Last year, identity theft was ranked as the number-one consumer complaint category with 1.3 million people falling victim to the crime, which accounts for 21% of total complaints, according to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). The figures released last week still placed Michigan in the Top 20 states with a ranking of 18 (one spot higher than its 19th ranking in 2008). Tami Nealy is the Director of Public Affairs for Lifelock, a service dedicated to helping prevent the crime of identity theft, as well as an organization focused on educating consumers regarding proactive ways to protect their personal information. A graduate of Grand Valley State University, Tami, a Certified Identity Theft Risk Management Specialist, has been with LifeLock, for almost three years.
When it comes to online identity theft, Amazon.com and PayPal are examples of the websites that are considered safer for sharing your name, address, email and checking card account details for the purpose of making deposits or purchases. However, Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter are another story. Speaking of Twitter, be careful with your passwords and your information, because cyber-criminals are selling hacked Twitter accounts and passwords online for up to $1,000. The cyber-criminals then use those accounts as stepping stones to infect others' computers with data-stealing malware. Through technology such as this, there is the potential for cyber-criminals to hack in to your personal data and obtain bank account information that could result in leaving you with an overdraft.
"I think the time we live in gives identity thieves more opportunity. People are using online forums daily that are not secure, thus giving identity thieves more and more opportunities" Nealy said. "Identity thieves act as imposters and create file-sharing programs. You think you are getting an email from someone you know, but by accepting the share program, you are giving thieves access to your data, your personal information. Anytime you provide your personal information, make sure the website is a secure site."
According to Nealy, credit card debt and credit card identity theft comprises the majority of identity theft.
"You can become a victim via the Internet when providing credit card information if you aren’t using a secure site, or even when completing credit card applications via regular mail" she goes on.
Last holiday, Denise Richardson was a victim of identity theft and inaccurate credit reporting. She received two credit card bills due to someone using her card to pay for cable as well as opening a premium account using her personal information and social security number. She wasn't the first nor the last most likely, for the identity of the culprit or culprits remains unknown. Denise spent many hours talking with her bank to prove her identity was stolen and clarify the charges were not hers, but for the most part the damage was already done.
"Once your social security number is out", the Florida native said, "you can't replace it. The police don't have the resources to chase down these criminals. With identity theft, you have to protect yourself. The creditors are protecting the thieves. There are not enough laws in place and the victim has to do the legwork. With identity theft, there's a false sense of security."
In 2000, a 19-year-old golf shop employee took the credit card of Wayne Ivey and racked up $25,000 in fraud. Wayne was fortunate he discovered the card was missing quickly, so was able to notify his bank but in many identity theft cases, the victims are unaware until thousands of dollars have been charged.
"Identity theft is a money-making and hi-tech business, thus it is very hard to stop" Denise said. "Services like LifeLock have a pro-active approach to alert you to activity with your personal information. I want to know before it happens. LifeLock detects that kind of information; they're there 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. People must take precautions such as balancing bank statements monthly; have virus protection on computers; use strong passwords that can't be broken; have separate debit cards; have a plan of action… and be prepared to know what to do if your identity is compromised. The good thing about LifeLock is they will help you restore everything if you do become a victim."
A consumer advocate for 15 years, Denise is also the author of the book Give Me Back My Credit, and according to Denise, there are over 10,000 underground chat rooms where identity thieves sell the information. Despite the vigilance and monitoring of law enforcement, identity theft isn't like any other high-profile crime.
"No matter what", Wayne said, "you're still the victim. Identity theft is the fastest-growing crime in the country and very few identity thieves go to jail."
A veteran Florida police officer for 27 years, Wayne is the founder and leader of a statewide task force that has handled in excess of 45 million dollars in fraud cases in two years. He has testified before the Florida Legislature and the U.S. Congress, and is also the keynote speaker of the FBI-LEEDA Summit series on identity theft since last year.
"What we're trying to do is get the focus on identity theft" he continues. "It attacks your good name. Instead of one victim, we have 130 million victims. We're going across the country and instructing law enforcement officials on how to investigate these crimes. From a law enforcement perspective, we are maintaining an aggressive campaign. We take a proactive and reactive approach and try to recognize new types of identity theft tactics so law enforcement have fresh education."
To protect themselves, everyone is urged to buy a shredder to appropriately destroy documents containing personal information. Consumers can also stay on top of their own credit report every 12 months by checking their credit at annualcreditreport.com.
Lifelock offers proactive identity theft protection, which for a small monthly or annual fee provides early warning whenever your personal information (name, address, social security number, etc) is being used to apply for many forms of credit and services. The LifeLock service offers a $1 Million Total Service Guarantee, where if you become a victim of identity theft due to a failure in LifeLock’s service, they will help you fix the problem at LifeLock’s expense up to $1,000,000 .
Using the promo code ‘EXAMINER', you, as loyal readers, can get a 30-day free trial of the service and 20% of ongoing services which will result in a fee of only $8/month or $88/annually, and you can cancel without penalty at anytime.
To sign up, go to www.lifelock.com.
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