It was announced on September 29th that the Mayor of New York is putting into place a “comprehensive plan to help prevent fraud and identity theft”. This is to help the public become more aware of this problem and be more careful about handling and protecting their personal information.

Almost 12,000 New Yorkers are reported to have been victims of identity theft last year. This is a fast growing crime and makes many feel that there is nothing that they can do about it. This is a motivating reason for the city to do what is possible to combat the number of people who will be affected by this crime. (more…)

Identity theft stories are everywhere. By reading one that could happen to you, it might help you to see the importance of being proactive in protecting personal documents and information. The following scenario is based on a story that was submitted by an anonymous author:
A woman went out with friends to a night club and didn’t want to be weighed down with carrying a purse, so she decided to leave it in the car of the friend she rode with. Upon leaving the club, (more…)

Yes, it is a time in your life where you are so excited and there is so much to do – the bride has to pick out her bridesmaids, her gown and what she wants on the wedding registry, to name a few things. Then there is the reception to plan and, of course, the honeymoon. When two lives come together to form a new family and excitement is in the air, the last thing one worries about is whether or not there identity might be stolen during their wedding planning process. So if you are getting married soon, be careful to follow some tips given be an website we found.
(more…)

This story comes from MSNBC. It involves a Facebook user whose daughter notices that his Facebook status alerted all of his friends that he was in “urgent need of help.” Friends began calling to check on him and he then realized that his Facebook account had been hacked into. His Facebook friends received an email that he was robbed at gunpoint while traveling and needed money to get back home. One friend told him that he sent him $1,200 via Western Union. The only problem—this person never initiated the email or told his friends he was in trouble. Due to his face being associated with the account, friends thought that this was legit and wanted to help him out. He could not log in to his Facebook account to change the status or stop the emails, criminals locked him out of his own account! He could not even use his wife’s account to update his “wall” due to the criminals removing her from his friend list.

This is called the “Nigerian” or “419” scam or ploy. Criminals are using social networking websites, like Facebook, to hack into personal accounts and get countless friends to fall for it being the original account creator. Here is a quote the criminals used in the Facebook email: “Can you just get some money to us,” the imposter implored to one of ****’s friends. “I tried Amex and it’s not going through. … I’ll refund you as soon as am back home. Let me know please.” The victim’s picture was included with the email, so many thought this was legit. As mentioned earlier, a concerned friend/coworker sent $1,200 to the criminals, thinking they were the Facebook user.

The scary part for the victim was that he could not call Facebook to alert them of the scam and could not log in to stop it. Facebook admits that with millions of users, they do not have a phone number in place to contact them. They are reportedly making changes to increase security for the website.

The victim thinks that the criminals might have gotten his password by using a phishing email. These are emails that mimic those sent by the real website, but they are a “scam” copy made by those seeking your personal information.

All they can suggest at this time is that you be suspicious of anyone who asks you for money on Facebook. Call or contact them outside of Facebook before believing such a plea. Also, use different log in names and passwords for the various websites that you have to log into.

After reading his story on the CBSNews website, we had to relate this sad incident of identity theft. This is the story of John Harrision, a salesman from Connecticut. Harrison was victimized back in 2001 and when this story was released back in 2005, he still had a long way to go.  At that time, he had reportedly spent over 2,000 hours trying to clear his good name after having his identity stolen. “I had to come up with a filing system,” says Harrison of his efforts to clear his name. (more…)

There has been an unfortunate incident in which thousands of people who currently or formerly worked for the Energy Department’s Idaho National Laboratory are now at high risk of having their personal information stolen. According to the Washington Times, the data of 59,000 current and former employees, which includes names, and social security numbers, was saved to a computer disk that was shipped via UPS and lost during shipment to another state. The password protected data applies to employees dating back to the year 1949 who might have had exposure to radioactive or hazardous materials.
(more…)

The Federal Trade Commission has come out with a new report for the year ending 2008 and the identity theft statistics included are startling. We have written articles all last year that addressed many of the larger reported incidents of computers that had data breaches which could lead to incidents of identity theft, however, the following is a brief summary of what the Federal Trade Commission has found: (more…)

A food pantry in Albuquerque, New Mexico has reported that tens of thousands of their clients could become victims of identity theft due to a stolen laptop. The laptop had the personal information of as many as 36,000 clients and the data stolen includes names, addresses, birth dates and social security numbers.

Letters will be sent to those affected who have a current address on file with the company. The executive director has reported that they have not seen any indication that the information is being misused, at this time.
(more…)

Even though it is early in the year, there is no lack of the number of data breaches being reported. The FAA has notified employees this week that a computer was accessed illegally and personal information was affected. Those who are concerned can view the agency employee website and call the toll free number posted. The breach affects more than 45,000 employees and retirees due to computer hackers. Those affected will receive a letter notifying them of the breach and there is no mention of credit monitoring being offered at this time. Measures are being taken to prevent this from occurring again in the future.

(more…)

Today’s news has so many articles concerning identity theft that it is hard to narrow down which ones to bring to our readers. The following information was released by MercuryNews.com:

Kaiser Permanente has had a security data breach that affects almost 30,000 employees in northern California. The unfortunate part of this story is that a small number of these employees have already reported being victims of identity theft as a result.

This breach only affects (more…)