Law Enforcement Cuts Mean Identity Theft Will Continue to Rise
Identity theft prevention has become more important than ever before. All over the country, budget cuts have forced many law enforcement agencies to lay-off a large number of employees. The Oakland Police Station cut 80 officers from their force of 687 last month alone. Such severe cuts leave the department ill-equipped to respond to calls involving burglary, vandalism and especially identity theft.
Non-violent crimes have sunk to the bottom of police stations agenda. With no funds to investigate these crimes and catch the criminals, identity theft rates will continue to rise. Criminals will see this as an opportunity to prey on victims and steal identity for financial gain without any consequences.
This leaves many victims frustrated and feeling helpless. There are other places to turn and many resources to utilize if you do become a victim of identity theft. The Identity Theft Resource Center is a great place to start. You can call the victims assistance line toll-free at 1 (888) 400-5530. There is also an Identity Theft Prevention and Recovery Workbook available that can walk you through the steps you need to take to prevent and recover from identity theft.
In most cases, law enforcement agencies are not saying NO to stopping or solving identity theft or non violent crimes, just putting them on the back burner. I still highly recommend that youvisit your local police station and file a report if you have been the victim of Identity Theft.
Jury Duty Scam
A new type of scam has surfaced that uses bullying tactics to get you to reveal identity information over the phone. Here is how it works:
The scammer calls claiming to work for the local court and states that you’ve failed to report for jury duty. They inform you that a warrant has been issued for your arrest. The victim will often rightly claim they never received the jury duty notification. The scammer then asks the victim for confidential information for “verification” purposes. Specifically, they ask for the victim’s Social Security number, birth date, and sometimes even for credit card numbers and other private information — exactly what the thief needs to commit identity theft!
So far, this jury duty scam has been reported in Michigan, Ohio, Texas, Arizona, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Minnesota, Oregon, Washington state and right here in Colorado. It’s easy to see why this works and any scams that rely on the victim feeling distress. The victim is clearly caught off guard, and is understandably upset at the prospect of a warrant being issued for his or her arrest. So, the victim is much less likely to be vigilant about protecting their confidential information.
You must remember that court workers, banks, government officials, etc will never call you to ask for social security numbers and other private information. In fact, most courts only use snail mail and rarely, if ever, call prospective jurors.
Identity Theft’s Latest Victim? Your Business.
Latest Identity Theft Trend is Stealing Your Business’s Identity to Falsify Accounts
In the past two weeks, I have been contacted separately by two local business owners to share how their business identity has been stolen and used to set up accounts with various companies on which thousands of dollars are charged and they (the actual owners) are left to pay the bills. There are no identity theft statistics on this type of crime, but I am certain that it is just coming onto the trend radar. In further proof that this is becoming a major problem for corporations, the Denver Post ran an article this morning titled “Corporate ID Thieves Mining the Store“.
Here’s how this incredibly easy form of business identity theft works:
- A thief scours the internet for your company information (Facebook is usually a good place to start, as is your local Secretary of State’s website). They are particularly interested in bids for government contracts, as they often contain a sample of your letterhead as well as your pertinent business information. If they can obtain the Federal ID# of your businesses, they have even more ammo to defraud you.
53 Charged in New Jersey Identity Theft Crime Ring
According to as September 16th news release, the U.S. Department of Justice charged 53 individuals in connection with a widespread identity theft and fraud ring in New Jersey.
“The sheer scope of the fraud – and the organization that allegedly committed it – is remarkable,” U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman, was quoted in a news release. “This type of crime puts all of us at risk, not just because of the cost to our financial institutions, but also because of the threat posed by fake identification documents.”
The release goes on to describe the crime ring.
Sang-Hyun Park, a resident of Palisades Park, N.J., was the leader of a criminal organization headquartered in Bergen County, N.J. Park and his co-conspirators (the “Park Criminal Enterprise”) obtained, brokered, and sold identity documents to customers that were used to commit credit card fraud, bank fraud, tax fraud, and other crimes. The 43 defendants charged in connection with the enterprise played various roles as Park’s staff, identity brokers, credit build-up team, and collusive merchants, as well as customers seeking fraudulent services. Members of the Park Criminal Enterprise obtained social security cards, most beginning with the prefix “586,” from various brokers.
Take the necessary steps to defend your identity:
Trust and Betrayal Online and Offline
By Guest Blogger, Mike Spinney, Senior Privacy Analyst, Ponemon Institute
When site reliability engineer David Barksdale was fired from his job at Google for allegedly using his position to cyberstalk teens with Google Talk accounts, it sent a shiver across the Internet. The idea that a creepy geek working for one of the world’s biggest technology companies could use his combination of technical acumen and privileged access to spy on young citizens seemed to raise the worst kind of privacy fears. More than learning information carelessly or ignorantly posted online, Barksdale’s supposed deeds evoked darker images, the sort from which Chris Hansen has made a comfortable living capturing on video. As part of his job, Barksdale had the keys to the digital kingdom and could pry into the profiles and accounts of individuals who trusted Google and used the company’s services to communicate with others in what they believed to be security and confidentiality.
Anyone following the story had a right to be outraged. The teens Barksdale may have spied on could have been my kid, or yours. And the incident raised broader questions about the nature of information security in the digital age. How much privacy do we have? Who really has access to the information we share with our trusted vendors? What are the risks of taking advantage of the many tools available to anyone on the Internet?
Sileo’s Fox & Friends Appearance
For media inquiries, please contact Liz on 800.258.8076.
Sileo Discusses Facebook Privacy on Fox & Friends Tomorrow
Don’t Miss John on Fox & Friends Tomorrow Morning!
September 15th, 2010 7:15 a.m. ET, 4:15 a.m. PT
Join Fox and Friends hosts Gretchen Carlson, Steve Doocy and Brian Kilmeade as they interview John Sileo about Facebook Privacy, Identity Theft and John’s latest book Privacy Means Profit on Fox’s morning show.
College-Bound Students are Vulnerable as Identity Theft Targets
Students heading to college and young adults living away from their parents’ home for the first time are particularly vulnerable to Identity Theft. In a 2010 survey, Javelin Strategy and Research found that young adults, aged 18-24, take the longest to detect identity theft – 132 days on average – when compared to other age groups.
College-bound students should take the following steps to fight identity theft:
1. School mailboxes can be easily tampered with and are not always safe. Instead of having sensitive (bank, legal, personal) documents sent to your apartment or dorm room, have them sent to a permanent address (your parents’ home or the post office) or sent requiring your signature.
2. Invest in a fire-proof lock box to store all your important documents. This can be vital when you are sharing a living space and can’t control everyone that comes and goes. You should lock up your Social Security card, passport and bank and credit card statements. Shred any important financial documents that come in the mail and never leave any sensitive mail lying out.
3. Never answer a friend-in-distress message on email or Facebook. Most likely if a friend is desperate for money, they’ll call you directly rather than contact you online – 99% of the time these are Nigerian scams. Also, never click on an unidentified link that a friend has posted. Check to be sure what you are clicking on is not a virus. Learn more on Facebook and Online Safety.
Identity Theft Speaker Endorsed by Fort Bragg
I had the privilege of speaking at Fort Bragg this summer! Here is what they had to say:
I saw John Sileo’s presentation at a conference recently and I was thoroughly impressed. He really interacted so well with the audience that I actually wanted to bring him to Ft Bragg to help us celebrate our Consumer Awareness Month. It took several months of coordination, but we finally all got it together and John came down and did an excellent presentation to help us out with teaching our community all about identity theft. His presentation was interactive, dynamic, the audience was really pleased and after the presentation they held him there for an hour asking great questions! We were thoroughly pleased with John and we really enjoyed his presentation.
John Sileo is an identity theft and information security expert that speaks professionally to organizations that want to protect their profits against identity theft, social media exposure and corporate espionage. His recent clients include the Department of Defense, FDIC, FTC and Pfizer. Pcik up a copy of John’s latest book Privacy Means Profit - Prevent Identity Theft and Secure You and Your Bottom Line.
Sileo In the Media
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