The reasons for the policing difficulty are twofold. First is the fact that there are not enough police resources to track down the source of the thefts. Second is the fact that identity theft can often involve complex computer hacking that begins in places like Russia and China. It is virtually impossible to find out who is doing the hacking.

On the other hand, a lot of identity theft in Yakima Valley occurred quite simply. Checks or other documents containing personal information are stolen out of mailboxes. The consumer is unaware the documents are missing until the thief uses their information to steal funds or buys products using credit card or other account information.

According the Federal Trade Commission’s Consumer Sentinel Network, in 2008 there were 1.2 million complaints filed, and of those 26 percent were identity thefts. This means that 314,000 identity theft complaints were filed in 2008 and the numbers are sure to have grown in 2009.

Washington State, the location of Yakima Valley, is ranked 14th on the list of states in terms of numbers of complaints filed. The entire state had 5,800 complaints filed in 2008.

Gilbreath makes some suggestions of things consumers can do that minimize their risk of becoming identity theft victims.

• Check your credit report at least once a year

• Pick up your checks at the bank and don’t have them mailed to your home

• Never give out PIN numbers to anyone including family and friends

• Never give your personal information to someone on the phone unless you are assured it is safe to do so

• Beware of opening emails that you don’t recognize because they may contain viruses that track keystrokes or provide a portal to gain access to your computer

• Don’t leave card payments in your mailbox where thieves can steal your mail but instead place your mail in a mailbox

• Don’t throw credit card offers in the trash without shredding them

• Don’t carry your social security card in your wallet

Taking some precautionary measures really doesn’t require a lot of effort, yet they can prevent consumers from spending years trying to overcome the damages identity theft can cause.

In Yakima Valley, the Police Sgt. Tony Bennett says that most identity thefts are the result of fraudulently written checks. Thieves will steal checking account numbers and then have the number printed on checks they create. The police work the cases though, as mentioned, they can be difficult cases to resolve. Some thieves steal locally and then move on to another location.

If you find a fraudulent account on your credit report, the major credit bureaus can place a fraud alert on your report. You should have the account closed immediately of course, and then file a report with the police.

With 27.3 million Americans suffering from identity theft in the last 5 years and with just under 10 million last year alone, you can quickly see why identity theft laws needed to get tougher. . The FBI dedicates a great deal of resources to identity theft, but if we’re being honest many times nabbing these criminals is difficult and the laws didn’t always have the teeth that were needed to make these id theft charges stick.

As the criminal code for ID theft in all of the states becomes better defined and tougher it is hoped more of these identity thieves will find themselves behind bars. In the past the FBI have worked hard to put these thugs away but often they would only receive a slap on the wrist. Their hard work may be better rewarded with tougher laws.

While the FBI take care of the criminal element, the FTC looks to protect consumers. There are a several laws that limit the amount of money the consumer can be on the hook for, if their identity is stolen. This does vary from state to state. Statistics show that criminals that fraudulently open new accounts had the highest dollar loss to both victims and business.

Certain states have implemented extra laws to protect residents of that state. For example, Alabama, California, Colorado, Idaho, Washington, and Rhode Island all now have a Credit Information Blocking law. California has implemented a Fraud Alerts law. Rhode Island has a law that protects consumers from having to disclose their social security numbers.

Other states have laws the allow a consumer to freeze their credit. This means they can restrict access to credit reporting and that they must lift that freeze if they wish for potential creditors or third parties to access their accounts. The laws are different among each state as is the cost of placing and removing the freeze. It’s just another helpful tool in the war against identity theft.

Federal Laws in all the states include the Fair Credit Reporting Act, Fair Credit Billing Act, Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, and the Electronic Fund Transfer Act all designed to protect the consumer. All states also have criminal laws including the Identity Theft and Assumption Deterrence Act and the Identity Theft Penalty Enhancement Act.

The law says “Anyone who knowingly transfers or uses, without lawful authority, a means of identification of another person with the intent to commit, or to aid or abet, any unlawful activity that constitutes a violation of Federal law, or that constitutes a felony under any applicable State or local law.”

Identity theft disrupts and even destroys lives. The devastation is real, and those that choose to partake in this crime deserve to do the jail time.

Just last year 9 million Americans discovered their identity had been stolen, a number that continues to grow each year. Technology has left us much more vulnerable than in the past, because someone, thousands of miles away, with the right skills can hack into credit bureaus, medical records, banks, credit companies, and your very own computer. Identity theft has racked up more than $20 billion dollars in fraudulent purchases but who pays?

In most cases, you won’t be financially responsible for any money. However, in a few states you may be responsible for the first $50. However, you will be faced with the loss of a great deal of time as you get your identity back and things all squared away, and time is money!

If you suspect that something is going on and that you might be the victim of identity theft, you need to contact the police immediately and file a police report. That’s a key element to eliminate your responsibility for the financial losses.

Next, you need to begin to contact every single creditor and tell them to suspend credit and not to authorize any future purchases on you account. That means department stores, Visa, MasterCard, banks, travel, petro, and financial institutes.

The credit card companies don’t care about your identity theft until it shows up on their doorstep, which is why over 90% of all reporting of identity theft comes from victims rather than the card issuers.

It can be quite sometime before it even comes to your attention. If you ask for your free credit report yearly this might be when you catch it. Or it might be when you find yourself being threatened with legal action for delinquent payments.

You may not be on the hook financially for the purchases but you can expect to spend 600 or more hours of your time to clean up your credit report and get the credit history repair under way. In fact, sometimes it takes years to finally get things straightened out and removed from your credit report.

You’ll need copies of your police report, and you might even need an accountant, and/or lawyer. You’ll be paying them their regular fees to help you straighten out this big mess so you aren’t haunted with bad credit that’s not yours for years.

Chasing down information, calling to try to correct mistakes, and the ongoing repetition of the same thing repeatedly, can become very frustrating, so before your identity becomes stolen do your part to try to reduce your risks. You might also consider the services of one of the many excellent paid services. A little bit of time now will save you a lot of time in the long run.

There are many different fraud scams and identity theft scams, so many that they all begin to blur after awhile. It’s important that you can identify the most common online identity theft scams.

The Nigerian fraud scam is one most of use have been exposed to at one time or another. This is the one where a wealthy foreigner emails you to tell you that they need to move millions of dollars out of the country and for your help they’ll pay you a nice percentage as a reward. But before long they’ll be complications, officials to pay off, and so forth, which you will be asked to, pay all the while dangling a large carrot of a sizable fortune. Who falls for this scam are those that are greedy, naive, or suckers. Remember if it sounds too good to be true it is. An awareness of other similar type scams would be wise.

Website spoofing involves a site that has been designed to look like that of a legitimate site like credit card or bank, but really, it has been created by a scammer in an effort to collect personal information from the visitors that come to the site. Once the scammer collects the information it can be used for id theft, to create fraud using credit cards information collected. The message here is be sure that you are on the site you think you are.

Phishing is another way of collecting personal information. This is accomplished by sending out an email that requests a password or personal information, and it indicates it’s urgent. It’s similar to website spoofing but it’s a scam accomplished through email.

Today there is a lot of fraud that also occurs over the telephone requesting personal information such as Sin numbers or passwords. Other scams involve moneymaking schemes, and often the promise of big cash prizes. It will help to remember that if you need to give them money it’s not a prize.

It’s important to remember that you should keep your information secure and not share it with any source that you are unsure of. Online never provide your password or credit card information unless you are sure about the site you are on, never follow a link in an email, and remember if it sounds too good to be true it is.

On a regular basis, you either hear about or read about a woman who has become victim to a male scammer whose only real objective is to get into the woman’s bank account.

Leigh Anne McElhaney was one of those women. Like many women on the single dating scene, they’d just like to meet Mr. Right, fall in love, and start a new life. Within a month of meeting Dave Moore, he was living with her, and he certainly knew how to say just what she wanted to hear.

Then Leigh discovered her bank account short some money. Then things began to unravel and she discovered her new boyfriend hadn’t only stolen from her, but he had also stolen her neighbor’s id and obtained credit cards in her name, which he was paying for with Leigh’s bank account

Florida was seeing a rash of men playing the wealthy young bachelor. They were often pretending to be doctors and they would ask their girlfriends to open up a joint account with them. The women would think nothing of it, since these guys were wealthy, so they would open the account and deposit their money, only to walk off with their money.

Male scammers make their living by seeking out single women so that they can gain access to their finances. You might be surprised to discover just how quickly this happens, and how often it happens. Ladies you need to take some precautions. Here are some tips to keep you financially safe.

Know who it is you are seeing – don’t be satisfied with who he says he is. Find out who he really is. Authenticate him and don’t fall for any joint bank accounts or personal loans.

You also need to be checking your credit reports more often if a new man has come into your life.

Keep your investments, insurance policies, credit card numbers, bank accounts, and PIN’s to yourself.

Don’t discuss your assets – both those you have and those you expect are off limits.

Keep on top of scams going on in especially in your area. These scams tend to have patterns they follow.

Listen to your gut and what it’s telling you. If you’re getting bad vibes, find out if there’s a way you can actually have him checked out. Maybe you are lucky enough to know someone in law enforcement.

Be careful with your financial information online. You might be startled to find out it takes only seconds to create a phony identification on social network sites and someone could be after nothing more than your finances.

Just because the man you are dating is buying you pretty things and spending money on you, doesn’t mean he has any money. You could be a victim in a long list of victims. Most of the men you meet will be honest individuals but it’s that small percentage you need to be on guard to. The bad guys are great talkers and all around good con artists so be wary.

But crooks are using this safety feature to their advantage—by signing on with services that disguise their phone number and even, in some cases, the voice. For about $10 an hour, a con artist can potentially receive very profitable returns by stealing identifying information on any number of unsuspecting individuals.

And amazingly, though ID theft is obviously a crime, these call spoofing services are legal in every state in the U.S. except one.

The Governor’s Wife Gets a Phone Call

ABC News recently reported on a call spoofing spree that affected hundreds of Lancaster, PA residents.

A few were either fooled or were on the verge of giving away information, including, incredibly, the mayor’s wife, Gail Gray.

And the bold crooks nearly got away with it, according to Mrs.Gray. Posing as a local bank, the callers demanded that she reveal information to them.

“It threw a scare into me initially,” Mrs. Gray told ABC News. “It’s like they knew they had a bite on the line and they were ready to hook one.”

A Psychological Game

Mrs. Gray was more right than even she may know. Generally, call spoofers are practiced con artists who have spent time honing their persuasive skills.

Relying on false familiarity (posing as a known bank, a credit card company or even the IRS), call spoofers first establish that they are someone the caller “knows”–or feels he should know–then assume a highly professional tone while fishing for personal information.

Pushing people’s buttons during an economic time in which fear of money loss is rampant, a call spoofer may attempt to frighten his victim by saying there has been a security breach and that he or she must verify certain data.

Alternately, phone con artists may take a more friendly tone, even posing as well-known charities, particularly those that involve children or animals, as these tend to get at people’s emotions quickly.

Be Wise to the Game

Currently, there are no laws against Caller ID spoofing services in any state except Florida. Therfore, most people in the U.S. will want to be aware that the method exists, and know how to combat it.

First, NEVER give information such as your account number, Social Security number, driver’s license number or mother’s maiden name over the phone.

No matter who the caller says he or she is, and no matter how “urgent” the “situation,” calmly say you wish to take down the information and call the company back.

Most crooks will hang up at this point, but some will go ahead and give you a phone number. These can be temporary, “rented” numbers—even if they are toll-free—so look up the number of the establishment yourself.

If the phone number doesn’t match the number you’ve been given, call the actual establishment and advise them of the call you’ve received. Ask whether the warning you’ve been given is true. If it is, go into the bank yourself—do NOT give the information over the phone regardless.

Get in the habit of staying calm, assessing a situation and following through in person no matter what. Never feel pressured to give out your personal information in this manner. Remind yourself that no reputable bank or credit card company would demand personal information in this manner…and then hang up the phone.

The Tennessean reported last week that Nashville resident Steven Gilmore was arrested when he attempted to sell a flash drive—a portable storage device—to an undercover agent. The drive was filled with Social Security and bank account numbers, the Tennessean reported.

Gilmore faces charges of identity theft, aggravated identity theft and access device fraud.

Feds Tracked Gilmore for 16 Months

Gilmore had been under suspicion of illegal activities since December of 2007, when a complaint of fraudulent use of a credit card led officials to Anthony Michael Atkins, who had been convicted of access device fraud in 2005.

Atkins told authorities that he had purchased personal information numbers from Gilmore in the past in order to open fake identities on auction site eBay.

It would take 16 more months for Gilmore to be trapped by his own greed…by unknowingly trying to sell his stolen goods to a secret agent.

He Used His Jobs to Gain Access

In a move that’s being seen more and more in the world of identity theft, Gilmore had been using databases through several child support services-related jobs in order to obtain the personal information of a number of unknowing victims.

Legal records show that Gilmore’s job at child support services contractor Policy Studies was terminated on Jan. 8. But he still had some 1,500 records in his possession at that time, according to reports.

Prior to working at Policy Studies, Gilmore was employed by the Cookeville district attorney’s office in its child support position. He also applied with Wilson County for a similar job.

Caught in the Act…at Last

Because of Atkins’ assertion that Gilmore had sold him stolen identity information, Secret Services began tracking Gilmore, looking for evidence.

Atkins had told authorities that he asked Gilmore for a name similar to his own in order that Atkins might apply for a job at community-based AIDS service association Nashville Cares. Atkins claimed that Gilmore responded by sending him various identities, charging $2-5 each.

Gilmore was finally busted when he attempted to sell personal information to an undercover agent. According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Nashville, three separate attempted transactions were tracked by law agents.

ID Theft “Getting to Be a Big Problem”

Due to his former jobs, Gilmore may have accessed information on individuals not only in Tennessee but in different states, reports say.

According to Ed Yarbrough, U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee, individuals whose information had been lifted by Gilmore have been alerted and “will be protected”.

“The idea of identity theft is getting to be a big problem,” Yarbrough noted. “It’s one of the reasons we’re pursuing this.”

It may be prudent to note, however, that Gilmore was in action with his criminal activities for well over a year before being arrested…and considering his apparent ease with the process, may have been doing so even earlier.

Be smart; protect yourself. Shred unwanted documents, request free credit reports annually and sign up with a reputable credit monitoring/protection service. Don’t wait for police to receive the tip that might never come…or could come after you’ve already been made a victim.

Aaron Marks of Boston, MA told MSNBC that when he attempted to electronically file his taxes last year, the Internal Revenue Service informed him that he could not–because someone else had already filed in his name.

Marks was told on the phone to submit his tax forms anyway, but has told reporters that a year later, he still hasn’t received his refund. He says he’s owed $2000 from the 2007 tax year.

Marks’ Problem Wasn’t Unique

MSNBC reporters commented in their Red Tape Chronicles that the Senate Finance Committee heard testimony at about the same time regarding a number of similar issues.

The reason for fraudulent IRS filing, testifiers said, is that the criminal receives the refund checks owed to the innocent tax payers whose identity he or she has stolen.

This obviously causes holdups in rectifying each individual situation and in the meantime, leaves citizens victimized twice: once by identity theft, and the second time by not receiving the refund.

According to Aaron Marks, he has received nothing but the runaround while the IRS tries to unravel this and numerous other similar scenarios. Marks has told reporters that he was advised by the IRS to call the FTC (Federal Trade Commission), who then told him he would need to file a police report.

In the meantime, Marks hasn’t received his 2007 refund or his 2008 stimulus check. Most frustrating of all, while Marks is inundated with telephone calls to make and paperwork to follow up on, it’s highly likely that a criminal somewhere has received, and possibly long ago spent, Marks’ hard-earned refund money.

IRS Struggles to Handle Complaints

As victims like Marks work to rectify an aggravating and unfair situation, the IRS has launched the IRS Identity Protection Specialized Unit in an effort to give each victim of false IRS filing more and faster attention.

The unit can be reached via the IRS’ Identity Theft Hotline, 800-908-4490. Phones are answered 8AM-8PM local time (Alaska and Hawaii operate on Pacific Time hours).

And there’s a website with instructions on how to proceed should one suspect identity fraud.

Prevention May Be Less Painful Than the Cure

The drawback to these efforts, of course, is that for the person utilizing such services, ID theft has already occurred.

A few ways to help keep yourself safe during tax time include the following:

• Don’t use a temporary tax preparer. They’re cheap and they often make promises on fast tax preparation for last-minute filers, but experts say a slap-dash executed and filed form is more likely to be waylaid on route (electronically or in the mail) by a criminal just waiting for such an opportunity.

• Beware of email or a phone call “from the IRS”. It may not be. Identity thieves are often masters of the art of deception and may use a variety of tactics–including official-sounding callers with “urgent” messages–to nab your information just prior to tax time. An official document will come in the mail, and it will be on official IRS letterhead and stationery and will be verifiable with a phone call.

• Be particularly careful of throwing out receipts and other old, outdated paperwork during tax time. The early months of the year culminating on April 15th are prime trash-diving time for IRS defrauders. If you must throw away old paperwork (remember to save all tax forms for at least seven years in the event of a possible audit), shred the papers first. Make sure you use a quality shredder that will cut the pieces too finely to be pieced back together again.

And an occasional search on the internet to look for deliberate misuse of overuse of his name wouldn’t have hurt, either.

But the thought of taking such standard precautions never crossed LeGette’s mind.

And it’s not because he’s irresponsible or forgetful. It’s because Jake LeGette is only 11 years old.

Shocking News

When the enterprising Miami, FL preteen attempted to open a bank account as a depository for his chore earnings, he was surprised to find that credit had already been opened in his name—and misused badly enough that he was denied an account of his own..

Although he isn’t yet in high school, LeGette’s credit record is filled to overflowing with expenditures…and his mother Lori can only hope she’ll be able to clear his record so he can start fresh once he is old enough to apply for credit. In the meantime, she’s placed a freeze on his Social Security number so that no one else can use it.

Mom Fights to Clear Son’s Name

Lori LeGette was as shocked as anyone to hear the news that her son was a victim of ID fraud. Nevertheless, she went right to work attempting to clear up the messy matter. Lori claims her job as a police officer hasn’t helped much so far in fixing the problem.

According to ABC News, the bank told Jake LeGette that someone had used his Social Security number in order to open—and use—credit.

Lori LeGette told ABC News that a Florida-based woman had used Jake’s identity to purchase, among other things, a staggering nine vehicles in only four years.

The Implications for the LeGettes—and For Your Child

Why wasn’t fraud suspected due to the unusual number of expenditures in a short period of time?

Frighteningly, banks, car dealers and other companies and institutions may not have anywhere near the “lookout” we imagine they do for suspicious activity. Jake LeGette’s Social Security number was misused for four years before his own bank tried to put the brakes on by denying the real Jake an account.

Another point worth pondering is that had Jake not attempted to open a bank account at such a young age, he may not have known about the crimes and fraud against his name for a decade or even more from their beginning point.

In fact, stealing the identity of a child may be the next insidious step forward in the booming number of ID crimes that have increased year-on-year for close to a decade. Not only do children obviously have a clean credit slate, they also may have no knowledge of any wrongdoing for five years, ten years or even longer, giving the thief plenty of time to take the money and run.

And no one’s child is immune…not even the son of a police officer.

Using LifeLock to Protect Your Child

A few of the most forward-thinking ID protection and credit monitoring companies, such as Arizona-based LifeLock, have already recognized this frightening trend. LifeLock offers additional protection for children up to age 16 for just $25 a year.

LifeLock protects adults, too, taking a proactive approach in order to avoid the mess (and expense) of cleaning up credit that’s already been damaged by fraud.

And the risk to the user is low, since LifeLock also has a $1 million guarantee in the eventuality that a customer’s identity is breached. This means the company will spend up to $1 million to rectify the issues in any way possible, at no expense to the customer.

With ID fraud against children growing at a fast pace, it pays to protect your family. Do your homework on ID protection companies, including rates, guarantees/warranties and what’s covered under the service. The right credit monitoring company can make all the difference for you today…and for your child tomorrow.

As computer-operated machines, ATMs have not been immune. Familiar ways to steal information from ATM cards include withholding and skimming, both of which involve the placement of mechanisms on the machine to read a card’s data, and the installation of tiny cameras to watch customers input their PINs.

But now ID thieves have kicked their crooked technology up a notch—by installing a Trojan virus to hack victims’ information from the inside.

The Discovery

The hacking was reported by security solutions products company Sophos and blogged by Graham Cluley. The information was immediately snapped up by reports that gave details to the hacking, how it was done and what this ominous step forward in criminal technology could mean.

What was revealed was that malware (spyware created and installed with negative intent, particularly theft) had been installed on Diebold Opteva ATMs, which run on Windows operating systems.

And what’s really worrisome is that Diebold had advance notice that this type of hacking was indeed possible and had in fact updated certain security features to prevent it—unsuccessfully, as it turns out.

Advance Warning

In fact, in January, Diebold announced that ATMS in Russia had physically been broken into and installed with a Trojan virus.

At that time, “We immediately notified our customers globally of the malware risk and sent a precautionary software update,” a Diebold spokesperson told reporters.

The spokesperson explained, “The criminal gained physical access to the ATMs at site locations, and the malware was installed by someone with high-tech knowledge and expertise.”

This changes the face of the typical identity thief from someone watching furtively at the gas pump as victims enter their PIN numbers or a shmoozing salesperson sending out bogus e-mails, to a much more sophisticated criminal mind.

Brainy Theft Needs Brainy Solutions

As Graham Cluley noted in his blog, “(The hackers knew) the API calls and understood how the cash machine works. We haven’t seen that before…This is not something the average hacker on the street would have access too.”

Cluley also postulated that either former experience with such machines, or a tie-in with someone on the “inside,” is necessary in order to accomplish this tricky, high-tech operation.

“(Such criminals) need physical access to the ATM—they need to have someone on the inside or involved with the manufacture of these devices to gain access and install the software.”

And needless to say, they need knowledge of malware in general.

As daunting as these reports are, they reveal pitfalls in ATM security, some experts insist, and could ultimately lead to better security and prevention in the future. This could include more secure procedures from the beginning of the transaction.

“I’d like to see ATMs sending their information back to the payment processor encrypted over an SSL VPN (virtual private network) or some sort of encrypted VPN link,” commented Network Box security analyst Simon Heron.

But perhaps Cluley said it best when he pointed out that security needs to start from the manufacture process, where the most damage could be begun. “(ATM machines) need to be handled securely like you would handle diamonds from Africa. You need to make sure from when it’s being mined and is brought into the jewelry store that the diamonds haven’t been switched or tampered with.”