Articles and Ideas November, 2008
“Just Google it” is the mantra of today’s electronic generation. The information highway is quickly traversed, and the amount of information grows daily. Google has declared that their intent is to be the main source of data for generations to come, but with the compiling of all this data also arrives the new potential for Identity theft and fraud.
"To Whom it May Concern..."
This was made glaringly apparent in a Letter to Judge Rosenthal from PublicResource.org, which stated that over 1,718 instances of personal identifying information had been discovered in records which had been released for inclusion in Google’s public domain. ...
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Is the German insistence on online security the reason German consumers have much less ID fraud than English speaking buyers? Paypal recently commissioned a survey which revealed that 1 in 10 shoppers in the US, UK and Canada are identity theft victims, compared to 1 in 20 in Germany, Spain and France.
E-commerce in Germany is equivalent to that in the UK, which puts paid to Paypal’s suggestion that ID theft "tends to occur in countries where a higher percentage of e-commerce is concentrated". Why then do the Germans have such a low incidence of ID theft?
Paranoia Reigns
There is no denying ...
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As happens each year, this Veteran’s Day (Nov. 11, 2008) the United States honors those who have proudly served their country. But there is an insidious faction that looks at the military in an entirely different way: as potential targets for fraud, scams and identity theft.
Find out why the military is the latest target for identity related crimes, and what's being done about this growing problem.
Targeting the Military
With most professional and medical records now kept on computers and with the preponderance of file-swapping for legitimate purposes, ID fraud is easier than ever for criminals. Networked files in particular are at ...
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In the wake of consumer education on internet-propelled ID fraud, Americans are changing certain online behaviors, according to a survey conducted by the National Cyber Security Alliance (NCSA).
Although 73% of the survey’s respondents said they use the internet for various transactions that include banking and stock trading, almost 60% said their behaviors online have changed due to fear of ID theft. (See this link for more information, including the surveyors' methodology.)
A few of the findings of the study included:
22% of those surveyed reported their identity had been used for such criminal purposes as credit card theft or unauthorized ...
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There is information in your wallet, your computer, countless databases and files across the country and possibly the globe. You do the best you can to safeguard yourself against attack by identity thieves and credit fraud, but sometimes they get sneaky.
There is one little thing you may carrying around with you that has an immense amount of personal information on it - your cell phone. Not only do they often have your own phone number, but names, phone numbers and addresses of friends and colleagues, internet access to your personal accounts, banking and financial information and other personal keys to ...
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More and more thieves are grabbing personal information from popular internet networking sites. Could you be next? We explore an identity thief’s methods and what you can do to keep from becoming a victim.
The New Face of Networking
Today’s new face in networking is a host of sites, such as facebook.com, meetups.com and myspace, which allow individuals to keep in touch. What makes these networking spaces so popular is the immediate accessibility of associates to one another’s vital information. Unfortunately, that’s what makes them popular among identity thieves, too.
Up Close and Too Personal
Networking site users drop an amazing amount of personal ...
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At a glance, the numbers may seem reassuring: experts say overall ID fraud was down for the past several years, decreasing by more than 12% between 2004 and 2007 (see this study).
But crime experts are warning that with the recent headline-making economic events may come an increase in criminal activity…and that you could become a victim.
Consumers have gotten wiser to ID fraud in the wake of online, phone and ATM theft news in recent years. Unfortunately, so have criminals--and their tools of the unsavory trade are more sophisticated than ever. Know what to look out for in order ...
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There has been controversy throughout this entire campaign regarding identity fraud being used to illegally funnel campaign contributions to various candidates. In previous elections, identity fraud was alleged to have been used to cast invalid ballots. In a country where every person is supposed to have a voice, the idea that someone could steal that right away and use it wrongly is not to be tolerated.
The Democratic Proposal - Obama:
Barack Obama voiced concerns in the Senate over the loss of 26.5 million veterans’ personal identifying information by the Department of Veterans Affairs in 2006. He claimed : “The system is so poorly ...
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Your social security number is important, but in the wrong hands it can ruin your credit--and your identity.
You’ve had your social security number from birth (or since becoming a citizen of the United States). It has allowed you to obtain a driver’s license, open a bank account and obtain credit cards.
Unfortunately, it can allow an identity thief to do the same things…using your name and other personal information, all easily obtainable with those nine little numbers.
Social security theft is considered one of the most lucrative businesses by today’s savvy ID criminals. Your social security number is a gateway to your ...
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You’re 18 at last, and off to college. You have a part time job, a full time class load, a terrific roommate and a second hand car. Life couldn’t be better, right?
You’re pretty smart for an 18 year old - you listened when Mom and Dad were talking about finances and try to live within your means. You have one credit card, which you use for gas and groceries (and pay off in full every month), and a gym membership that debits a monthly fee automatically from your bank account. You know these two simple items are building your credit ...
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