight pieces of information. 61 CVs (57%) included a date of birth, despite this no longer being a requirement due to age discrimination laws, and 98 (91.5%) included a full address. A further 20 (19%) put others at risk by providing full details of references. One even included the applicant’s passport number and national insurance details.

Hosting your CV securely on the Internet using a reputable online CV provider can be much safer than posting or emailing a traditional word document. Once you post or email a traditional CV, you have very little control over it. There’s nothing to stop someone photocopying it or sending it on to others.

Choosing a reputable provider is crucial when placing your CV online. There are many people who just place their CV online in an unsecured manner - for example by setting up their own simple webpage. This can expose them to identity fraud. Stick to the established providers who invest in security and processes to protect your information online.

Advice on protecting yourself against ID theft when job hunting:

? Be wary if the email address does not contain the name of the company but just the name of a service provider.

? Take extra care accessing personal information when using public computers, such as those in internet cafes, or when using a laptop in a WiFi hotspot.

? Shred or destroy old copies of your CV.

? If you are using an online CV service, be sure that it safeguards your personal details.

? Ideally, use a phone masking service to protect your personal number.

Think about who you share your career information with, make sure they are a real business and when posting your information to the web or on a job board database, remember to use an Internet Safe CV:

? Do not include your date of birth

? Do not include your marital status

? Do not include your place of birth

? Only give your first and last name



Think about the information a potential employer needs to find your details, you can share your full CV at a later stage when you are comfortable with the identity of the company or person you are sharing the information with.



By: Peter Whitehead

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With the way the world is, it is completely up to you to make sure that you have some sort of id theft protection plan in place. Whether this is something you are going to do and monitor yourself or you plan on hiring an identity theft resource center to do it for you, it is something that must be done.

Id theft protection starts with you taking the first step to make sure thieves are not accessing your personal and private information and using it to better their lives.

When you are considering id theft protection, it is important to think about all the different ways that someone could be stealing your credit and identity from you. This is important so that you do not miss anything and no stone is left unturned. Believe it when it is said that if you forget one area, that is the area that the thief will find in order to steal your identity.

The best thing to do for id theft protection to be done right is to talk with professionals about your financial and personal safety. They will probably be able to suggest things that you never thought of so that you can cover all bases.

More Reasons To Go With Professionals

When it comes down to it, your life may be extremely busy in that you will barely be able to find time to manage your own id theft protection plan of action. This is why hiring a service or company for your id theft protection is ideal since you will not be out anything but a small fee every month.

And when it comes to your identity, there is no fee that is too great to make sure that you are completely protected. Make sure though that you research a company before going with them as you will be sharing with them a lot of your personal information.

Once you find a company that you can trust to take care of your id theft protection, you will be one step ahead of the criminals. If something does happen, the id theft protection company will notice it right away and will be able to bring it to your attention.

This is a lot faster then waiting until you apply for your next car loan to find out that your credit is shot because you did not have an id theft protection plan in place. Do the smart thing and get started at protecting your financial and personal future by starting an id theft protection plan of action.



By: Bill Protresi

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Credit card and Identity theft are a great cause for concern for anyone who has a good credit rating and credit cards that they use regularly. Often thieves will steal someone’s identity and then go on to run up a host of bills in that person’s name. By the time a person realizes what has taken place, it is often too late to do much about it. So the real question is how can you fight back against these criminals and keep your good name intact as well as your credit and money.

Recently the right to freeze credit reports and stopping credit from being issued in a person’s name has become available. By locking down your credit, nobody can get your credit file or details to run up credit in your name leaving you to deal with the bill.

Who can lock down their credit?

Almost anyone can lock down his or her credit. Since 2003, when California allowed its residents to lock down their credit reports, other states have began to follow suit including New Jersey, Louisiana, Nevada, Connecticut, Maine, North Carolina and Colorado. Other states such as Texas, Illinois, Vermont, and Washington will only allow victims of identity theft or those who have fallen victim to a security breach to freeze their credit reports. If your area is not listed here, then by inquiring at any one of the three major credit-reporting agencies you should be able to find out what your state allows.

Anyone can ask the major credit reporting companies to place a fraud alert on a credit report. How this benefits you is that the company alerts you when credit is requested and you are asked permission to proceed with the credit. There is one problem with this method and that is creditors are not required to check the alert or even ask your permission.

A credit freeze takes the next step in security enforcement. With a credit freeze nobody can open any type of credit line under your name or even gain access to your credit file. What this means is that your credit details are off limits to everyone even credit lenders, insurance companies and potential employers.

How does a credit freeze work?

Credit freeze is quite simple really, but very effective. What happens is, when credit is requested, for example a credit card, cell phone or even a personal loan, the company that is considering giving the credit will call one of the three credit reporting companies to ask for access to your credit file. If you have already requested a freeze on your file then the credit reporting company will tell the creditor that they don’t have access to the file as it is frozen. You can just about guarantee that no creditor in their right mind will proceed with a line of credit that has a frozen file.

What if I want credit?

If you want credit or you need a background check for a potential employer, it is not a problem at all. What actually happens is that the three major credit reporting companies give you a personal identification number, or a PIN, that allows you to freeze and unfreeze your credit report when you need to.

If a criminal manages to get your name, address, social security number and even your birthday, with the protection of a credit freeze they don’t stand a chance at getting credit, no matter how good they are.

How do I get a Credit Freeze on my files?

In order to lock down your credit, you will need to contact each of the three credit reporting companies. If you are the victim of identity theft and are reporting from a police or law enforcement agency, the fee is usually waived. Other residents who are not under direct identity theft lock down may be asked to pay a fee to each of the three credit reporting agencies.

This fee is usually quite low and, considering the benefits of having a credit freeze on your account, the few dollars that are spent are well worth it for the piece of mind that you will have knowing that your credit, good name and assets are locked down and secured at all times. None of the credit reporting agencies charge to have credit report freezes lifted, however, there will be charges for those who want to temporarily lift their freeze, even if they are victims of identity theft.

What do the credit reporting agencies need?

Each of the three credit reporting companies require a certain procedure to be followed in order to have your credit report frozen. Below are the requirements needed for each company:

Equifax: Equifax requires that all communication with regards to this procedure be sent via certified mail. In the body of the letter you are required to state your name, address, including previous addresses, social security number and your date of birth.

Payment must be made by check, money order or by a credit card. If a credit card is the chosen option, then the name of the card, account number and expiration date must be included. ID theft victims should also put a valid copy of a police report, investigation report or a valid complaint that has been filed with a law enforcement agency.

Experian: Experian requires that you send all communication via certified mail. In the letter you should include your name, including middle name, and any other identifying names, for example, Jr. or Sr. Also you will need to include a current address, and previous addresses going back as far as five years, social security number, date of birth, and proof of address. Proof of addresscan be in the form of drivers licenses, bills for utilities such as power or water, bank statements or insurance statements.

Money should be paid either by check, money order or credit card. If paying by credit card, you should include the name of the card, account number and expiry date. Victims of ID theft need to have current copies of the police report, investigation report or a valid complaint that has been filed with a law enforcement agency.

TransUnion: Communication can be sent either by regular or certified mail, although certified mail is always a safer option, as you know that the communication has been received safely by the company. You will need to include your full name, including middle initials and any other parts to your name for example Jr. or Sr. You will need to provide your current mailing address and any other addresses dating back to the last five years, date of birth and social security numbers are also required.

Payment can be made by check, money order or credit card. If paying by a credit card, you will need to include your name, account number and expiration date on your card. If you have been the victim of ID theft you will need to include your police report, investigation report or the complaint that you have filed with a law enforcement agency.

Why the credit companies don’t want you to freeze your files

There is a lot of controversy over the new interest in consumers protecting their credit by freezing it until they want to use it. Many of the credit companies claim that it will be an inconvenience to consumers, while others are saying it is much like waiting to have a car accident before letting people put seatbelts into their cars.

It appears that the biggest fear of the credit companies is the loss of control over consumers. Those who have exercised their rights and used locked down credit safety measures are unable to buy on impulse, because they have to unlock their credit before purchasing. This could mean an end to impulsive buying over the weekends and fewer purchases for credit companies. Devastating for credit companies, but an added safety feature for those who lock down their credit.

Is there anyone who can help?

There are companies out there that offer you the alternative of not having to do a lock down yourself. They also monitor your credit situation regularly for you and help you get credit when needed, for a fee. One of the great things about these companies is they stand by their promise to protect your credit by insuring each person if they do become a victim of ID theft and loose money because of the companies negligence. If you are busy, or don’t want to lock down your credit on your own these companies are a great way to protect your identity and valuables.

Don’t be caught by criminals who prey on honest citizens by stealing their identity and running up expensive credit debt. Fight back, use a credit freeze and rest assured that your assets and credit is safe from theft.



By: Liz Roberts

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Are you one of them? The number of people who have fallen victim to online crimes continues to soar as more sophisticated techniques of identity theft are being developed. You may have purchased a single item online once, and then found out that your credit card has been used by unknown people. You may have clicked something or entered your information in a website that you thought was secure, but afterwards, your bills, financial information and other cards have all been hacked.

These are all cases of identity theft. The sad thing is, they have become common in the Internet scene especially with more people opting to purchase online. This crime occurs when a cyberspace criminal uses another person’s information and pretends to be him or her. This can be done with your Social Security Number or SSN, credit card, bank statements, and more.

What’s more, this crime is actually more complicated as it seems. It has four categories which include financial identity theft, where the criminal uses your name and SSN to buy goods; criminal identity theft or posing as another person when apprehended for a violation or crime; identity cloning, where the person adopts your information as his or her identity in everyday life; and, the business or commercial identity theft, where the criminal gets credit by charging it to another’s business name.

If you know how these criminals work and what means they use to hack information from you, you can avoid falling into their trap and adding to the number. Here are some tips for you to protect yourself against identity theft.

First, protect your SSN. It is safer not to carry around your SSN card as having access to this number can let the criminal know your credit history, bank account, charge accounts, and utility accounts. The person, once he or she gets hold of these, can open new credit or accounts, and even obtain a driver’s license. Avoid giving out your SSN to people you are dubious of.

Another tip is to fight phishing. It is the act of sending email where the criminal pretends he or she is from a legitimate enterprise or company in order to “phish” for private information that can be used for identity theft. The email can lead you to bogus websites that ask for private information like passwords and card information. Ignore this and don’t give out anything. In addition, guarding your personal computer against viruses and spies is a must. Try to use difficult and strong passwords for your email or any other account. You can also use firewalls, spyware protection and virus protection software. Your browser security must also be set to at least “medium”.

If you think you have just been scammed and “phished” or just suspicious about something, it is always best to report to officials such as to SSN Fraud hotline. You can also directly contact your credit card issuers, banks, or any financial outlet concerned. Be cautious and protect your identity.



By: Bernard Pragides

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