A consumer survey conducted by the Federal Trade Commission reveals, in a new report, that many identity theft victims do not understand their rights. Following is a summary of what you should know if you become the unfortunate victim of identity theft.

• Fraud Alert. Placing a fraud alert on your credit file with the three credit bureaus (CRA’s) is the first step and may prevent identity theft if done timely. It’s important to file with each of the bureaus, TransUnion, Experian and Equifax. Although each of the bureaus claims it will notify the other two, it may take weeks or longer and you have no time to lose.Once a fraud alert is placed on your account, you should be contacted by phone by any lenders to confirm that you truly do want to open a new account. Any consumer who has a good faith suspicion that they have been, or are about to become, a victim of identity theft may place a fraud alert on their credit files. Such alerts notify potential creditors that consumers may have been a victim of fraud and that special care should be taken to verify the consumers’ identity before extending new or additional credit. It’s important to follow up after your request and verify with each CRA that it has, in fact, placed a fraud alert on your file. See the final bullet point about freezing your credit for additional protection.
• Free Credit Report. When a consumer places a fraud alert, she has a right to request a free credit report from each of the CRA’s. These credit reports are separate from, and in addition to, the annual free credit report that all consumers are entitled to receive from the three nationwide CRA’s via annualcreditreport.com. According to the FTC survey, only half of consumers know they are entitled to this additional, free report. Again, follow up with the CRA’s if the credit reports do not arrive timely.
• Disputing the Accuracy of Information on Credit Reports. Consumers have the right to dispute the accuracy of information on their credit report either with the creditor that provided the information to the CRAs or with the CRAs themselves. The creditor or CRA is then required to perform a reasonable investigation to determine whether the contested information is accurate. If the information is inaccurate, the report must be corrected.As Martha White reported in Time Moneyland, credit bureaus don’t always make it easy to dispute incorrect information. While almost three-quarters of respondents were able to get disputes resolved in either one or two contacts, 24% had to contact the bureau three to five times and another 4% had to initiate six or more contacts to get their dispute resolved.
• Blocking the Release of Fraudulent Information in Credit Reports
  Generally, if a consumer identifies information on his or her credit report as being the result of identity theft and provides a copy of the police report to the CRAs, the FTC requires the CRA to block the reporting of that information.
• Credit Freeze. A fraud alert is different than a credit freeze, which completely freezes your credit to all activity for a period of time.  To learn more about freezing your credit and how to reach the three credit bureaus, go to  http://www.sileo.com/2/.

FTC data shows that, for more than a decade, the top category of complaints it handles is identity theft. It’s essential that you know your rights and, without fail, follow up and, perhaps most importantly, be persistent.

John Sileo is an award-winning author and international speaker on the dark art of deception (identity theft, data privacy, social media manipulation) and its polar opposite, the powerful use of trust, to achieve success. He is CEO of The Sileo Group, which advises teams on how to multiply performance by building a culture of deep trust. His clients include the Department of Defense, Pfizer, the FDIC, and Homeland Security. Sample his Keynote Presentation (he shares how he lost $300,000, 2 years and his business to data breach) or watch him on Anderson Cooper, 60 Minutes or Fox Business. 1.800.258.8076.

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1. Discover and Recover Quickly from Identity Theft in 2010
2. Today Show Uncovers Baby Identity Theft
3. IRS Overwhelmed by Tax Related Identity Theft

To go directly to placing a security freeze on your 3 bureau accounts, page down to the bottom section.

Every time you establish new credit (e.g., open up a new credit card, store account or bank account, finance a car or home loan, etc.), an entry is created in your credit file which is maintained by companies like Experian, Equifax and TransUnion (listed below). The trouble is, with your name, address and social security number, an identity thief can pretend to be you and can establish credit (i.e., spend your net worth) in your name.

A credit freeze is simply an agreement you make with the three main credit reporting bureaus (Experian, Equifax and TransUnion – listed below) that they won’t allow new accounts (credit card, banking, brokerage, loans, rental agreements, etc.) to be attached to your name/social security number unless you contact the credit bureau, give them a password and allow them to unfreeze or thaw your account for a short period of time. Yes, freezing your credit takes a bit of time (maybe an hour of work), can be a little inconvenient when you want to set up a new account (that said, let’s face it, businesses want to make it as easy as possible to unfreeze your credit because they benefit when you set up new accounts and spend more money) and it can cost a few dollars (generally about $10 to unfreeze, a small price compared to the recovery costs of identity theft). And it is worth it! It’s like putting locks on your doors.

A credit freeze doesn’t affect your existing credit – it doesn’t freeze credit cards, bank accounts or loans you already have. It only freezes access to your account unless someone has a password to get in. It’s like having a PIN number on your ATM card. It also doesn’t lower (or raise) your credit score.

Since all states don’t allow you, by law, to freeze your credit, the three credit reporting bureaus have begun to offer credit freezes on a national basis. This is a major step forward in the prevention of identity theft, even if they are offering it for profit reasons (they make money every time you freeze/unfreeze your credit). If your state does not currently offer credit freezes by law, you can now apply with each credit reporting bureau individually. Regardless of where you live, freeze your credit today.

Equifax Credit Freeze
P.O. Box 105788 Atlanta, Georgia 30348
Toll-Free: 1–800–685–1111

TransUnion Credit Freeze
Fraud Victim Assistance Department P.O. Box 6790 Fullerton, CA 92834
Toll-Free: 1–888–909–8872

Experian Credit Freeze
P.O. Box 9554 Allen, TX 75013
Toll-Free: 1–888–397–3742

John Sileo became America’s leading Identity Theft and Social Media Privacy Expert after he lost his business and more than $300,000 to identity theft and data breach. His clients include the Department of Defense, Pfizer and the FDIC. To bring John in to protect your next conference audience, contact his office directly on 800.258.8076.

Related posts:

1. How to Freeze Credit to Stop Financial Identity Theft
2. Reading Credit Reports
3. Opting Out of Financial Junk Mail

A TODAY Show/NBC investigation into child identity theft revealed that criminals routinely use a child’s untouched credit record to their advantage and get away with it for years or decades. This story shows how in more and more cases Social Security numbers are being stolen even before the child has been born.

Why is it so easy? Because Social Security numbers are not assigned randomly, meaning that they can predicted with a certain amount of accuracy. A SSN is simply a code that includes the location and date of where and when a baby was born. Thieves have figured out a system to predict these numbers and used them before they have been issued. The federal government maintains that in the next month or so, these numbers will be randomized and harder to predict and therefore, steal.

Once a thief gains access to a legitimate Social Security number, they are able to take out car loans, mortgages and credit cards combining their name with the stolen number. Many banks don’t verify that the name and Social Security number match up because it costs them a few extra pennies. That is exactly how a woman was able to buy a home in my name, because the bank didn’t verify that the SSN belonged to me, not to her.

The investigation included 9 year old Riley, whose identity was stolen 11 years before she was born and used to take out home and auto loans. A 2-year old had thousands in credit card debt. Most parents have no idea that this crime is happening to their child until many years after the crime, at which point it is too late.

Here’s what you should do:

• Immediately run a credit check on all of your children.
• If you find suspicious activity (for most children, this would be any activity), investigate it further and dispute it with both the credit-giving organization and the three credit reporting bureaus (Equifax, Experian and TransUnion).
• Once you have resolved the credit errors, consider freezing your child’s credit so that no one else has access to their profile without a password.

Police often act overwhelmed and don’t want to be bothered with financial crimes, so little is done even if law enforcement knows exactly where the imposters live. TODAY showed this in dramatic fashion, hunting down two alleged child imposters and capturing their comments on camera.

Click Here to watch the video.

Related posts:

1. Identity Theft Speaker on The Bill Handel Radio Show Today!
2. Cyber Security Expert Sileo in USA Today
3. Study Shows Identity Theft of Children 51X More Likely

The Top 4 Opt-Out Opportunities:

1. www.OptOutPreScreen.com. Remove yourself from the marketing lists sold by the three major credit reporting bureaus, Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. There is not cost for this list.
2. www.DMAchoice.org. This puts you on a Do Not Mail list for the Direct Marketing Association. The cost is $1, but it is well worth the instant trip down in your mail.
3. White Pages. That’s right, your old-fashioned printed phone directory is the source for most of the online contact info databases. Remove your directory listing (you will likely have to the phone company every month to have your info NOT shared – I know, it’s asinine) or otherwise opt out.
4. www.Spokeo.com. To opt out, read this blog post about removing your info from Spokeo. This is one of the more utilized sites by identity thieves, stalkers and scammers.

There is a slower and more tedious process of opting out of online directories (i.e., you have to visit every one. Some (Spokeo.com)  are more important than others (Whitepages.com) because of the information that they collect. Sites such as Spokeo.com can have as much information as your physical address and pictures of your home, while others may just house your phone number. These sites spend hours upon hours scouring public records such as marriage licenses, birth certificates, and real estate purchases for this type of information.

Since most online directories typically offer a way to opt out of their listings you would think they would make it easy. Not so. They tend to hide this option deep within the site, as they don’t actually want you to leave. Luckily, The Privacy Rights Clearing House has done most of the legwork in their Comprehensive Opt Out List. I suggest starting with a few main sites, 123people.com, spokeo.com, etc. and continuously adding to it over time. Opt out of one a week if you like, and eventually your data will be less exposed. Protecting your privacy and identity is a layering process. It is easy for people to get overwhelmed, especially when it comes to online directories.

John Sileo speaks on information control, identity theft prevention and data breach avoidance. His clients include the Department of Defense, Pfizer and the FDIC. To learn more, contact him directly on 800.258.8076.

Related posts:

1. Online Privacy Needs A Federal Office
2. Identity Theft Statistics: Online Shopping & Cyber-Intrusion
3. Are Your Kids Safe Online?

1. Trust Your Instincts. Most of prevention is common sense.
2. When someone asks you to share private information, think – Hogwash! Learn more about establishing a Fraud Reflex.
3. Ask aggressive questions to spot a ConJOB: Control, Justify, Options & Benefits. Learn more about exposing a ConJOB.
4. Target (or prioritize) your responses & options to protect the most valuable items first.
5. Use sophisticated Identity Monitoring (Discount = CSIDFRIEND).
6. Review your Free Credit Report 3X per year at www.AnnualCreditReport.com.
7. Opt-Out of financial junk mail at www.OptOutPreScreen.com (1.888.567.8688).
8. Stop Marketing Phone Calls at www.DoNotCall.gov – remove phone & cell numbers from junk caller lists.
9. Freeze Your Credit. State-by-state instructions at www.Sileo.com/credit-freeze.
10. If you don’t want to use a credit freeze, place Fraud Alerts on your 3 credit files.
11. Stop Sharing Identity (SSN, address, phone, credit card #s) unless necessary.
12. Simplify Your Wallet. Chapter 4, Privacy Means Profit.
13. Protect Your Computer and Online Identity. Chapters 6 and 12, Privacy Means Profit.
14. Protect your Laptop. Visit www.Sileo.com/laptop-anti-theft for details.
15. Bank Online: online bank statements, account alerts and bill-pay.
16. Buy a Fellowes Shredder (or 2) & shred everything with identity you don’t need.
17. Minimize Social Networking Exposure on Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, MySpace, Twitter…
18. Lock down your Social Networking Profiles www.Sileo.com/facebook-safety.
19. Realize that approximately 50% of the worst ID theft crimes are committed by Acquaintances & Friends.
20. Stop Clicking on Links in emails and social networking posts that you don’t recognize as legitimate.
21. Avoid emails/faxes/letters/calls/people promising Something for Nothing.
22. Know that protecting Other People’s Privacy is part of your responsibility.
23. For more tools, purchase a copy of John’s Latest Book on Information Survival, Privacy Means Profit.
24. Subscribe to the Privacy Project Newsletter and follow our Information Survival Blog.
25. Consider bringing John Sileo to speak to your organization on identity theft, cyber crime, social engineering, social media exposure and other topics of information survival.

Related posts:

1. New Item: Identity Theft Prevention and Recovery Workbook!
2. Identity Theft Prevention in a Hotel
3. Identity Theft Prevention this Holiday Season

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.

John Sileo became America’s top Identity Theft Speaker after he lost his business and more than $300,000 to identity theft and data breach. His newest Book Privacy Means Profit – Prevent Identity Theft and Secure You and Your Bottom Line, has just been released. His clients include the Department of Defense, the FTC, Pfizer and the FDIC. To learn more about having him speak at your next meeting or conference, contact him by email or on 800.258.8076.

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1. Facebook: Press 2 For Law Enforcement
2. Cybercrime on the Rise: Reported Losses over $550 million!
3. Study Shows Identity Theft of Children 51X More Likely

Privacy Means Profit (Wiley) available in bookstores today!

Here are The Top 5 Reasons You Shouldn’t Buy It:

You love sharing bank account numbers, surfing habits and customer data with cyber thieves over unprotected wireless networks

You never tempt hackers and con artists by using Gmail, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Google Docs, or other cloud computing platforms to store or communicate private info, personally or professionally.

You bury your head in the sand, insisting that “insider theft” won’t affect your home or business.

You’ve already hardened your laptops and other mobile computing devices in 7 vital ways,  eliminating a major source of both personal and corporate data theft.

You have a “thing” for identity theft recovery costs and would rather invest thousands in recovery than $25 in prevention.

If you want to defend yourself and your business against identity theft, data breach and corporate espionage, then buy a copy of Privacy Means Profit.

Privacy Means Profit

Prevent Identity Theft and Secure You and Your Bottom Line

Privacy Means Profit builds a bridge between good personal privacy habits (protect your wallet, online banking, trash, etc.) with the skills and motivation to protect workplace data (bulletproof your laptop, server, hiring policies, etc.).

In Privacy Means Profit, John Sileo demonstrates how to keep data theft from destroying your bottom line, both personally and professionally. In addition to sharing his gripping tale of losing $300,000 and his business to data breach, John writes about the risks posed by social media, travel theft, workplace identity theft, and how to keep it from happening to you and your business.

Related posts:

1. Top 5 Reasons Corporations Educate Employees on Identity Theft
2. Workplace Identity Theft: Shredding
3. 5 Steps to Good Privacy Habits

The Elderly can be easily targeted online or through the mail in old fashioned schemes to steal their identity and ultimately their money. They are more likely to tell a stranger stories of their past that include simple password reminders (birth date, city, childhood pet, etc). They are less likely to suspect that an interested individual is a con-artist and not just a new friend. They can also be conned through the phone or in person by thieves impersonating a representative from a charity or a well-known company.

Although it is impossible to be fully protected from Identity Theft here are a few ways that you can keep them protected.

1. Online Security. Encourage them to continue to bank in person rather than online and have the bank inform you of any purchase over a certain dollar amount. Also, install security software on any computer they use and keep it up to date. If they do click on a link including a virus their computer and information will be more protected.
2. Freeze their credit. A credit freeze is the fastest and easiest way to protect yourself from Identity Theft. A credit freeze is simply an agreement you make with the three main credit reporting bureaus (Experian, Equifax and TransUnion) that they won’t allow new accounts (credit card, banking, brokerage, loans, rental agreements, etc.) to be attached to your name/social security number unless you contact the credit bureau, give them a password and allow them to unfreeze or thaw your account for a short period of time. Yes, freezing your credit takes a bit of time (maybe an hour of work), can be a little inconvenient when you want to set up a new account) and it can cost a few dollars (generally about $10 to unfreeze, a small price compared to the recovery costs of identity theft). And it is worth it!
3. Credit Check and Monitoring Service. If you are not going to do a credit freeze, then frequently check their credit report with them to make sure they understand if any new accounts have been opened. You can even use an Identity Theft Monitoring Service for as little as $10 a month to help you keep an eye out for suspicious activity.
4. Opt Out. Have them opt out of junk mail that comes from financial institutions. They can do this by going to www.OptOutPreScreen.com or by calling 1-888-567-8688. This should significantly reduce any pre-approved credit cards or junk mail that may get thrown in the trash and swooped by a dumpster diver.
5. Buy them a shredder. By shredding anything that has their name, address, birthday, social security number, or account numbers they will be less likely to have their identity stolen through the trash. Teach them what to shred and make it convenient. If its not as close as the trash can, they won’t use it.
6. Keep them Informed. By staying current on the newest scams and social engineering techniques you can not only protect yourself, but you can protect others. Whenever you hear of a new scam tell them about it. You can stay current and informed by using Google alerts or subscribing to our newsletter.

Naturally, these steps will get you started down the road to protecting their privacy, but there are many more suggestions than the ones above to continue preventing Identity Theft. Please visit the other blog posts at www.Sileo.com as well as our Identity Theft Resource Store www.ThinkLikeASpy.com/store.

John Sileo became America’s leading Identity Theft Speaker & Expert after he lost his business and more than $300,000 to identity theft and data breach. His clients include the Department of Defense, Pfizer, the FTC and the FDIC.  To learn more about having him speak at your next meeting or conference, contact him by email or on 800.258.8076.

Related posts:

1. The Top 12 Ways Victims Detect Identity Theft
2. Does Your Financial Advisor Protect You from Identity Theft?
3. Protect Yourself Against Mail Fraud

Identity Theft Prevention and Recovery Workbook

$10.95* (Including Shipping) – Click Here to Order!

Order your copy Today to get our special introductory pricing!

The #1 recommendation to prevent Identity Theft is Education. Know what to look for and the steps to take to fight Identity Theft. If you have been a victim, learn which steps to take and in what order to recover your Identity quickly, accurately and safely!

Identity Theft is on the rise and according to Javelin Strategy & Research there were a staggering 11.1 MILLION Identity Fraud victims in 2009 alone. The cost of this handbook is well worth the price of protecting your most valuable asset, your Identity!

This 20 page Workbook includes:

Part I – Prevention

This 10 phase process of Preventing Identity Theft Includes:

• Protecting your credit.
• Knowing what is in your wallet.
• Securing databases and physical documents.
• Being safe when mobile computing.
• Protecting Online presence.
• Travel Safely.
• Social Engineering awareness.

Part II – Recovering from Identity Theft Basics

This 17 step process to recovery your Identity includes:

• Top 15 ways to detect Identity Theft.
• Contacting banks, creditors and credit reporting agencies
• How to keep an accurate Dossier.
• Credit Freezes, Fraud alerts and credit monitoring services.
• Easily listed contact information to help you easily fight to gain your identity back.

Know the facts! According to Javelin Strategy and Research:

• Electronic Monitoring reduces mean detection days and mean consumer costs.
• There has been a 37% rise in Identity Theft since 2007.
• Small Business Owners suffer from ID Fraud at one-and-a-half times the rate of all other adults.
• Identity Theft by adding a new name as a registered account holder nearly doubled in 2009.
• Victims who were notified of identity theft by the police averaged $1917.00 in consumer costs.

Just as you would buy an umbrella before a storm, protect yourself before you become one of the over 11 million victims. This new handbook will give you step by step instructions on how to protect yourself and work towards preventing Identity Theft.

This workbook is not just for individuals – Privacy Means Profit - encourage safe identity practices in your company and protect your business from a larger data breach. When your employees know how to protect themselves, they learn how to protect your company and your customers from data loss!

* Special discounting offered for purchases of 100 or more. Contact 303.777.3222 or info@sileo.com for help!

Related posts:

1. Sileo Identity Theft Prevention Checklist
2. Identity Theft Prevention in a Hotel
3. 6 ways to Protect Elderly Relatives from Identity Theft

Lock Box. Install a locking mailbox that can be accessed only by you. These generally have a mail slot that allows the postal service to put mail into the box. Many newer neighborhoods already have some form of locking mailboxes.
P.O. Box. If a locking mailbox is not possible, get a P.O. box at your local post office and have sensitive documents sent there. It is a little bit more work, but gives you much more privacy.
In Person. When mailing sensitive documents, walk them into the post office and hand them to a postal worker. If it is after hours, drop the mail through an internal slot in the building. If there is no internal mailing slot, mail it the following day. This cuts out the most vulnerable stages of mailing.
UPS/FedEx. Have identity documents sent by UPS or FedEx and make sure that you require a signature for delivery. This makes the information harder to steal and you can track its location at anytime, which will alert you if the document isn’t delivered in a timely manner or is diverted somewhere else.
Send Checks to the Bank. Have sensitive documents (like new checks or credit cards) sent to your bank rather than to your home address. Pick them up there.
Watch for Cards. When new credit cards are coming through the mail, watch for them and call the credit card company if they don’t arrive in 7 to 10 days.
Quick Retrieval. If you are unable to install a locking mailbox and don’t have access to P.O. boxes, retrieve any mail within an hour or two of delivery. This lowers the exposure time of your mail.

According to the Identity Fraud Survey Report by Javelin Strategy & Research, 8% of all known identity theft is committed by mail fraud and the misuse can last for up to 175 days. But mail fraud is very difficult to catch, which means that the numbers are probably significantly higher. Just by protecting your mail against Identity Theft you can reduce your chances of becoming a victim by at least 8%.

John Sileo became America’s leading Identity Theft Speaker & Expert after he lost his business and more than $300,000 to identity theft and data breach. His clients include the Department of Defense, Pfizer and the FDIC.  To learn more about having him speak at your next meeting or conference, contact him by email or on 800.258.8076.

Related posts:

1. How to Opt Out of Junk Mail to Protect Identity
2. Opting Out of Financial Junk Mail
3. Protect Your Taxes from Prying & Spying Eyes