identity theft crisis

[JBinKC]

What are the precautions you are taking regarding this subject and how far have you gone to secure your identity. I thought I was thorough but now I have second thoughts about it.

I use a crosscut shredder for almost any bill, statement or anything that contains my SSN, have an unpublished number but what really scares me is the lax secuirity banks credit card providers are displaying lately with all of the numbers being hacked into - makes me wonder if the benefits of using credit out weighs the potential risks.

[PrincessPerky]

Re: identity theft crisis

I got alot of the stuff for offeres of credit to stop comming, I read that one of the ways they steal your ID is to apply for a card that the company offered you, only with a different address, so you never see the bill.

[jmjj215]

Re: identity theft crisis

Does identity theft - or more specifically - credit card fraud, have heavier implications than just the fact that someone ruins your credit? I mean, the whole "Net" plot (w/ Sandra Bullock a while back) doesn't seem to really be an issue. It's more that someone will get a CC in your name and charge it up, and you're then on the hook (though you're really not, it's a huge pain anyway). What are the other side effects of having that happen to you besides a damaged/ruined credit score?

[jhd815]

Re: identity theft crisis

I actually wrote an ebook titled "IDENTITY THEFT - How To Avoid Becoming the Next Victim!". It's now in it's second edition and available for free to anyone who wants it.

Since we're not supposed to blatantly "advertise" here on this forum, and I don't want to break those rules, you can email me at jimdim815@aol.com for details.

[JBinKC]

Re: identity theft crisis

What good is all the safeguards you can control when the credit card companies themselves fail to perform the fiduciary duty of protecting your identity what can you do about that?

[jhd815]

Re: identity theft crisis

Unfortunately nothing will happen (or very little) as long as the credit card companies (i.e. banks) have high paid lobbyists courting our legislative leaders so that they can get laws passed that benefit the banks more so than the consumer (the new personal bankruptcy law comes to mind).

Some states have now enacted laws that require credit card companies to alert their customers whenever a breach in security has occured that may affect their account holders. Hard to believe that they weren't or aren't required to do this to begin with.

You may also notice that a majority of the announcements regarding the lack of security of consumer data are released on late Friday afternoons.

Also, even if you stopped using your credit cards you would still have a credit report or profile that someone could acces with just a few key pieces of personal information.

Now that the majority of US consumers have free access to their credit reports annually, you can monitor your credit reports more closely. I check my credit reports quarterly (through a paid service which I'll be getting rid of now) but also use the www.annualcreditreport.com site to check my credit reports every 4 months (I check one major CRA report every 4 months to keep a closer eye on my credit reports).

Some consumers are even going the route of "freezing" their credit reports so that no one has access to them without prior permission from the account holder.

[MoneyTips4U]

The best prevention I can think of is to go for eStatements, ensure your online banking account passwords are strong! Like f$6gS3kdsW. Now who would guess that password? Use cash as often as possible and limit your credit and debit cards.

-MoneyTips4U

[GrimJack]

Does identity theft - or more specifically - credit card fraud, have heavier implications than just the fact that someone ruins your credit? I mean, the whole "Net" plot (w/ Sandra Bullock a while back) doesn't seem to really be an issue. It's more that someone will get a CC in your name and charge it up, and you're then on the hook (though you're really not, it's a huge pain anyway). What are the other side effects of having that happen to you besides a damaged/ruined credit score?

I work for the Dept. of Treasury on the ID theft hotline - there are almost a million cases of ID theft that involves filing fraudulent tax returns. The victims only find out when they try to file their taxes electronically and are rejected as having already having filed. The security leaks are everywhere; databases are hacked, some worker downloads customer databases, an unencrypted computer is lost or stolen - someone somewhere compiles a list of SS#s to sell. Steps are slowly being taken to change the way data is stored; complete SS#s are no longer mailed out (ie - if a SS# is referenced it only the last 4 digits). But as long as companies can say "oops, my bad" when they lose 10 million names and SS#s and make no changes, the problems will continue. As long as people would rather have convenience than security, problems will continue.

There are no easy solutions but there are solutions.

[MonkeyMama]

In addition to what Grimjack said, mail theft is also a HUGE source of identity theft. In fact, is the only kind I have ever really seen or been victim of. (Mail theft seems to be a big problem in my city - have had several mail theft rings affect me, my office, clients. Most recently the locked boxes in our neighborhood were continually vandalized - lots of personal information compromised).

I share this because when I suffered a major identity theft several years back, the first thing people would tell me is "That is why I don't bank online" or "buy things online." As if buying things or banking online has *anything* to do with how someone could get my birth date, maiden name, social security number, residence and phone #. On the flip side, I Wasn't concerned about all the personal residence mail theft because we don't transact much business through mail (due to prior experiences).

From my ID theft experience I learned to be careful with my birth date. I treat is about as carefully as my social security #. (Usually use a fake date unless there is a legitimate reason to have my actual birth date - I would never make my birth day public on Facebook - stuff like that). I also am more assertive about not giving SS# when it is not necessary. Unfortunately, it is necessary for employment, bank accounts, investments, retirement accounts, etc., etc.

Credit cards get compromised more and more over the years, but the thing is that this is simple to clear up, especially if you notice and report right away. I would rather deal with this than have my cash accounts compromised. So, to me, is more of a reason to use credit cards. I don't think I ever had a credit card hacked until a few years ago and now it seems to be an annual occurence. 99% of the time the credit card company notices ASAP and deny the charges anyway - their algorithms that definitely have improved over the years. So it's usually them notifying us of fraud, we sign a few forms, and life moves on rather uninterrupted.

[sandrark]

I've stopped giving doctor's offices my SSN - they have a copy of my medical ID card, with my subscriber number in the file, they don't need the SSN. Most offices do not catch that I leave that field blank.

I also plan to freeze our credit files this year, since we just refi'd into a great mortgage, and we're unlikely to need any new accounts for cars, cards, or other purchases this year.

[PatientSaver]

Your date of birth and SS number are the 2 most important pieces of self-identifying information that you should safeguard. I uses fake DOBs whenever possible, even if it's by just a day or two (or a year or two). I also try to avoid providing DOB/SS to doctors' offices, but they often insist, or when you're calling the office for some reason, they always want to ID you that way, by your SS #. The medical establishment is the last to catch up with modern times, IMO. I mean, most doctors' offices still haven't made patient records electronic.

I don't put mail in my mailbox, especially with the red flag up, which alerts would-be ID thieves as well as the mailman.I also worry about credit card issuers or other places where I pay online being hacked, but unfortunately, there's not much i can do about it.

[GrimJack]

Even though I have been working ID theft for a year now, I am still a little naive. Example, I went out to check my mail but someone had driven up to the mail box (all the mailboxes on my street are on the curb and driver's side as you drive north); I assumed it was one of the other 3 houses that have a box on the same post with mine so I waited but it was taking too long so I went up to the boxes, leaned over the hood of the car and got my mail. As soon as I moved out of the way, the car zoomed off. Still not catching on, I started back to my place and then realized what may have been going on so I went to the other houses and warned them that someone may have been rifling their mailboxes. They were possibly taking their time to put some of the 'worthless' mail back in the boxes; since this was in the week before Christmas week, I really should have been more suspicious sooner. Now I take a camera (or my phone) when I get the mail.

[MonkeyMama]

Since this has been dredged up again, I wanted to add that ID thieves are very heavily attacking IRS these days. The pressure on IRS is "fast refunds" so they blindly issue refunds. Issue refunds now - ask questions later. It's a horrible horrible waste of taxpayer dollars. But they make themselves a very easy target.

When you file your return, after an ID theft, it will be rejected as "already filed." It is rather simple to clear up and prove you are you, since the ID theft would not match any of yoru tax forms/W-2s/1099s. But on the flip side, IRS is not really equipped to deal with this - could mean HOURS on the phone cleaning up. But anyway, the easiest way to avoid this is to file your tax returns on the early side. I try to file around January 31 anyway, but feel extra motivation these says. If a thieve files after I do, in my name, then it doesn't affect me, and their refund request will be denied.

@Grimjack - good idea to be more aware re:mail. We have locked boxes and has never been an issue (though I probably mentioned above my experiences with post office and mail theft at the post office level). But anyway, right before Christmas we had a huge string of thieves attacking locked mail boxes. In 13 years of locked boxes, had never been an issue. We do not conduct much business by mail in this day and age, BUT my credit card issuers are always sending me those "checks" to write against my credit card, so made me anxious. I asked more local relatives not to send checks in the mail - can wait until we see them. Our boxes were not affected, but heard many horror stories of hacked bank accounts. They do it because the bounty is fruitful - especially before Christmas. The word does not seem to have gotten out that *most* identitiy thefty stems from snail mail.