Kim Kardashian’s Identity Theft Case cracked

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Never underestimate the brains of a young guy who still lives with his mother—at least not the case of 19-year-old Luis Flores, Jr., who was smart enough to steal the identities of Kim Kardashian and even the head of the FBI, and assume their financial accounts.

11DOf course, he wasn’t smart enough not to get caught.

Flores’ weapon was a flash drive loaded with private data from celebrities and politicians; he got into their credit card accounts and transferred thousands of their dollars to his bank account. He got nabbed finally.

Red flags raised when American Express reported some suspicious activity on a number of accounts, causing the Secret Service to investigate Flores and his mother.

Someone had phoned American Express claiming to be Kim Kardashian, knew her private information, then changed the account’s SSN to that of Flores’. The snail mail address was changed to Flores’ apartment’s. The caller then requested replacement cards.

The Secret Service questioned Flores and Kyah Green, his mother, about the cards but they didn’t cooperate. The Secret Service also discovered that Flores had a history of fraudulent behavior. Additionally, Flores had wired money from Kris Jenner’s account into his own.

It gets better: Authorities linked Flores to fraudulent activity involving Ashton Kutcher, Paris Hilton, U.S. Marshals Service Director Stacia Hylton and former FBI director Robert Mueller.

The flash drive was discovered in Flores’ apartment by the Secret Service. In it was the bank and credit card accounts, credit reports and SSNs of all the victims named prior, but also those of Bill Gates, Michelle Obama, Joe Biden, Beyoncé Knowles, plus other politicians.

How could Flores’ have gotten this sensitive information? A web site that was launched last year by hackers. It is believed the hackers got the data from legitimate sources such as information brokers who didn’t realize their clients were criminals.

The search of Flores’ apartment by agents didn’t stop him; he contacted American Express in an attempt to access the accounts of Gates, Kutcher and Tom Cruise.

Flores and his mother were charged federally; both pleaded guilty. This is one more reason to invest in identity theft protection or get 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.

Consumers worried about Identity Theft over Privacy

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A recent poll of 1,000 Internet users reveals that they’re very concerned about security threats to their personal and financial information. Users also believe that the feds should step up more to protect them.2P

  • 80% are concerned that hackers will get into information they share.
  • 16% are on edge that businesses will use data they share online to send out unsolicited ads to them.
  • 75% are nervous their personal data will be hocked by hackers.
  • 54% worry their browsing history will be monitored for targeted advertising.
  • 57% have signed up for a two-step sign-in process.
  • 83% have required a password to unlock their devices at some point.

This small survey is indicative of the awareness that users have over security and their belief that the federal government needs to take more action.

Nevertheless, the respondents showed a proactive approach to protection, e.g., 73% don’t allow services to retain their credit card information; 65% set their browsers to disable cookies; 68% adjust privacy settings for online accounts; and 76% use a different password for different services.

But consumers give up privacy for “free”.

“The poll also shows that respondents have a lower level of concern about targeted online advertising as evidence by the fact that most would rather have a free Internet with targeted advertising than a paid service but with no advertising.  Twice as many say they prefer free online services supported by targeted ads (61%) over online services that they pay for but come with no targeted ads (33%)”

This is good news for companies providing free identity theft protection to their customers. On one hand customers want security; on the other hand they want “free”. So when offering up free identity theft protection, a consumer is getting their cake and eating it too!

CCIA

The Computer & Communications Industry Association is nonprofit and represents a large cross section of communications, computer and Internet industry businesses. CCIA promotes innovation and the preservation of fair competition throughout industry. Over 600,000 people are employed by CCIA, and yearly revenue exceeds $200 billion.

Robert Siciliano is an Identity Theft Expert to AllClearID. He is the author of 99 Things You Wish You Knew Before Your Identity Was Stolen See him knock’em dead in this identity theft prevention video. Disclosures.

Guarantee your Customers’ Identity Protection

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The AllClear Guarantee is designed to protect a business owner’s customers from identity theft. Your customers are assured:
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  • Six months of automatic protection once they complete their transaction. Each new purchase means extended coverage with any merchant who displays the Guarantee.
  • Protection wherever customers go. Customers are protected by the Guarantee beyond your site, no matter where they go or how ID theft happens.
  • If a customer’s ID is stolen, AllClear will fix everything: restoration of credit report, recovery of financial losses, etc.
  • Zero cost to customers. Participating merchants pay for the Guarantee.

These points are extremely important to the merchant. After all, according to Forrester (2012), 66% of customers are most worried about getting their identities stolen while they’re online. But what’s their greatest online concern? Edelman (2012) says that 90 percent of customers name sharing financial information online as being their greatest concern—as in, for example, using a credit card to make an online payment to a retailer.

How does guaranteed protection benefit the business owner?

  • Increased revenue. Your customers will have more confidence when they complete transactions and will feel more secure about giving accurate information.
  • Customer retention. When consumers feel safe online, they’re more likely to return time and again. The Guarantee will provide this secure feeling.
  • Reduced risk. You’ll be able to respond faster to a data breach, thanks to the Guarantee.

With the AllClear Guarantee, you won’t hope your clients are safe online; you’ll know they are.

  • Consumers should seek out websites that show the AllClear Guarantee
  • Every purchase gets automatic identity protection.
  • The Guarantee is covered by participating merchants.

Robert Siciliano is an Identity Theft Expert to AllClearID. He is the author of 99 Things You Wish You Knew Before Your Identity Was Stolen See him knock’em dead in this identity theft prevention video. Disclosures.

Child Identities need more Legal Protection

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Identity theft can involve children. In fact, it’s a growing problem. The thief takes a child’s Social Security number and either uses their name or assigns it to a different name and always changes the date of birth. So 2 year old Sally is now 22 and has a Benz. The thief then uses this new identity for job applications, loans or government benefits.

1DThe unique disaster is that child identity theft could persist for years before the parents or victim when older figure it out. This delay makes it harder to restore the victim’s good name. Tens of thousands of children are victims of identity theft every year across the U.S.

In Florida, it’s estimated that 50,000 child identity theft cases occur every year. Florida Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam and state Sen. Nancy Detert have proposed legislation to help prevent victimization.

A bill (SB 242) will permit parents to freeze a child’s credit records until they’re old enough to use them: the Keeping IDs Safe (KIDS) Act.

A broad coalition of groups (e.g., bankers, law enforcement and children’s advocates) backs this legislation. This includes the Florida Police Chiefs Association, Children’s Home Society and school superintendents.

The KIDS Act may protect up to 10,000 Florida kids from identity theft every year.

How it works:

Parents of kids under 16 or who are guardians of disabled adults can request that a credit agency create the credit record; then freeze it until the child/adult can use it. A fee of up to $10 can be charged by the agencies.

Though adults have already been able to freeze their credit records, they need to realize that child identity theft is a real and growing problem, and that freezing their records is a very viable guard against this crime.

Meanwhile 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.

100 Person Identity Theft Ring busted

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This year, one of the biggest identity theft rings originating from Minnesota was prosecuted—spanning 14 states and involving hundreds of victims. Total theft exceeded $2.5 million, and major retailers and banks were victimized.

1GJust who was part of this ring is mind boggling; the participants included a receptionist with the state Board of Psychology; and employees at the St. Paul Postal Credit Union, Wells Fargo Bank and other major companies. Insiders generally have direct access to client data and can do the most damage.

Victims of identity theft aren’t necessarily gullible and naïve. As just mentioned, one of the ring participants was the receptionist. She gave Social Security numbers of psychologists to the ring leaders.

One of those psychologists found out her identity had been stolen when a bank called her to report that a woman claiming to be her had attempted to get $4,000 cash back from a $6,800 check she tried to deposit. At another bank, the imposter tried again with a fake driver’s license in the victim’s name that had a photo of the imposter.

The imposter eventually confessed to cashing fraudulent checks and using fake checks and driver’s licenses with names of actual people. Her fraudulent purchases exceeded $154,500.

Basic Methods

  • Other participants purchased high-end products with fake checks printed from special equipment, then returned them for cash refunds or gift cards.
  • They also printed fake IDs and recruited about 10 people to enlist over 100 more to do the check cashing and product purchasing.
  • A ringleader would often sit in a car while their help cashed a fake check, then the proceeds would be split.
  • Thieves obtained personal information by breaking into homes, mailboxes, cars and businesses.
  • The scam even sucked in family and friends. One ringleader had his two sons in on it.

This goes to show you how susceptible the public is to a mastermind of an extensive identity theft ring. Makes you think you can’t even trust the receptionist of the company you work for.

All that being said, account takeover generally can’t be prevented when organized criminals get a hold of account numbers. However new account fraud, when thieves use your Social Security number, can mostly can be prevented with identity theft protection.

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.

6 Shredding Tips To Prevent Identity Theft

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Shredding is fun! Repeat that 10 times and you just might start believing it. Certainly shredding is a tad bit of work, but that’s what kids and interns are for!

4HShredding might be inconvenient, but it’s absolutely necessary—and it’s fundamental to protecting your identity and the identities of those who have entrusted you with their data. Shredding is like recycling, eating well and exercise: You may not always want to do it, but it’s good for you.

Here’s how to better manage your shredables:

  1. Primary documents: I shred everything that comes in the mail with my name on it and that I don’t need. Shred or destroy prescription bottles, CDs with data on them, and supporting tax documents older than three years (some say seven), including investment statements, bank statements, canceled checks and paystubs.
  2. Secondary documents: Documents like ATM receipts, credit card statements, utility bills and insurance policies should all be kept for two years. The only reason to keep these is in case you determine a mistake was made so you can go back and look. Otherwise, if you can access any of these documents online, shred them now. Homeowner-related documents should be kept as long as you own the home and maybe a year after you eventually sell it.
  3. Devices: Don’t forget to shred or destroy hard drives, SD cards, mobile phones, SIM cards and thumb drives. While reformatting and reinstalling an operating system will get rid of most of the data, it’s just better to kill the drive with a special shredder for non-paper files—also known as a sledgehammer.
  4. Reduce paper: One way to reduce all the stuff needing shredding is to turn off the paper. At this point, most, if not all, of your bank, credit card, utilities, mobile phone and other accounts allow (and in some cases, require) e-statements. This means every month you’ll get an email stating, “Your statement is ready!” But don’t click that link, as it could be a phish. Get access to your statements through a password manager or via your favorite menu.
  5. Shred-a-thons: Many banks now sponsor shred-a-thons where one of those crankin’, big shredding trucks shows up to the bank’s parking lot and you can watch boxes and boxes of your stuff get decimated right in front of you. Bring the kids!
  6. Burn it: Depending on the amount of stuff you have to shred and your local ordinances regarding conflagrations, you might want to box up all of your shredables and burn them the same time you might burn leaves, or when you have a backyard bonfire.

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.

Laptop theft leads to identity theft

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Ever lose a mobile device? Have one stolen? Know someone who has? Device loss and theft is a common issue when it comes to identity theft and results in data breaches. Some studies have shown as many as 2.5 million laptops are stolen annually, which equates to a laptop stolen every 12 seconds.

It used to be that laptops were stolen only because of their resale value. However, a laptop today can be purchased for under $500 and the resale value might be less than $100. Criminals know that depending on the data, a stolen laptop could be worth hundreds of thousands of dollars in the right hands.

For example: SecurityInfoWatch reports, “The health information of 729,000 patients was compromised when thieves stole two laptops from an administration building of a San Gabriel Valley-based hospital group, officials said. The thieves swiped the laptops from a video-monitored sixth-floor office on a medical campus that officials said is ‘gated and patrolled by security.’ The suspects broke into the office and stole two password-protected laptops, they said.

“According to the hospital group, the computers contained data, including patients’ names, Medicare/insurance identification numbers, diagnosis/procedure codes and insurance/patient payment records. Some of the files contained the Social Security numbers of Medicare patients, officials said.”

What officials didn’t say is that this kind of laptop theft can result in a data breach that is the equivalent of a crook hitting the jackpot.

Consumers are at a significant disadvantage in these situations. Due to no fault of their own, brazen thieves got access to their data, and there’s nothing they can do about it. More than likely, the hospital will be saddled with providing the victims with some form of credit monitoring that will cost the hospital millions.

Chances are good that at some point this year or in the future, your data will be on a laptop that is either lost or stolen—and you may never even hear about it. My suggestion is to always be proactive. Today, make an investment in identity theft protection and double up on your protection by getting 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.

5 ways your identity is stolen

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Chances are good that in the coming year, you will be asked to provide your or a family member’s Social Security number (SSN) at least a few times. And because of all you’ve heard about identity theft and all the advice like “never give out your Social,” you will hesitate, ask why the person needs it and be told, “I don’t know why we need it, but I can’t move forward with your application/registration unless you provide it.” So what do you do? Your kid is sick, he needs meds, and the doctor’s admin can’t help you unless you cough up a SSN. If you want service, then you have to give it up. Otherwise, you have to figure out other options, which often means putting your tail between your legs and giving up your SSN.

2CHere are all kinds of fun ways your identity can get stolen.

  1. Giving out your SSN: Schools want it, the doctor’s or dentist’s office asks for it, your insurance company needs it, and maybe even your kids soccer coach wants it. What happens when the clerk you gave your SSN to develops herself a little crack cocaine habit? She sees an opportunity to feed her habit and then uses your kid’s SSN to open a new credit card account. Nice.
  2. Hacker data breach: Criminal hackers looking for your SSN are looking at your doctor, your school and even your bank. Once they find a vulnerability in those networks, they might sell your SSN on the black market for thieves to open new mobile phone accounts in your name.
  3. Insider identity theft: Employees with access to company databases have been known to download thousands and even millions of records onto a single thumb drive. Once accessed, the opening of new accounts begins.
  4. Tax fraud: Taxpayers usually receive everything they need from their employers by the beginning of February. Sometimes those records contain your SSN, and they may be intercepted in the mail; other times, they might be accessed via your trash or even in your home. Once in the hands of a thief, the bad guy files your taxes before you do and gets your refund. File early to beat the thieves.
  5. Account takeover: Your bank account and various other existing accounts require your SSN as a primary identifier to establish credit. The last four digits of your SSN are also used as an authenticator when you call to make changes or get a new card issued. Bad guys get your SSN and socially engineer customer service to drain your accounts.

In most cases, identity theft protection and a credit freeze will insulate you from the first three instances, in which new accounts are opened in your name. To avoid tax fraud, file early. In the event of an account takeover, simply pay close attention to your accounts and refute unauthorized transactions ASAP.

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.

What’s the Point of $1 Million in Insurance for Identity Theft?

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Honesty is the best policy, right? I’ve spent my life being honest, and do you know what is the most important lesson I’ve learned is? The truth hurts. And when you (meaning me too) says it like it is, someone somewhere isn’t going to like it. So I’m being honest here: The identity theft protection services offering a $1 million identity theft insurance policy is baloney.

OK, I have no friends now…at least in those who provide identity theft insurance. I still like you, though.

Here’s some perspective: I just looked at my automobile insurance policy. It provides $300,000 if I drive over someone, mangle the person and leave him or her a paraplegic. But identity theft insurance provides more than three times that? Why? Why would they offer $1 million in insurance? Seems out of whack.

When identity theft protection was born, the one company that was first to market offered the $1 million insurance guarantee as an incentive (think creative marketing) to buy its service. It worked—lots of people bought. Bravo! However, the way the company marketed the $1 million insurance guarantee made it sound like you’d actually get a million dollars if your identity got stolen. I think someone got in trouble for that, and I think the government told the company the language had to be toned down.

So from that point on, all the other new kids on the block had to offer the same million-dollar guarantee in order to keep up with the Joneses. At one point, one of the identity theft protection startups even sent out a press release offering a $2 million guarantee. Which to me was comical, because it was obvious what the startup was doing…and it was, frankly, sad.

Now I’m not saying the $1 million insurance guarantee is useless, because it does provide value. Certainly there are costs associated with the cleanup and restoration of a stolen identity, and the way the services now read in the fine print is that they will spend up to a million dollars to fix your problem, which essentially is a good thing. In some cases the costs might revolve around lost wages, criminal prosecutions, lawyers (and you know how expensive they are…I do), etc. But how much might it cost to fix a stolen identity? Maybe five, 10, 15 grand? Maybe 50k? The court cases you see on TV that involve someone shooting and killing someone might cost the defendants a half million dollars. So…a million? It’s marketing.

So don’t base the identity theft protection on the $1 million insurance guarantee. Base it on all the ways in which they seek out your data in the wild and what they’ll do to make sure you are made whole in the event of a breach.

So it’s official: I have no friends left. I really need to start lying more. Sorry, guys.

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.

Florida Retirees Frequent Identity Theft Targets

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A lot of Floridians are retirees who spend their days around the pool or at the beach. The warmer weather attacks both golden agers and unfortunately identity thieves. Criminals know that retirees have money in the bank, retirement accounts and credit cards with high limits.

TechNewsDaily reports, “On a per capita basis, 361 Floridians out of every 100,000 were the victims of identity fraud in 2012, according to the Federal Trade Commission’s latest figures. Georgia ranked second, with 194 reports per 100,000, and California ranked No. 3 at 123 per 100,000—a third the rate of victims in Florida.”

Two types of identity theft often affect retirees: new account fraud and account takeover.

New account fraud refers to financial identity theft in which the victim’s personal identifying information, often a Social Security number and good credit standing, is used to create new accounts, which are then used to obtain products and services. Stolen Social Security numbers are often used to commit new account fraud.

Since the thief typically submits a different mailing address when applying for new accounts, the victim never receives the bills and may remain unaware of their existence until creditors come seeking payment for debts the thief has accumulated in the victim’s name.

Account takeover is discovered when victims notice suspicious charges on a credit card statement, or the credit card company may notice charges that seem unusual in the context of the victim’s established spending habits. Protecting yourself from account takeover is relatively easy. Simply pay attention to your statements every month and refute unauthorized charges immediately. I check my charges online once every two weeks.

Protecting yourself from new account fraud requires more effort than account takeover. You can attempt to protect your own identity by getting yourself a credit freeze or setting up your own fraud alerts. There are pros and cons to each.

One cool company that’s watching your back is iovation. iovation spots cyber criminals by analyzing the device reputation of the computers they use to connect to a website. They investigate for suspicious history and check for characteristics consistent with fraudulent users. And the best part is that iovation can prevent a criminal from using stolen data to open a new account in the first place—saving your nest egg for your golden years.