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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.

Data brokers hacked and used for identity theft

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Did you know you can buy Social Security numbers (SSNs) online? It’s legal to do so in most cases, and pretty much anyone who has an internet connection can make a purchase. Information brokers or data brokers, as they are known, sell this information in the form of background checks. In some instances, the SSN needs to be provided to get the background check; in other instances, the SSN is available as part of an information package. There are plenty of legitimate reasons one would have to procure this information.

Recently, researchers discovered a few of the major data brokers had been breached in a way that allowed criminal hackers to install malware that allowed them through the back door of the data brokers’ servers. As a result, these same hackers set up their own website reselling the hacked data. The customers of the hacked data, it seems, are identity thieves—many of them organized criminals using the data for various scams and to open new lines of credit or take over existing lines of credit.

CNET reports, “The service’s customers have, the report said, ‘spent hundreds of thousands of dollars looking up SSNs, birthdays, driver’s license records, and obtaining unauthorized credit and background reports on more than four million Americans.’”

This goes to show you that some of the largest companies on the planet that spend the most amount of money on security and have the most to lose are hackable…which means you and I are even softer targets, and our identities are at risk everywhere.

You can’t rely on your government or corporations to protect your identity. It is essential you take proactive action and do it yourself. There are two approaches that work best when done together. I do both; you should too:

  1. Get a credit freeze. Search “credit freeze,” then individually visit each credit bureau (Experian, TransUnion and Equifax) and follow their process for a credit freeze.
  2. Invest in identity theft protection. It’s not enough just to get a credit freeze. There are many times when your credit won’t be frozen, and when your data is used to either open new accounts or take over existing accounts—and depending on the identity theft protection service, you will be assisted to mitigate any fraud.

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 Thieves Go After the Deceased

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There are a reported 2.5 million cases of identity theft among the deceased every year. Theft of deceased people’s identity happens partly because of the availability of public records coupled with the time it takes for credit bureaus, the Social Security Administration, financial institutions and others to process a deceased person’s Social Security number (SSN) in their systems and close all current and future lines of credit.

Many states’ vital statistics registries include Social Security numbers in their records and on their certified death certificates. Because these records are public, anyone can obtain a death certificate with a Social Security number. Criminals also seek out a recently deceased person’s information upon learning of his or her death via hospitals, funeral homes and obituaries. In some cases, the thief may have direct access to the person’s information from the inside, and in other cases the scammer contacts a relative posing as any of the above or a government agency.

The three credit bureaus maintain a list of the deceased based on data from the Social Security Administration’s Death Master File Index. Sometimes it takes months for bureaus to update their databases with the Social Security Administration’s Death Master File Index.

Relatives who learn of identity theft are not responsible for any fraud that occurs. However, they may find themselves spending lots of time explaining away the fact that the person is deceased—and death doesn’t always stop collection agencies from trying to get a loved one’s money, either.

Here’s how to avoid that information from falling between the cracks.

  • Report the death yourself by calling the Social Security Administration at 1-800-772-1213.
  • Contact the credit bureaus directly to report a death and request the information to be recorded immediately.
  • Right now, before anyone perishes, get the person a credit freeze. Upon death (as in life), the person’s Social Security number will be useless to the thief.
  • Invest in identity theft protection. This is a layer of security that monitors one’s information, including Social Security number, in the wild. Have it activated for six months to a year after death.
  • The Identity Theft Resource Center suggests, “Immediately notify credit card companies, banks, stockbrokers, loan/lien holders and mortgage companies of the death. The executor or surviving spouse will need to discuss all outstanding debts. If you close the account, ask them to list it as: ‘Closed. Account holder is deceased.’ If there is a surviving spouse or other joint account holder, make sure to notify the company the account needs to be listed in that surviving person’s name alone. They may require a copy of the death certificate to do this, as well as permission from the survivor.”

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.

Why Child Identity Theft is Dangerous

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Identity theft in the form of new account fraud can happen to anyone with a Social Security number, which includes virtually any American with a pulse…as well as some who no longer do. Identity theft can even happen to your newborn baby shortly after a Social Security number has been issued to him or her and this could have long term implications for your child.

Within days of your child’s birth, you typically sign documentation prior to being released from the hospital, and a Social Security number is issued within a few weeks. That number is promptly distributed to many entities: the U.S. Social Security Administration, the hospital, your doctors’ offices, your insurance company, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS)—and anyone who has access to the relevant documents or files can also gain access to a person’s identity.

There is a growing trend among identity thieves to steal the identities of children, especially infants because it is unlikely that your child or you as parent, will be checking their credit report, since they are too young to talk let alone have a credit card. Child identity theft occurs when the identity of someone under the age of 18 is compromised. When this occurs, the child’s Social Security number is used to open up new accounts. The new accounts opened could be anything from credit cards to bank loans to automobile loans.

Your child’s records represent a clean slate for the criminal and it usually takes years before the theft is discovered. Often, the first time victims discover that their identity was stolen is when they engage in their first financial transaction and try to establish credit by, for example, purchasing a cell phone or buying a car.

There have been far too many instances of parents receiving a call from a bill collector informing you that your two-year-old bought a Mercedes and defaulted on a loan. Or perhaps law enforcement may come knocking on your door to inquire about crimes committed by your newborn child. So besides damaged credit, you child could have income tax liability or a criminal record as the result of identity theft.

The best protection against child identity theft is comprehensive device security, like McAfee LiveSafe™ service, along with filing a fraud alert with the credit bureaus every quarter with the hope that you are denied, because a credit report doesn’t exist—means your child’s identity is still safe. As parents we need to be vigilant about protecting our own and our kids’ information.

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.

Top 10 Identity Theft Scams

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There are no shortage of ways identity thieves have to scam you out of your credit, cash and identity. Here are 10 more ways criminals pounce on their victims:

  1. Mailbox raiding. Moments after the postal carrier drops off your mail, a crackhead comes by and steals it.
  2. Dumpster diving. You know that mortgage company that you did business with before it went out of business? Well, the head idiot tossed all your records and his other clients’ personal information into the dumpster.
  3. Trash collecting. While similar to dumpster diving, it is not—because you are in control. Ask yourself this: “If someone stole my trash, would I be upset because my identity could be stolen?” If you say yes, then you should shred all your discarded papers.
  4. Caller ID spoofing. Phone fraud is a big deal. When scammers call you and pretend to be someone else, they may spoof caller ID to make you believe the source is a legitimate entity like the police, government agency, bank or lottery.
  5. Email phishing. Getting an email from your bank to update your account or simply access your statement is dangerous. Just delete it. Access your account via your browser’s favorites or password manager.
  6. Nigerian 419 scam. When General Motumboo Bumbooby emails you because there’s a trunk of money waiting from a dead relative, delete.
  7. ATM skimming. Anytime you use an ATM, your bank card is at risk. Look for external skimming devices and cover up the keypad with your other hand as you type your PIN.
  8. Credit card skimming. Handing your card over to a store clerk or waiter puts your digits at risk. Don’t worry about it, but diligently check your statements, frequently.
  9. Spyware. Remember that stupid weather toolbar you downloaded that wreaked havoc on your PC with all those popups? There’s a good chance spyware was also installed, letting a bad guy watch your every move.

10. Hacking. Because you don’t update your antivirus, your PC is vulnerable to remote-access Trojans that allow a criminal backdoor access to your My Documents folder.

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 Tips to Prevent Identity Theft

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There at least 99 things to know about how to prevent identity theft. Below is a good starting point.

Tips:

  1. Watch your bank accounts online and examine your statements frequently.
  2. Opt out of preapproved credit cards. Go to https://www.optoutprescreen.com/?rf=t to get started.
  3. Check your credit for free at https://www.annualcreditreport.com/cra/index.jsp. You can do this up to three times a year.
  4. Dispute unauthorized credit accounts with the issuing lender.
  5. Don’t leave keys, purses, wallets, mobiles or laptops in your car or unlocked gym locker. Keep your stuff with you, or at least lock it up and hide it.
  6. Keep purses and wallets close. When you aren’t looking, thieves will steal a credit card from your open purse and you might not know it for days.
  7. Watch your credit card statements as closely as your bank statements, especially after you use your card.
  8. Watch clerks at checkout to make sure they aren’t double-swiping your credit card and skimming your information off the magnetic strip.
  9. Beware of ATM skimmers. Poke around the card slot and make sure there isn’t an extra façade that can be pulled off.

10. Check fraud happens when criminals get hold of your check routing and account numbers at the bottom of the check. Again, watch your bank statements.

11. Put your mail in a blue post office-issued mailbox or at the post office—not in your own mailbox with the flag up.

12. Never wire money to strangers online. If you are buying something off classifieds or receive an email or phone call from someone, even a family member in distress, it is probably a scam.

13. Lock down your PC with antivirus, antispyware, antiphishing and a firewall.

14. Update your digital devices’ operating systems critical security patches.

15. Invest in identity theft protection. You can and should do all of the above, but you still can be victimized because some big company gets hacked.

 

Your Government Can’t Protect You From Identity Theft

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I’ve always marveled at the law enforcement motto, “To Serve and Protect.” While honorable, it’s essentially a slogan that presents our government representatives’ best intentions because in reality they can’t proactively 100 percent protect us the way we believe or expect them to do so. “Where’s a cop when you need one?” people say.

But it’s really not law enforcement’s job to protect everyone, everywhere, all day. We’d need a cop in every driveway all day long to really protect us. And even our government at its highest levels can’t effectively do the job in fully protecting us.

The ParamusPost does a fine job summing it up by pointing out, “The US federal government is taking steps to help consumers protect their identities. In 2006, the President’s Task Force on Identity Theft was created. This organization is tasked with the job of improving law enforcement abilities, improving consumer education, and setting governmental safeguards to protect against identity theft. Additionally, the Fair Credit Reporting Act provides consumers with access to information contained on credit reports, which were once off-limits to the average consumer. This law also puts requirements in place for accuracy in reporting, such as the ability for a consumer to report inaccuracies and potential identity theft to the credit bureaus. While this is a good start, it is ultimately up to the consumer to take actions to prevent the loss of personal identity.”

Yes, ultimately this is your problem.

Here’s what I suggest:

  1. Shred. If it’s got your name, account numbers or address, don’t throw it away—destroy it.
  2. Lock your mailbox. Buy a locking mailbox so your mail is safe from theft.
  3. Antivirus. Protect your PC with all the software necessary to prevent spyware.
  4. Identity theft protection. Invest in services that will monitor your identity and restore it in the event it’s stolen.

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

Caller ID Spoofing Effective in Identity Theft

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Caller ID spoofing is when a telephone’s caller ID displays a number that does not belong to the person calling. The telephone network is tricked into displaying this spoofed number as a result of flaws in caller ID technology. Caller ID spoofing can look like the call is coming from any phone number. People inherently trust caller ID simply because they are unaware that caller ID spoofing exists.

WKYC in Ohio reports, “Police want residents to be aware that scammers are using caller ID spoofing in an attempt to trick them into thinking they are talking to a police officer.” Recently an elderly resident contacted police to report a possible scam. According to the report, “She said she was contacted by someone claiming to be an FBI agent who wanted personal information in order to award a $600,000 sweepstakes. He told her she could call her local police department to confirm it was not a scam. As an officer was speaking with the resident, she received another call that came up on caller ID with the name and phone number of a North Canton police detective.”

Pretty scary and very effective. Most people, including me, rely on caller ID for most or all calls. When the name or number of a familiar person appears, I’m likely to say “Hello John” and expect John’s voice. But by trusting this technology, we open ourselves up to scams like the one above.

To avoid this scam, simply recognize it exists, and be on guard in situations where you don’t recognize the voice or the caller is offering a reward, winnings or anything that seems out of place, too good to be true or in some way shape or form surprises you.

Hang up the phone on scammers—especially when they keep calling back. Eventually they will stop when they realize you’re not an idiot. Identity theft protection can’t protect you here, but being savvy will.

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

Will Obamacare Lead to Identity Theft?

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The fear mongers and Obamacare haters make a scary point and want you to know that as soon as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act goes live, your identity will be at risk and, more than likely, stolen. Forbes reports in regard to what’s called the Obamacare-mandated “data hub” in which personal records are exchanged among seven different agencies—the Internal Revenue Service, the Social Security Administration, the Department of Homeland Security, the Veterans Health Administration, the Department of Defense, the Office of Personnel Management and the Peace Corps.”

Obamacare is required to protect our data under the National Institute of Standards and Technology guidelines. However, naysayers believe the administration will open the system without proper security certification because Obama will offer a waiver.

It is scary enough that seven different agencies will have the data on file—and scarier still that the possibility of a waiver being granted is very possible due to the enormity of the project.

Right now, pre-Obamacare, your personal identifying information is being shared or stored amongst dozens or potentially hundreds of organizations that you have interacted with since birth. So what’s the big deal with another seven? Unfortunately, it’s another touch-point where your information can be viewed, hacked and stolen.

My suggestion: Don’t worry about it. Seriously, don’t worry about it. However, you must DO something about it and I have two suggestions:

  1. Get a credit freeze. Search “credit freeze” and the name of all three credit bureaus separately. Freeze your credit. But that’s not enough.
  2. Get identity theft protection. I have a credit freeze and identity theft protection. With these multiple layers of protection, my data is next to useless to a thief.

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