We recently posted an article about leaving your purse in your car and how one woman became a victim when her purse was stolen. This leads into another national headline about Federal Chairman, Ben Bernanke. Blogs and news sites everywhere have picked up on this identity theft story, which has caught the attention of many viewers.
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There was a movie made for television a few years ago called: “Identity Theft: The Michelle Brown Story”. The story of this then 29 year old woman made enough of an  impact to make her story known to the public. Michelle was able to testify before a U.S. Senate Committee back in the year 2000. Her testimony provides much insight into what happened to her.
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Do you know anyone who has become a victim of identity theft? Some of us may feel that since we are not victims of this crime (or at least, don’t know that we are victims) that everything will be ok, however, by talking to someone we know who has been victimized, we might feel very differently about not taking steps to protect our credit.

Protecting our credit is so simple to do (more…)

Have you been a victim of identity theft? If not, be glad that you are fortunate enough to have the opportunity to help protect your credit from these predators. If you are not sure, be sure to get a copy of your credit report and carefully check for accounts that you never opened. It is so easy for someone else to open an account in your name without your knowledge, so it is important to check your credit report for any unfamiliar activity. Others can use a different address to open and use credit that you never knew you had until you are contacted by a creditor to pay an overdue account.
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It has been reported that recently the store “Forever 21” posted to its website that they have been notified by law enforcement of a security breach that involves their system. Illegal access to the stores records has been detected and customers who have shopped at this store on the following dates may have been affected:
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This one is an older story from 2007, however, it highlights the vulnerability of even those in high positions and who hold high accountability. This one also comes from the state of Ohio and affected all state employees. The state Governor was also affected. This breach was the result of the theft of a back-up tape that was in the possession of one of the state office interns.
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I have a while to go before I can even think about retiring, but it must be an exciting day when the last day you will ever have to work for someone else rolls around. I would imagine that for those who really enjoy their career, they take one last, long hard look at their office and have a few “last” conversations with their coworkers before leaving. Of course, cleaning out desk drawers and collecting family pictures that decorate the office are part of that last day. How about, oh, emailing a huge file containing the personal data of current and former employees, just in case?
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We have reported many different instances of identity theft and exposure of personal information. Everything from stealing a laptop to downloading wireless transactions at retailers. Copying credit cards on personal machines to hacking into office computers.

And yet, here is one we did not see coming. (more…)

Many of our identity theft news articles have focused on data breaches, laptop theft and company mishaps. We read these stories and still might feel that we are not at risk ourselves, because we are not employees or members of the companies mentioned in the reports. However, it is always good to keep in mind that this can happen to us without our knowledge.
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