Although the overall number of incidents of ID theft increased by 12% over the previous year according to the most recent study by Javelin Strategy & Research (The 2010 Identity Fraud Survey Report – www.javelinstrategy.com), during the same time period, the average consumer’s costs related to each incident of ID theft decreased sharply.

ID theft reached its highest level of incidence, affecting over 11 million Americans for the year 2009. During 2009 however, there was a sharp drop in the costs to consumers associated with the crime. Due to a decrease in the average time taken to resolve ID theft cases, an increased awareness by the public of the crime of ID theft and greater support offered by financial institutions, consumer support organizations, law enforcement organizations and personnel, resulted in consumer out of pocket costs reaching an all-time low of $373 in 2009, a reduction of 25% over the previous year.

Some of the reasons for the drop in costs:

•    In 2009, more victims of ID theft were likely to have filed a police report, resulting in an increase in arrests and convictions of ID theft and ID theft related crime. Victims became more vigilant in reporting ID theft crimes, which resulted in an arrest rate double that of 2008, and a prosecution rate that tripled in comparison with the previous year.
•    There is an indication that law enforcement has had greater success using information provided by consumers, banks and credit card providers to detect, catch and convict criminals.
•    With the exception of consumers aged 18 – 24 (the so-called “Millenials”), many consumers are more likely to  monitor financial accounts regularly and take advantage of monitoring programs offered by financial institutions or to install protective computer software on their home computers. Although “millenials” lag behind other groups in detecting fraud before or soon after it occurs, they lead other age groups in using technology to resolve identity fraud quickly.
•    Consumers are reaping the benefits from increased protections offered by financial institutions, businesses and government agencies.
•    Banks have offered customers more tools to safeguard electronic and traditional banking, investing in identity fraud monitoring, intelligent fraud engines to detect account access and payment anomalies, and complaint resolution and education services, in many cases offering these services free to customers.
•    Consumers are increasingly aware of e-mail scams such as “phishing.”, and less likely to respond to e-mail requests for personal information.
•    The use of mobile devices allows consumers to review and report ID theft in close to “real-time,” which may result in lower victim costs and faster incident detection times.

The 2010 Identity Fraud Survey Report was conducted using telephone interviews with more than 5,000 U.S. consumers to identify and track the methods used by criminals and the impact of ID theft on American consumers and businesses. Almost 4,800 U.S. adults, including 487 victims of ID theft, were surveyed.

Without a doubt, consumers play a key role in preventing, detecting and resolving ID theft . While technology is helping consumers to monitor, detect and resolve identity fraud, consumers should remain vigilant about safeguarding their personal information both on-line and off.

Lots of crooks all across America have hung signs on their doors – “Gone Smishing.”

Thousands of cell phone users all over the country are regularly receiving automated messages or texts, warning them that their bank accounts have been misused.

Police and bank officials say it’s a scam, and that someone is attempting to steal your account numbers so they can withdraw your money and run up huge credit card purchases.
The calls or texts falsely warn that a person’s checking, debit or credit card account has been deactivated or used improperly. In each case, the person is asked to contact the caller and provide their credit, debit or bank account numbers.

This practice is called “smishing,” derived from Short Message Service technology, which is used for cell phone text messages. The term smishing is a mix of SMS technology with the practice of “phishing,” to send legitimate-looking e-mails and text messages to cell phones. In a banking context, these messages appear to come from the recipient’s bank or credit union.

Wireless cell phone companies are working on ways to block unwanted text messages, while customers are reporting increasing numbers of spam messages and smishing attacks. Some users are even forced to pay for the text messages they receive.

Some tips to avoid getting hooked into this scam:
• Do not reply to text messages that ask for personal for financial information.
• Do not call phone numbers listed in the text message. The area code shown does not necessarily reflect where the scammers really are.
• Do not go to Internet sites shown in the text message or e-mail.

If you receive a text message or e-mail on your cell phone that is not from your bank or credit union, delete the message immediately. If you do not know whether you have an account with the bank or credit union, or have a question regarding the message, call the bank or credit union to verify, using the telephone number you would normally use or can verify.

Additional tips to help you avoid identity theft:
• Review your bank and credit statements regularly. If any unauthorized transactions are listed. Notify your financial institution immediately to gain protection against the charges.
• Make sure to monitor your credit reports.
• If you receive a bill or statement, follow up with the company.
• Always keep your passwords confidential. Banks, credit unions and credit card companies will not ask you to disclose them.

Identifying fraud is getting more and more tricky. Criminals have become more and more creative, and increasingly clever about disguising their methods. And on top of that, they’re using more sophisticated technology to commit crime.

Perhaps the most devious tactic being employed by criminals is that they are now targeting their crime. The most vulnerable are being targeted – weary homeowners in danger of losing their homes to foreclosure are enticed with foreclosure scams, while those drowning in debt are duped by offers to clean up or eliminate debt with little or no effort by the debtor.

But there are ways to recognize a scam. First, if you are told an offer will expire if you don’t respond immediately or quickly, and you feel pressured to make a decision, the offer could be fraudulent. Always take your time before committing to anything. You may also want to discuss the offer with friends. Others can often discern when an offer isn’t forthcoming.

Search for the company, the individuals and the offer online. If it is a scam, chances are you’ll find information about it online.

If the offer is from a well-known company, confirm it with them. Don’t just assume that because the offer says it’s from a particular company that that’s the case. Always confirm. Make sure that the phone numbers, links and addresses that came with the offer are legitimate.

One rule of thumb recommended by law enforcement officers is to ask yourself, “If I were made this same offer on the street, would I give out my personal information?” If not, then you shouldn’t give it out online.

If you can’t figure out any other way to determine whether something is legitimate, rely on your gut instincts. If you have any doubts about a particular offer, just don’t do it. Better safe than sorry.

A survey of consumers and businesses conducted in November, 2009 showed that while many consumers are monitoring their accounts more frequently using technologies such as on-line banking and mobile alerts, consumer education on protection and prevention measures such as keeping anti-virus software up to date will continue to be important.

Increased vigilance by consumers, businesses and government agencies appear to be having an impact on the problem of ID theft protection. Many organizations, especially banks and financial institutions have started offering fraud monitoring services, which can sometimes detect account access and payment anomalies, as well as dispute resolution and identity theft education programs. The survey determined that efforts to safeguard information by individuals and businesses have helped in resolving cases more quickly and have reduced the overall costs of identity theft for the consumer.

More consumers than ever before are actively monitoring their credit and financial accounts for suspicious activity and fraud and are acting faster when identity theft is detected.

With the exception of consumers aged 18 – 24, many consumers are found to be more likely to monitor their accounts regularly, to take advantage of ID theft protection programs offered by financial institutions and to install protective computer software on their home computers.

Many banks have offered customers more ID theft protection tools to safeguard electronic and traditional banking.

Financial institutions are investing in identity fraud monitoring, software to detect account access and payment anomalies, as well as complaint resolution and education services.

Consumers have become increasingly aware of e-mail scams such as “phishing.”, and less likely to respond to e-mail requests for personal information.

The use of mobile devices allows consumers to review and report cases of identity theft in close to “real-time,” which may result in lower victim costs and faster incident detection times.

The 2010 Identity Fraud Survey Report was conducted using telephone interviews with more than 5,000 U.S. consumers to identify and track the methods used by criminals and the impact of identity theft on American consumers and businesses. Almost 4,800 U.S. adults, including 487 victims of identity theft, were surveyed.

Computer users are mostly careful about safeguarding their information and using strong passwords, even more so when preventing identity theft is a consideration.

But few people realize that there is another threat to identity theft – copy machines.

Copiers that were made in the past few years contain hard drives that record the information that has been copied. These files are stored unencrypted until the hard drive becomes full, and the old files are then overwritten. Some experts say many files are never overwritten and, in an office setting, those files would be easily accessible. All an identity thief would have to do is hack into the copier’s hard drive and harvest the information stored there.

If you use the copier at a library, public copy center or in shared office space, your risk factor goes up.

While this risk may never be done away with, there are things you can do to minimize your risk. Make sure the data modem and fax modem are different. Doing this prevents someone from being able to take the information stored on the copier and easily transmitting it to another location through the open phone line.

Look into purchasing an overwriting or encryption component for your copier. If your office uses a copier that is more than a year old, you should check online and see if a component kit has been created by the maker of your copier to prevent information from being stored either at all or in unencrypted form. Xerox and Sharp have add-on components that can be purchased.

Don’t use public copy machines for sensitive information. Use only machines you are familiar with and where you have some element of control when it comes to monitoring the security risk.

Consider buying your own printer or fax machine with photocopying capabilities if you routinely copy sensitive information for either personal or business purposes. Be sure to purchase one with sufficient security features that either eliminate or encrypt stored information.

Use passwords to protect the information you copy. Create a password for the office copier the same way you would create an ATM pin code. Don’t share it with anyone.

Copy machines are relatively easy to operate and can prove to be an easy payday for identity thieves. So safeguard your information and think twice before you hit that green button.

In years past, LifeLock has been announced as a finalist and winner in several categories at the Annual American Business Awards. This year was no different.

The winners for the 2010 Stevie awards were announced yesterday at a banquet held at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in New York. At the ceremony of the 8th Annual American Business Awards, LifeLock was chosen as the winner of the Best New Product or Service of the Year Stevie award for the LifeLock Identity Alert System.

“It is an honor to be a Stevie Award winner for the fourth year in a row,” said Todd Davis, LifeLock Chairman and CEO. “This award exemplifies how LifeLock has become a leader in the identity theft protection field and further proves to consumers that LifeLock always has the consumer’s best interest in mind.”

Over 200 executives participated in the nationwide judging.

LifeLock has previously been awarded: Best Radio Ad or Campaign (2007); Best Magazine Ad/Campaign and Best Radio Ad/Campaign (2008); Best Overall Company of the Year – Up to 2,500 Employees – All Services; Best Copywriting and Favorite Service/Favorite New Products (2009).

With criminals growing more and more technologically advanced, combating identity theft has become “one of the greatest challenges of the 21st century,” LifeLock CEO says.

Identity theft is one of the fastest growing crimes in America, victimizing over 10 million people a year and costing consumers and businesses billions of dollars. Millions of people keep financial and personal information on their computers. Thousands fall victim to e-mail “phishing” scams each year. Social networking sites such as FaceBook and MySpace and peer-to-peer file sharing programs have opened up new avenues for identity thieves to access the personal and financial data of individuals more easily than ever.

Identity theft can happen anywhere to anyone. You can have your personal information stolen (and not even know it) while in line at the store, at the gas pump or even online at home. If your identity is stolen, you can spend hundreds of hours cleaning up your credit and struggling to get back your good name.

Todd Davis is the CEO of LifeLock, and he has purposely published his Social Security number in order to highlight the threat posed by identity thieves. Todd Davis relies on LifeLock to protect his name and personal information, just like it does for the approximately 1.7 million others who rely on LifeLock as well. Sure, he’s had his identity stolen and his information used illegally – 13 times in fact – a number which pales in comparison to the number of attempts that were foiled by the protections put in place by LifeLock. His story clearly illustrates the looming threat facing millions of consumers every day. And while LifeLock is doing their part, they cannot do it alone.

LifeLock, the industry leader in proactive identity theft protection, offers a proven solution that works. Although LifeLock has made it very clear that no service can stop 100% of identity theft, and although LifeLock has been leading the industry by continuously developing new and innovative proactive solutions, compromises do still occur – which is why in the last eight months alone LifeLock has provided more than 310,000 alerts to its members.

As a company, LifeLock is doing its best to protect consumers. As a country, a lot of work needs to be done. Unfortunately, identity thieves develop new technologies faster than legislation can be passed to stop them. We need to make combating identity theft a top national priority. Lawmakers at all levels of government must to take the ever-increasing threat of identity theft seriously. Identity theft is one of the greatest challenges of the 21st century and it’s going to take a comprehensive public-private partnership to address the monumental challenges we all face.

LifeLock has been recently awarded the highest rating available from the website TopConsumerReviews in their category. This rating comes out during the same time period as their rating from TopTenReviews, another independent online review service.

“We are honored to receive TopConsumerReviews highest rating,” said Todd Davis, LifeLock chairman and CEO. “It is very well documented that millions of people become victims of identity theft every year. Once victimized, it can take months or even years to restore a person’s finances and credit. At LifeLock we work hard to help stop the abuse before it ever occurs. We are committed to offering the best service and the best value to our members and are proud to be recognized for our efforts in helping to protect consumers.”

The rating is definitely a sweet victory for the company. Davis has recently been the focus of negative press and comments, however, the company has proven that they do provide an effective and valuable service. Review our post “LifeLock CEO Responds To Recent Publicity” to view the positive efforts that the company puts forth to protect members and to see how well it has worked for Davis himself.

Millions who become victims of identity theft each year have to use their own time, energy and finances to get their credit back. LifeLock members have a service that will help to stop identity theft and offers support if their service were to fail (Restrictions apply. See LifeLock.com for details).

“You, your identity and your financial information are more vulnerable than ever before, and people need to protect themselves and their wallets” – Todd Davis, CEO of identity theft protection company, LifeLock.

Todd Davis knows what he is talking about.

In 2005, he started publishing his Social Security number on billboards, over the Internet, and in radio and television advertising in an attempt to raise consumer awareness of the growing threat posed by identity theft – and to promote a new way of combating that threat.

In an interview, Davis commented, “I decided to give out my Social Security number, which was a risk worth taking to alert consumers to the rising tide of identity theft. As my story illustrates, identity theft is real, and the thieves growing more and more technologically advanced.”

Amazingly, as a direct result of publishing his Social Security number and basically, “daring” identity thieves to use it, Davis has been a victim of fraud only 13 times. It is not difficult to imagine just how many times thieves must have attempted to use his personal information in the five years since the advertising campaign began.

Davis’ experience since 2005 is an illustration of the threat posed by identity theft that faces millions of consumers every day. And while LifeLock is doing our part to help protect consumers like Davis, the crime of identity theft will continue to grow.

The increasing sophistication of identity thieves is one of the reasons why LifeLock transitioned from relying primarily on fraud alerts to the LifeLock Identity Alert™ system. Not all creditors check with the credit bureaus to validate that the person opening a new account is who they profess to be. LifeLock Identity Alerts are designed to be more comprehensive in scope than fraud alerts. In the last eight months alone LifeLock has provided more than 310,000 alerts to its members.

For years, LifeLock has made it exceedingly clear that no identity theft protection service can stop all instances of identity theft, and although LifeLock has been leading the industry by continuously developing new and innovative proactive solutions, compromises do still occur.

In order to combat the increasing technological advances employed by identity thieves, LifeLock has forged partnerships with AAA clubs, nonprofit organizations such as the National Organization for Victim Assistance® (NOVA), and law enforcement. Since 2008, a nationwide series of free training sessions has been offered through a partnership between LifeLock and FBI-LEEDA (FBI Law Enforcement Executive Development Association) to help increase law enforcement’s knowledge base of the crime of identity theft.

Recently, LifeLock has partnered with Symantec Corporation to provide both online and offline protection to consumers. LifeLock, has also forged a strategic partnership with the United States Census Bureau, a leading source of data about America’s people and economy.

“LifeLock is proud to support the 2010 Census,” said Davis. “The information being collected is critical to the country and all residents should feel comfortable providing the requested information. However, we want consumers to be wary of scam artists perpetrating identity theft crimes during this time.”

Without a doubt, identity theft is one of the greatest challenges of the 21st century and it’s going to take a comprehensive public-private partnership to address the monumental challenges we all face. LifeLock is committed to educating consumers and working with other companies, organizations and government agencies in an effort to better protect personal information, especially during a time when identity thieves will attempt just about anything to ensure personal information is used illegally to their benefit.

An online review service that compares consumer products and services, has recently done a LifeLock review that has ranked  the company’s service #1 in the category of Identity Theft Protection Services. This has earned LifeLock the Gold Award.

As an industry leader in proactive identity theft protection, LifeLock helps consumers to protect themselves from the crime of identity theft. TopTenREVIEWS has given LifeLock this rating due to what they deem to be “standout features” such as: Reduced Credit Card Offers, LifeLock Identity Alert System and $1 Million Total Service Guarantee.

“We are honored to be considered by TopTenREVIEWS as the #1 identity theft protection service,” said LifeLock Chairman and CEO Todd Davis. “LifeLock is working daily to help stop identity thieves from profiting by using members’ sensitive, personal information. We are committed to our mission to help protect all things personal for our members through providing the most robust protection.”

The LifeLock Identity Alert System is one of the more recent upgrades to the membership and it offers advanced detection services that work to identify fraudulent applications for several types of credit and non-credit based services, such as: credit cards, auto and mortgage loans, utilities, wireless services, and more.

As far as the reputation of LifeLock, here is a nice review written by TopTenREVIEWS:

“LifeLock has showcased a very unique and aggressive marketing and advertising campaign, making them the most well-known of all identity theft protection services.  CEO Todd Davis is so confident in the service they provide that he posted his social security number (457-55-5462, if you’re interested) on their homepage. While neither he nor TopTenREVIEWS recommends revealing your social security number to the public, the gesture does make a memorable statement as to the strength of their service, which we have no reason to oppose.

LifeLock also has been the target of quite a bit of negative press, further bringing them to the forefront. We looked into the service they provide and acknowledge that while they have been subject to harsh criticism, they still have very high customer satisfaction and consumer comparison ratings. They are a Better Business Bureau accredited corporation, and have withstood the test of time for over 4 years.”