Identity Theft Reviews

Protecting your identity is becoming a growing industry. It is vital that you know how thieves can obtain your sensitive personal information. This is one of the best ways for you to protect yourself and prevent identity theft from transforming your life into a horror show.

Here are six common ways that thieves can gather sensitive information and some preventive measures that can keep you from becoming a victim of identity fraud.

• The first means of identity fraud is when someone gets information by sifting through your rubbish. Never throw away anything with account numbers, social security numbers, usernames, or passwords. Anyone can go through your rubbish and retrieve these papers. Even if you tear documents and financial statements into bits, they can be put back together if someone really wants to obtain your personal information. A paper shredder that also shreds credit cards, CDs and DVDs is a great investment.

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According to a new study hospitals are struggling to protect patient information and data breaches cost the health care industry $6 billion annually.

The survey conducted by the Ponemon Institute included 65 health care organizations.   Of the 65 surveyed, an alarming 60 percent of respondents said they have suffered more than two breaches in the past two years.

The top three causes of breaches were unintentional employee action, lost or stolen computing devices and third-party accidents. The average number of lost or stolen records per breach was 1,769.

The survey found that breaches have cost the U.S. health care system $12 billion over the past two years. T

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The Florida Democratic Party responded by stating, “We apologize for the oversight of not redacting this information from the public record included in the mailer,” and by offering West two years of identity theft monitoring, but West says he will not accept their money.

Meanwhile, in Virginia, a judge has ruled it is legal to post Social Security numbers on websites. Every city, state, and town has its own set of regulations determining the collection and management of public records, including birth, death, marriage, court, property, and business filings. Many of these documents include Social Security numbers. And many are posted on the Internet.

The Privacy Act of 1974 is a federal law that establishes a code of fair information practices governing the collection, maintenance, use, and dissemination of personally identifiable information in federal record systems.

Back in 1974, identity theft wasn’t an issue, so having your Social Security number on your driver’s license, school ID, and most other documents wasn’t a big deal. Then some Full Post…

With open enrollment for Medicare beginning November 15^th, identity thieves are on the prowl.  They are looking to obtain Social Security numbers and bank account information to commit fraud.

“There are people out there looking for opportunities to come and give you wrong information, or do things fraudulently,” said Renard Murray, Regional Administrator with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services in Atlanta. “It’

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Every time you use a credit card, you increase the chances of that card number being used fraudulently. Cards can be skimmed and hacked in a number of different ways.

#1 Watch your card. Whenever you hand your credit or debit card to a salesperson or waiter, watch to see where your card is taken and what is done with it. It’s normal for the card to be swiped through a point of sale terminal or keyboard card reader. But if you happen to see  your card swiped through an additional reader that doesn’t coincide with the transaction the card number may have been stolen.

#2 Cover your PIN. There may be cameras or “shoulder surfers” recording your PIN at an ATM or point of sale terminal. Cover up the keypad to foil the bad guys’ plan.

#3 Change up your card number. This is inconvenient but effective. The more frequently you change your number, the more secure that number will be. Once or twice a year is good.

#4 Select online shopping websites carefully. When searc

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Criminals steal from people in many ways. Breaking into someone’s home and taking their belongings, robbing an individual of whatever they have on hand, stealing a car, and so forth. However, a new dimension in thievery has come about in recent times.

When a thief actually steals another person’s identity, that is know as criminal identity theft. You can protect yourself against criminal identity theft by understanding what it is, ways that your identity can be stolen, and ways to protect yourself from this damaging crime.

What Is Criminal Identity Theft?

A criminal collects personal information about another person with the purpose of assuming that person’s identity. The effects of criminal identity theft can be monumental for the person whose identity has been stolen.

Credit ratings, financial standings, employment interviews, legal matters can all be negative effected by criminal identity theft. The a Full Post…

The Social Security numbers, grades and other personal information of more than 40,000 former University of Hawaii students were posted online for nearly a year before being removed this week.

University officials told the Associated Press that a faculty member inadvertently uploaded files containing the information to an unprotected server on Nov. 30, 2009.  The information included names, academic performance, disabilities and other sensitive information of 40,101 students who attended the flagship Manoa campus from 1990 to 1998 and in 2001.

The university apologized for the incident, saying it was investigating how it happened.   It was notifying the former students by e-mail and letters, and has also alerted the FBI and Honolulu police.

The incident is the third major information breach in the University of Hawaii system since last year. Ea

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