Identity thieves bombarding Call Centers

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One out of 2,900 seems very small, but when there’s a total of 105 million…then this percentage stacks up in the end. It represents the frequency of calls from fraudsters made to call centers in an attempt to get customer account details so they could steal.

http://www.dreamstime.com/stock-photos-identity-theft-red-words-binary-code-computer-monitor-image39907813Many times these crooks will succeed by conning phone operators into altering personal details. The thieves will then commit ID theft, gaining access to customer information and even changing customer contact information so that the victims cannot receive alerts.

These clever cons spoofed their phone numbers to avoid detection, and used software to alter their voices, even the gender sound.

Research into the 105 million calls also unveiled that the fraudsters keyed in stolen Social Security numbers in succession until they got a bull’s-eye: a valid entry for an unnamed bank. They then tricked the victim into revealing personal data.

One expert says that if contact phone channels were monitored, this could predict criminal behavior two weeks prior to actual attacks. Many companies also believe that most attacks result from malware rather than social engineering: the tricking of victims into revealing sensitive data. The targets include the staff of the call centers, who are often conned into allowing these smooth-talking worms to get under any door.

When businesses focus on the theory that most of these problems are from malicious software, this opens up a huge door for the fraudsters to swagger their way in.

The crooks’ job is made even easier when companies assign fraud detection to a department that fails to effectively communicate with other departments.

Consumers would be smart to check in with various credit card and bank accounts “posing” as themselves to see just how easy or difficult it might be to gain access with what kind of “easy to guess” or ”easily found on social” information/questions that may be used to authenticate the caller. Then change those “out of wallet” or “knowledge based questions”

Robert Siciliano is an identity theft expert to BestIDTheftCompanys.com discussing  identity theft prevention. For Roberts FREE ebook text- SECURE Your@emailaddress -to 411247. Disclosures.

Identity proofing proves who You are

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Identity proofing is proof of whom you are. Proving one’s identity starts with that person answering questions that only they themselves can answer (even if the answers are fictitious), such as their favorite movie, mother’s maiden name or name of their high school. Since most people provide real answers (that can be found online) rather than “Pointy Ear Vulcan Science Academy” as the name of their high school, this technique is on its way to the dogs.

8DMichael Chertoff, the former chief of the Department of Homeland Security, stated, “I’m going to submit to you that in the 21st Century, the most important asset that we have to protect as individuals and as part of our nation is the control of our identity, who we are, how we identify ourselves, whether other people are permitted to masquerade and pretend to be us, and thereby damage our livelihood, damage our assets, damage our reputation, damage our standing in our community.”

New Jersey suffered one of the biggest unemployment frauds, and to date, has identified over 300,000 people who attempted to fraudulently collect benefits via ID theft, among other improper schemes but also honest errors. However, New Jersey is turning things around.

It’s the only state that’s used identity proofing to fight unemployment benefit fraud, which mandates that job applicants verify a number of personal details through a quiz on New Jersey’s labor department’s website.

The use of billions of public records, collected by LexisNexis, verifies the details, to filter out imposters seeking unemployment benefits. The idea is for honest people to provide answers to questions: information that crooks can’t extract from googling.

This approach has rewarded New Jersey well, with nearly 650 cases of potential ID theft prevented. The state has also saved $65 million since May 2012 after blocking foreign IP addresses from gaining access to its unemployment system. Other states are following suit.

Improper payments (including for jobless benefits) have been occurring for years. Over $176 million in grants, to stop this problem, was issued by Washington in 2013 to 40 states. The errors in unemployment benefits payments on a national level have been about 10 percent for the past 10 years.

Businesses and government frequently must take the brunt of the fraud and waste despite an unemployment insurance system in place.

Robert Siciliano is an identity theft expert to BestIDTheftCompanys.com discussing  identity theft prevention. For Roberts FREE ebook text- SECURE Your@emailaddress -to 411247. Disclosures.

The Sweet Sixteen Rule

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Your child is turning 16! As a parent in the US, your mind is occupied with planning the big sweet 16 party and preparing for a new driver on the road (and the crazy high insurance that goes with it). During this exciting time, there’s something else you should be thinking about—your child’s credit score.

http://www.dreamstime.com/stock-photos-identity-theft-red-words-binary-code-computer-monitor-image39907813Child identity theft is more common than we want to think it is. According to a study by Identity Theft Assistance, 1 in every 40 households with minor children has been affected by child identity theft. Thieves love this kind of identity theft because 1) it gives them a clean slate because kids don’t have a credit history, and 2) it usually takes years before the crime is discovered—and it’s a lot of time to do some extensive damage. Many kids who have had their identities stolen don’t find out until they are adults trying to buy a car, apply for a college loan, or rent a place and they are denied due to low credit scores. At that point, it could take years to undo the damage and build a respectable credit score. No parent wants that for their child!

So when your child turns the big 16, start a new tradition and check to see if your child has a credit report. If your child does have a report, check to make sure there are not any mistakes on it and also check in why he or she would have a credit report (since most wouldn’t). You’ll not only save your child tons of headaches later on, but you’ll have a head start on clearing this up before it becomes a big mess.

But the best way to fix child identity theft is to prevent it in the first place. Here are a few tips to protect your child’s identity.

  • Keep your child’s information in a private, safe place. Don’t carry your child’s Social Security card or identity card around with you and make sure their birth certificate is in a safe place, like a locked file cabinet, safe or safety deposit box.
  • Only give out your child’s personal info when necessary. Be particular who you share your child’s Social Security number or identification number with, and when in doubt, leave it blank. The little league coordinator does NOT need to have this information, and even places that you may think may need it like your doctor’s office, you should check to be sure. Remember, once the information leaves your hands, it is out of your control.
  • Shred any sensitive documents before discarding. Rule of thumb: if it has an identification number  or any personal information on it, shred it.
  • Be alert to robberies and security breaches. If your home has been broken into, make sure all documents are accounted for.
  • Be careful what you and your child shares online. Make sure to teach your child the “rules of the road” for online safety and why sharing personal information online can be risky.
  • Invest in security software. Use software like McAfee’s LiveSafe™ service to protect your data and identity as well as your child’s on all your computers, smartphones and tablets.

For more information on protecting your identity, make sure to like McAfee’s Facebook page or follow us on Twitter.

Robert Siciliano is an Online Security Expert to McAfee. He is the author of 99 Things You Wish You Knew Before Your Mobile was Hacked!  Disclosures.

Family Identity Theft is Ugly

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Identity theft isn’t just the stuff of exciting movie and TV dramas; this happens in real life—and often. In fact, that Target breach that made headlines, Neiman Marcus, those 1. 2 Billion records the Russian cyber gang hacked: all identity theft.

http://www.dreamstime.com/stock-photos-identity-theft-red-words-binary-code-computer-monitor-image39907813In 2012, according to one research firm, 12.6 million people in the U.S. alone were victims of ID fraud. This translates to this crime occurring every three seconds. If that isn’t bad enough, it’s estimated that one-third of ID theft is committed against the thieves’ own family members.

Sometimes a person learns this when requesting a copy of their credit report. Expecting to see a high score, they instead see pages and pages of fraudulent credit card activity—and a very damaged credit. The thief can even be the victim’s own mother. Or spouse. Or daughter, son, sister, brother.

As appalling as this is, it’s not the least bit unusual. It’s easy, for instance, for a parent to access their child’s name and Social Security number, then open up a phony account—even if the victim is literally a child. Most companies don’t check the ages, so that’s why this crime can go undetected for years.

The victim may not even learn of the crime until adulthood when they apply for their first credit card or student loan. Learning that the thief is a family member, particularly a parent, delivers a particularly hard blow, for obvious reasons. At least there’s no emotional impact when the thief is a stranger or even someone outside the family whom you know.

It can take quite some time to restore damaged credit. The Federal Trade Commission has an online guide that will help victims recover from the crime of identity theft.

Children can’t protect themselves, so adults need to do it for them. That often requires an investment of time and money.

Credit freezes or fraud alerts aren’t available to children until their identity is stolen.

Applying for a fraud alert every quarter to 6 months and being denied means no credit has been established.

Identity theft protection in many cases will help prevent child identity theft. However not all services offer this option. The good news is that child identity theft protection is generally less than $50.00 a year per child when the parent invests in a family plan.

Robert Siciliano is an identity theft expert to BestIDTheftCompanys.com discussing  identity theft prevention. For Roberts FREE ebook text- SECURE Your@emailaddress -to 411247. Disclosures.

15 ways to prevent Travel related Identity Theft

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See if you’ve been employing the safeguards below to protect your identity while traveling.

http://www.dreamstime.com/stock-photos-identity-theft-red-words-binary-code-computer-monitor-image39907813#1 Put snail mail on hold.

Crooks love to scavenge through overflowing mail boxes to seek out personal information to steal an identity. Prevent this by arranging the postal service to put a stop on your mail.

#2 Clean up, thin out.

It’s been said that the laws of physics are defied when a woman empties her purse. Before traveling, dump out anything and everything: drug prescriptions, old memos, business cards, even expired documents. A thief could use this information to steal your identity.

#3 Be cautious with public computers.

A public computer is a very fertile area for identity theft, and this includes the computer in your hotel’s lobby. Never save passwords or use the auto-save function for forms. When you’re done, delete the search history. Never visit your financial institutions’ sites either.

#4 Wireless means watch out.

Free public Wi-Fi means anyone can snatch your personal information out of the air because this kind of Wi-Fi does not include encryption (which scrambles data). Use Hotspot Shield on your PC, Mac, tablet and mobile to encrypt your wireless communications.

The ability to snag your private information requires only a basic knowledge of computers plus a simple plugin, and voila—this person can spy on your browser activities. Try to use only WEP, WPA and WPA2 networks. Otherwise, visit only secure websites (they have the “https” in their address).

#5 Keep your phone number private.

Other than giving it to reps for your airline and hotel reservations, keep it to yourself. If it gets out, a fraudster could use it to pull phone scams on you.

#6 Protect your smartphone.

If your mobile device is loaded with personal information, it should have a home-screen-locking password. This can even be a fingerprint scan, depending on the model. Androids need antivirus the same as PCs do.

#7 Beware of ATMs.

ATMs can be fake or skimmers can be installed. A phony ATM kiosk can be set up on a street corner, beckoning for you. You swipe your card, and your card information is stored for later pickup by the thief who put the kiosk there.

If you must use an ATM, use a bank’s during regular business hours. Protect yourself from skimmers by blocking the keypad with your other hand as you enter your PIN. But still check your statements because keypad overlays can be installed too. Shred receipts immediately.

#8 Pay with cash.

Though stolen cash can’t be replaced, it also won’t lead to identity theft. Limit credit card use to secure payment systems found at major retail outlets and airports. Be suspicious of clerks who want to leave your visual range to swipe your credit card. And just plain don’t use a debit card when traveling.

#9 Don’t use your passport for ID.

Instead use your driver’s license or international ID. If you rely only on a passport and it gets stolen, you’ll end up in a bind you’ll never forget. Have backups of both scanned and available online.

#10 Hotel scams

Never give out private information over your hotel room’s phone, even if the caller says they’re from the front desk and need to straighten something out. Instead, deal with them at the front desk so you know it’s not a scam.

#11 Lock up valuables.

This doesn’t just mean jewelry, but use your hotel room’s safe to lock up passports, airline information, credit cards, cash and electronic gadgets unless you’re using them. Better yet, take them with you, or better still only travel with valuables you absolutely need.

#12 Review credit card statements.

Check your statements every month for unauthorized charges so that they don’t pile up.

#13 Encrypt laptop/mobile data.

When traveling with digital devices make sure to use encryption software that makes your data useless to a thief.

#14 Install tracking software.

Mobile devices should have a lock/locate/wipe software that does just that in the even your device goes mobile without you.

#15 Get identity theft protection

Both identity theft protection and a credit freeze should be used by everyone traveling or not.

Robert Siciliano is an Identity Theft Expert to Hotspot Shield. He is the author of 99 Things You Wish You Knew Before Your Identity Was Stolen See him discussing internet and wireless security on Good Morning America. Disclosures.

Medical Identity Theft Can be Deadly

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If you feel like you are starting to get the flu, going to the doctor’s office can get you some medicine and get you on the road to recovery. But, there’s no pill or surgery that can protect you from medical identity theft—which can kill you. Literally. The thief who steals your identity doesn’t mean to kill you; he just wants to obtain free medical care on your dime.

http://www.dreamstime.com/stock-photos-identity-theft-red-words-binary-code-computer-monitor-image39907813If a thief has access to your personal information, he can pose as you and see doctors and have procedures done—for free or for a nominal copay. The crook uses fake IDs and phony insurance cards to pull off this scam.

The problem really starts kicking in when the imposter’s medical situation gets tacked onto your medical record—since they are posing as you. This can result in a number of harmful outcomes for you. Not only can it potentially cause misdiagnoses, you could be issued a prescription to a drug that you have a fatal reaction to.

Just think about it for a moment: Someone else’s medical condition getting integrated with yours. This can cause a lot of problems. You could be denied medical coverage or lose your current coverage because of false information in your medical records. In the United States, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) protects your right of access to your medical records. If someone else is pretending to be you and accessing your records, you might not be able to access your own records. That’s a scary thought.

But even you are lucky enough not to suffer any negative consequences to your health as a result of the medical identity theft, cleaning up the mess can be enough to give anyone a heart attack.

So how can you prevent becoming a victim of medical identity theft?

  • Protect your mail: Install a locking mailbox so no one can access your mail.
  • Keep medical documents secure: Keep all of your hard copy medical documents in a file that locks. If it’s in cyberspace, make sure the files are encrypted and not in folder on your desktop that says “Medical.”
  • Shred all medical documents: Make sure to properly dispose of your medical documents so you don’t become a victim to dumpster-diving thieves. This includes digital files as well.McAfee LiveSafe (put tm in here and links this) service comes with a digital shredder that uses higher than government standard file shredding—don’t rely on simply putting something in the “trash bin” on your computer and then emptying it.
  • Leave medical cards at home: Only take them when you are visiting the doctor. If you’re worried you might need them in the event you have an accident and need immediate medical treatment, memorize your health ID number. If you’re unconscious upon arriving at an ER, you’ll get treated anyways—it’s the law. Simply provide your medical card after the fact. Don’t carry identity cards either: Identification cards or Social Security number cards should also be left at home in a safe place. Since many medical systems use these numbers as your identifier on the policy, you don’t want them falling into the wrong hands. And with access to these cards, a thief could easily create the fake credentials needed to commit medical identity theft.

Robert Siciliano is an Online Security Expert to McAfee. He is the author of 99 Things You Wish You Knew Before Your Mobile was Hacked!  Disclosures.

Graduates beware of Identity Theft

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Worried about finding a job after you graduate from college? Worried about paying off your debts? It gets uglier: New college grads need to think about their identities being stolen. One-third of identity theft complaints come from young adults.

http://www.dreamstime.com/stock-photos-identity-theft-red-words-binary-code-computer-monitor-image39907813A new college graduate will often have a clean credit history. If the new college graduate discovers, however, that their credit score is inexplicably low, it’s probably because their identity has been stolen. This can be a nightmare.

Compounding the issue is that some businesses will check the job applicant’s credit report and use this information against them by not hiring.

Prior to graduation, the college student should do a credit check; it can be done annually online free of charge. Young adults should never have an “It can’t happen to ME” approach to one of life’s raw realities: the proliferation of identity theft.

College students should always shred all of their bank related statements, credit card statements and all other documents that contain very personal information.

College students should avoid posting their birthdates, phone numbers and addresses on social media.

Additional Tips

  • Ask your parents to explain whatever they know to you about online scams like malicious e-mails (phishing), suspicious pop-up ads, buying apps from third party sellers, etc.
  • Avoid debit cards; use only a credit card because thieves prefer to steal identities through debit cards.
  • Memorize your SSN so you can keep your SSN card in a safe place at all times.
  • Check your credit card statements every month for suspicious charges.
  • Never give out your SSN, even if the clerk at the retail store insists they need it so that they can give you an intro 15 percent off with the store’s credit card.
  • Go to www.annualcreditreport.com to check your credit report every year.
  • Get identity theft protection and a credit freeze.

Robert Siciliano is an identity theft expert to BestIDTheftCompanys.com discussing  identity theft prevention. For Roberts FREE ebook text- SECURE Your@emailaddress -to 411247. Disclosures.

10 Ways to Help Protect Yourself from Identity Theft

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No one wants to be a victim of identity theft (at least not that I’m aware of). But even though we may say this, our actions don’t always indicate this—and actions speak louder than words.

10DSome of this information may seem basic or like common sense, but these are still tactics that identity thieves utilize because THEY WORK! So here are some tips to make sure you’re protecting your identity:

  1. Be careful when sharing personal information – Make sure you question who is asking for this information and why. Just because a site asks or even your doctor’s office form asks, doesn’t mean it’s absolutely necessary. Also make sure you understand how they are protecting your personal data.
  2. Don’t open attachments or clicks on links from people you don’t know – Whether this be via email, text message or social networking sites, exercise caution as these could be phishing messages designed to steal your personal information.
  3. Protect your home Wi-Fi connection – Not changing the default settings on your wireless router can lead to not only someone using your connection for free, but also to them accessing all the files on the devices that are connected to it. Using default settings is never a good idea for anything, but can have bigger implications with your Wi-Fi connection. Here’s tips on how to protect your Wi-Fi.
  4. Don’t shop or bank online from public computers – You don’t know if there is any security protection on these computers and if the Internet connection is secure. It’s just best not to do this.
  5. Don’t fall for 419 email scams – These are emails asking you help to get access to a big sum of money and in exchange you’ll get a portion of the money. Now come on…if a stranger asked you this in real life, would you believe them? Probably not…I mean…how many us really need to help a Nigerian prince? (Note: 419 refers to the article of the Nigerian Criminal Code dealing with fraud)
  6. Don’t accept all friend requests on social media – Remember that “friend” may not really be your friend. Only connect with people you know in the real world. And even then you should be careful when clicking on the links they post. I’d recommend you use a product like McAfee® SiteAdvisor® that provides easy, red, yellow and green site rating icons in your search results and in your Facebook, LinkedIn and Google+ feeds (for PC or Mac). It will also put up a warning screen if you click on a site we know to be dangerous (for PC, Mac or mobile)
  7. Carry as little possible with you – This includes credit cards, debit cards, your Social Security number or Identification card and scraps of paper with your PINs and passwords. You wallet or purse can be a treasure trove to thieves, so make sure to carry only what is absolutely necessary.
  8. Lock your mailbox – This may seem extreme, but many thieves raid mailboxes for credit card applications, fill then out and change the address, then they don’t pay the bill, and the debt collector comes looking for you! So ask the companies to stop sending you this mail and make sure your mailbox is locked
  9. Be careful what you put in your trash – Some thieves raid trash cans, especially if you have a locked mailbox. So that pre-approved credit card application that you relegated to the trash before it even entered your house is a gold mine for thieves. So make sure you employ the use of a cross-cut paper shredder before you throw these types of things away.
  10. And of course, make sure you have protection on all your devices – Comprehensive security on all your devices (not just your PCs) is a must these days. I use McAfee LiveSafe™ service, which protects all my PCs, Macs, smartphones and tablets. And it comes with McAfee SiteAdvisor that I mentioned above!

So remember, we all have to help ourselves by being proactive to protect our identities, both online and offline.

Stay safe!

 Robert Siciliano is an Online Security Expert to McAfee. He is the author of 99 Things You Wish You Knew Before Your Mobile was Hacked!  Disclosures.

The Future of Identity Theft

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Identity theft evolves as technology progresses. The Identity Theft Resource Center explains the future of this crime.

11DDefinition of Identity

The definition will swell up to include biometrics and behavior, not just driver’s license number and SSN. So your identity can be defined by how you move a mouse and your keystroke patterns.

Medical Identity

There’s no focal mechanism for the mitigation of medical identity theft, making it easy for thieves to keep getting medical treatment. Many people get their medical identity stolen without knowing it.

Statistics

Crime rate statistics are not telling the whole story. The illusion is that crime rates are on the decline; this is because statistics do not include all fraud activity. The primary indicator in crime statistics reports doesn’t even include identity theft.

Mobile wallets will not take over the world—at least not soon, anyways.

Though mobile wallets seem to be the next big wave in purchase technology, it’s not going to be easy convincing the masses to store every bit of their financial data in their smartphone. In fact, 64 percent of survey participants said they would not convert to a mobile wallet system (Consult Hyperion).

Affordability

All of these cool developments in the world of cyber communication will not necessarily apply to every single person; products cost money. So no matter how much it seems that times are changing or that people are “switching over” to some new technology, there will still be that demographic that’s seemingly left in the dust.

Finally…

It looks as though federal data breach notification laws will at last become a reality. Or so it seems.

Extra Layers

The dual and even multi-step authentication system will become more common, as more industries pick this up, to verify a user’s identity. And even consumers seem to be warming up to this.

Can’t have it both ways:

That is, security and convenience. With all the big data breaches lately, looks like privacy and security will win over convenience for the consumer.

Robert Siciliano is an identity theft expert to BestIDTheftCompanys.com discussing  identity theft prevention. For Roberts FREE ebook text- SECURE Your@emailaddress -to 411247. Disclosures.

IRS announces a 66% Increase in Tax Identity Theft Investigations

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Tax related identity theft is reaching nightmarish and epidemic proportions. Heed the following to minimize your risk.3D

  • File taxes early. ‘Tis the season for tax fraud, and scammers like to get a jump start from the beginning. File early before the fraudsters file.
  • Use electronic filing. Paying the IRS via e-filing is fast and more secure than the paper method. You’ll also get an e-confirmation of receipt. E-filing also lets you know promptly if another person has filed under your own information.
  • An IRS e-mail is probably a fake. You’ll never get an unsolicited e-mail from Uncle Sam asking for your SSN, date of birth or other private information. Don’t open these e-mails. If you accidentally open one, do nothing more than forward it to phishing@irs.gov.
  • Fake web sites. Telltale signs of a fraudulent site are typos and grammatical mistakes, odd page layouts, an unprofessional appearance and other oddities. Be suspicious if there’s not a tiny yellow padlock and “https” to the left of the URL.
  • Be careful where you store. Never store tax information on an Internet drive or cloud. If it must be stored on a computer, encrypt the drive. Better yet, store it on an external drive or disk that’s encrypted or password protected, and store this in a locked safe.
  • Strong, long passwords and usernames. Use an assortment of characters (letters, numbers, symbols like # and *).
  • Check your annual Social Security statement. It shows all income from U.S.-workers under your SSN.
  • Your tax preparer. Use a reputable, licensed tax preparation firm. There exist many tax fraudsters.
  • Be on red alert. Services that claim to have no or very low tax liability often sock you with very high fees, or divert refunds or take money from returns.
  • Snail mail alert. Monitor reception of tax forms. Take notice if any are late or seem to have been opened. If anything is awry, notify the provider at once to find out when they were sent out.

Robert Siciliano is an identity theft expert to BestIDTheftCompanys.com discussing  identity theft prevention. For Roberts FREE ebook text- SECURE Your@emailaddress -to 411247. Disclosures.