ID Products in the Marketplace

Since identity theft is the fastest growing crime in the world, it is no wonder that several companies are also trying to cash-in. The public is being bombarded with products or services, yet no information is available educating consumers on the different types in the marketplace. So here is the low-down...

1. Credit Monitoring
History Lesson - banks and credit card companies originally created monitoring services to help their customers with their credit score. Because of the rise in identity theft, these companies have since re-packaged the same services. Remember this is only for Financial Identity Theft. This type of service will not help you if your Medical or Drivers License identity is stolen.

2. Reimbursement Policies
This type of policy gives consumers a false sense of security. It will still be up to the victim to correct the problem and submit receipts to the company. This does not reduce the time or hassle it takes to rebuild their identity.

3. Resolution Services
This type of service usually provides a 1-800 number that you may call when you have questions. This type of service is designed to help guide you through the steps to resolve the problem. This may reduce some of the time and depending on the service, maybe some of the costs associated with rebuilding your identity.

4. Restoration Plan
Companies offering restoration have professionals handle all aspects of restoring a victim's identity from financial and non-financial theft. Plans which also offer access to legal council have the ultimate program. Need I remind readers that identity theft is a legal issue.

To sum up, you cannot protect yourself from identity theft. However, there are steps you can take to help, just like firewalls or anti-virus programs for computers which do not completely prevent from hackers. On that note, I would avoid any companies that make claims that they can guarantee against identity theft. It is inevitable that everyone will have their personal information compromised in their lifetime.
I would also recommend looking at how long the identity theft company that you choose has been in business marketing their product or service... 5 years or 35 years?

Social Networking Safety Tips

I was a participant in a Social Media workshop this past week. It is amazing to stop and realize that the internet is the world's largest information exchange. And although it has many positive aspects from a business expanding its customer base, to individuals communicating instantly to friends and family, there are a number of issues that should be carefully thought out. Especially when considering the safety of children on these sites.

Facebook, Twitter, MySpace... there are numerous sites to choose from. Everyone needs to think about what is being posted. For example:

• Avoid posting your birthday or your home address in your profile.
• Don't use names or birthdays as passwords. Instead, choose a combination of upper and lower case letters, numbers and symbols. Have different passwords for every site.
  
• Do not assist stalkers by telling them where you work, go to school or hang out.
• Do not announce to thieves that your house is not occupied because you are on vacation.
• Do not post photos that would be incriminating.
• Be respectful, ask permission before posting anything about someone other than yourself.

This is the information age. Nothing is sacred anymore. Anyone can find out who you are by doing a search. This includes the police; colleges you are applying for; jobs you are apply for; and of course identity thieves.
There is physical you, and then there is Digital You. It is extremely difficult to prove if information found on the internet about you is fact or fiction. This could be detrimental to the real you.

There is an awesome Federal Government site which I highly recommend visiting:
www.OnGuardOnLine.gov
This site provides tips to help guard against Internet fraud. Topics range from on-line shopping to Social Networking and your on-line health. There are videos and interactive games to test your cyber smarts. Parents should go through this site with their children, and employers should encourage their employees to improve their knowledge regarding fraudulent, deceptive and unfair business practices in the marketplace.

Final note - July 28, 2008, Facebook accidentally publicly revealed personal information about its members, which could be useful to identity thieves. The full dates of birth of many of Facebook's 80 million active users were visible to others, even if the individual member had requested that the information remained confidential.
I'm not personally concerned about this because I had entered a false birthday in my profile!

Back to School...

• How many new high school graduates submitted applications to several different colleges and universities all across North America?
• How many applied for Student Loans?
• How many of those college and university students are applying for their first credit card; their own car insurance; or signing rental agreements for housing?

Everyday personal information is handed over without ever considering the possibility of where it ends up. What happens to all the applications that get denied? Where do they get filed? Why don't we have a family attorney review rental agreements before signing them?

When reviewing the number of data breaches that occur each year, Colleges and Universities claim a very large portion. What happens with that information? After all, they are mostly poor students! They do not have much in financial assets. So that leads to other arenas of identity theft: criminal, medical, drivers license, SSN or SIN.
Hopefully it was an amateur thief, who tries to use the collected information right away, and gets caught. Unfortunately, it is usually the professional thieves that like to hit on colleges and universities. They do not immediately use the information they collect. In fact, they tuck it away into a vault and let it age and mull like fine wine. They are patient for the bigger prize.
Once the students have graduated with their MBA, and have a six-figure income, the professional thief will pull the now valuable information out and begin using it. Anything the thief doesn't have, is easily attainable on the Internet for free, or for a nominal fee.

So I ponder... when there is a breach, many times the victims are offered a one year program of a credit monitoring service. Credit monitoring is not going to do much good if the stolen information is used for the other types of identity theft. And it certainly won't do any good when it gets used 10 years after it has been stolen!

STUDENTS BEWARE

'THINK' EVERY TIME YOU HAND OUT YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION

Red Flags Rule Deadline for Businesses Extended...

To assist small businesses and other entities, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has extended its enforcement of the Red Flags Rule for the third time. The compliance deadline for covered entities under the FTC's jurisdiction is now set for November 1st, 2009. The FTC is trying to improve their efforts to educate small business owners by providing clarification on what businesses need to comply. More time is needed for businesses to develop and implement written Identity Theft Prevention Programs.

I have read the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACTA). If you have any troubles with going to sleep, reading legislation will help! It is not very exciting or entertaining.
On the surface, it would seem this legislation is geared only towards financial institutions and creditors, such as Banks, Lenders, Auto Dealers, and Realtors for example. However, many businesses conduct credit checks or use, gather or obtain consumer information. Businesses store sensitive data on their employees, customers and vendors.

Take heed Business Owners... more than 50% of data breaches are internal, although not always intentional. The FTC will undoubtedly act against businesses that fail to adequately protect the information in their care. They, (the FTC), are taking this problem very seriously. The fines associated could potentially close the doors of a business, especially when combined with the civil lawsuits from the victims involved.

So Who Are THEY Anyway? The following agencies jointly issued the final rules and guidelines for implementing section 114 and 315 of the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003:
- OCC... Office of the Comptroller of the Currency
- Board... Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System
- FDIC... Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
- OTS... Office of Thrift Supervision
- NCUA... National Credit Union Administration
- FTC... Federal Trade Commission

Want to know how to add layers of protection regarding personal information that you are collecting? The Federal Trade Commission has "A Guide for Businesses". Go to
www.ftc.gov/infosecurity
I recommend going through the interactive tutorial.

Also, for help with the Red Flags Rule, go to www.ftc.gov/redflagsrule

This site includes an online compliance template that enables companies to design their own Identity Theft Prevention Program through an easy-to-do-form. There are articles directed to specific businesses and industries, guidance manuals and FAQ to help companies navigate through the Rule.

There are over 300 million people in America, however...

Total number of records containing sensitive personal information involved in security breaches in the U.S. since January 2005...
263 million, 214 thousand, 998!
Want the details of the above number? check for yourself: www.privacyrights.org
Chronology of Data Breaches. This number increases weekly!! Once on the site, scroll down to the bottom of the page to view the most recent breaches.

Our information is in thousands of data bases, and we have no control over them. The number represented above, more than likely includes individuals who have been breached several times, which therefore increases the number. Also, the number above is reported cases... how many go unreported?

Identity theft is not something we can avoid. It is the fastest growing white-collar crime in the world. The most that can be done is create layers of protection, similar to what we do for our computers. Firewalls and anti-virus programs do not guarantee protection, however general consensus agree that they are considered valuable layers of protection.