The reason Visa has decided to open this program is that not requiring a signature on small transactions can increase the speed of checkout at retailers. The program has been used on a limited basis since 2003 and a Visa company spokesman said there was not an increase in identity thefts as a result of that implementation. That is why Visa believes an expansion of the program should not add to the identity theft problem.

Not everyone agrees though. The accounting firm of Sklar, Heyman & Co. has a fraud and financial forensics division. Jeffrey Sklar says that consumers are more vulnerable to identity theft when signatures are not required on purchases. Many retailers compare signatures on receipts to signatures on credit cards to validate the card user. In addition, another piece of ID is requested. This greatly reduces the opportunities for identity theft.

Mastercard has a similar program called Quick Payment Service Program. It has been in operation since 1991 and the list of retailers includes grocery stores and convenience markets and many others. The Quick Payment Service Program has a transaction limit of $15 to $50.

Both Visa and Mastercard reason that thieves are generally not going to steal goods they cannot resell. They odds are much greater of a theft at an electronics store then at a restaurant. But in an interesting twist, the Visa program does include electronic stores but the $25 limit should stop any major purchases as long as signatures and ID are required by the retailer.

Many households do not take the time to closely check their credit card statements. Consumers are especially lax when it comes to questioning small charges. It can take hours to dispute a charge and a small questionable charge is simply not worth the trouble of disputing. In addition, one spouse may assume the other spouse made the charge.

The founder of the Identity Theft Resource Center located in San Diego is Linda Foley. She says the Visa and Mastercard programs make her nervous. She believes that once thieves learn the new Visa program is in place there will be an increase in the number of small identity theft cases.

Consumers need to be very careful when using their credit or debit cards. For example, in the case of debit cards it is important to make sure no one can see the PIN number entered. It is so easy to become an identity theft victim when someone can see the PIN number you enter. Some people leave their receipts behind at places like convenience stores too. If the account number is not hidden on the receipt, it is easy for a thief to use that account number and PIN. It is wise to always take your receipt with you even if you don’t want it and then shred it at home.

Time will tell if the Visa No Signature Required Program will be successful.

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.

Approximately 43 percent of identity theft cases come from low-tech means like stolen wallets and sensitive information on important documents. This is in stark contrast to what most Americans are accustomed to when they think of identity theft: some anonymous hacker stealing their information right from their computers.

That’s not all, though. Just like it isn’t linked only to computer geniuses, recent studies have shown that identity theft is not dominated by any one group of people. Some identity theft offenders strike from the street, while others are white-collar, and a whole range in between. The only thing that really unites all of these identity thieves is a desire for money. Usually, both street-life and white-collar types are struggling to pay for more than they can afford, and they turn to identity theft to help them accomplish that.

There are a number of different ways that these identity thieves can get a hold of someone’s identity. Some ways can be as low-tech as dumpster diving, or as straightforward as bribing someone who works for a bank, mortgage company, car dealership, or state agency to provide them with the information they seek. Identity thieves also steal mail from apartment houses and businesses to find the information they need. Some even pose as fake employers putting out a job advertisement, and people desperate for a job send in their applications electronically, including dangerous information like social security numbers or account numbers in them.

Usually, identity thieves use this information to take out new credit cards, secure a bank loan, or withdraw money from existing accounts. Whichever method they choose, their actions are likely to ruin the victim’s credit, which is devastating in any economic time, but even more painful when credit is already so tight. A tragic number of identity theft victims also lose the money that was stolen, and it can take months or years to fully recover from a theft.

One of the biggest problems with respect to identity theft is that most Americans are ignorant of how identity theft can happen. It isn’t just leaving private information on the Internet for people to find, or having your computer hacked into. Any documents with your social security number, credit/debit card number, checking or savings account number, and other sensitive information can easily result in an identity theft.

It’s difficult to say why so many Americans are more worried about identity theft coming from a hidden assailant across the Web than from a missing wallet or important document, but some suspect that it’s the way identity theft is portrayed in the media. The unfortunate truth is, a story about some genius teenage hacker from halfway across the world is much more interesting than another story about someone who got his wallet stolen.

Nevertheless, it’s important to be on the lookout not just for virtual theft, but also theft in the form of documents, credit/debit cards, and more. If Americans are more alert about the different ways identity theft can occur, its prevalence can hopefully diminish over time.

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.

This underground market is barely a blip on the American authorities’ radar and it’s occurring from one coast to the other. There are actually two ways that illegal immigrants are getting SSN cards. Mexicans that has a legal SSN card and who have returned to Mexico for whatever reason, will lend, rent, or sell their SSN cards.

This is a win-win for both parties. The person who buys the right to use the social security number gets to work in the US with no questions asked and the person who the SSN belongs to continues to enhance the unemployment and pension benefits. Government officials know that this has become a major problem and it’s a serious crime.

Today’s illegal immigrants can have a fake social security card and green card printed at the flee market for a couple of hundred dollars. Numbers are just plucked out of thin air. The problem with this method is that it’s caught at tax time. Where as using, a stolen or borrowed SSN doesn’t cause any problems with the taxman.

But the biggest problem comes with SSN cards that are stolen from U.S. citizens. In most of these cases, the legitimate owner of the number is using it in another part of the country. Big busts can sometime break up these rings but not always. Your SSN can be stolen not only so that illegal immigrants can work, but also it’s the start of stealing ones identity.

It can be obtained by stealing a wallet or purse, or even intercepting your mail. Sometimes rummaging through the garbage is all it takes. It’s important that you don’t give out your SSN to anyone and that you destroy written material using a shredder so that it doesn’t get into the wrong hands.

If you suspect someone might be using your social security number you should contact the authorities and ask for a form SSA-7005 which you can obtain at http://www.ssa.gov/pubs/10064.html

It is true that scammers and thieves can obtain financial details by stealing or hacking electronic equipment. However, it is not true that you will have to pay the entire bill if you have been hacked or scammed. Check with your credit card provider as to what are your liabilities, in most cases it is only $50, provided you notify the lending organization in reasonable time.

Recently, credit card insurance and security has been a prolific scam, with people phoned and harassed using scare tactics. These are some of the scams that thieves are using

Pretending to be a representative of your credit card company such as VISA or MasterCard and insisting that you must have credit card protection.

Calling and insisting that they need to verify your credit card information for some reason. Usually, that they have been instructed by the Federal Trade Commission to call credit card holders to obtain their credit card numbers and expiration dates.

Another one is insisting that your credit card numbers might be wrong, or that they need to verify and you have to divulge your numbers in order to receive credit card protection.

Pretend they are calling to check the security of your credit card number for possible fraud, then insist they, or anyone else, could get your credit card number off the Internet at anytime, so you need to buy credit card insurance

Inform that you are liable for all unauthorized charges on your credit card account, that a computer bug could make it easy for thieves to place unauthorized charges on your credit card account.

Imply that they are calling from “the security department” and want to activate the protection features on your new card or check that your card is secure.

One of the most important steps consumers can take to limit the possibility of their identity being stolen is making it difficult for would-be thieves to obtain those important account access numbers. Once a thief has a social security number, a birth date and other relevant information, it’s possible to open an account online or even borrow money.

The Wall Street Journal has reported that the fear of identity theft is driving a new industry and changing consumer habits. There are now neighborhood events called Shredder Day that are held. A mobile shredding unit is parked in a central location and people can bring all the paper documents they want to have shredded.

Shredder Day events are sponsored by a number of organizations including the government, local businesses and neighborhood groups. Many times the event is turned into a charity fund raiser too.

People showing up for these shredding events bring varying amounts of documents. Some carry their paperwork in boxes while others pull children’s wagons. They bring bills, advertisements, bank statements, account statements and tons of other papers that households collect. Most houses have a stack of paper sitting somewhere that is a mishmash of personal documents and unimportant mail that will be looked at “one day”.

Identity theft is a serious affair deserving serious attention. One of the reasons people accumulate documents with sensitive information in their homes is simply because it would take too long to shred all the material using one of the small home shredders sold in local discount stores. The mobile shredding trucks carry industrial sized shredders that can quickly turn many pounds of paper into confetti. In fact the large shredding can shred 6,000 pounds of paper in one hour.

Many people have become victims of identity theft because they made it easy for thieves to obtain their information. In one case the thieves broke into a house and stole the middle set of checks from a box of checks. They didn’t take anything else in order to not arouse suspicion. The owners discovered the checks were missing when some of the them were returned for insufficient funds.

It doesn’t take much information for a thief to steal an identity. All that is needed is a victim’s name, address, and social security number.

Of course there is another reason it’s important to shred documents and it has nothing to do with identity theft. Paper that is shredded during Shredder Day using a shredding company’s unit is then recycled into other products like paper towels or napkins.

If your neighborhood does not have a Shredder Day then it’s a good idea to contact your local governmental office responsible for management of the environment and see if

The moral of this story is that you need to do everything possible to protect yourself from those determined to steal another person’s identity for the purpose of buying goods and services or to obtain credit or loans illegally.

Recently the federal government reported that 10 million people were the victims of identity theft in 2008. Too many consumers wait until they become victims to take a proactive approach to identity theft prevention. They watch for the lock icon on website screens and change their passwords periodically and still find themselves trying to undo damage to their credit as a result of identity theft.

The government wants every consumer to understand their options when it comes to preventing identity theft and online fraud. One of the many issues the government faces when trying to prosecute these kinds of cases is finding the people or organizations that committed the fraud in the first place. With all the benefits gained by having access to the internet, it is also possible for criminals around the world to get access to your account information unless you take special precautions.

Once a criminal has your account information he or she will usually try to use that information to continue fraudulent activity to buy goods or services or to borrow money in your name. There was a case of a woman who had her identity stolen and didn’t know it for months because she seldom used her charge cards.

The thief had stolen her credit information and then changed the mailing address on the account so she didn’t get a statement. By the time she realized what had happened, there were thousands of dollars of debt incurred.

That leads to the first important fact. It is up to consumers to regularly check their loan and credit card accounts for accuracy. If a thief has used an existing account, then you can certainly prevent the thief from opening up any more accounts.

It is possible to place a ‘fraud alert’ on your account so creditors know to use extra caution when approving new credit under your name. The law requires creditors to use “reasonable policies and procedures” when it comes to verifying your identity.

There are two kinds of fraud alerts. The first is a temporary 90 day alert that expires. This alert is used by people who suspect their identity has been or will be stolen or who believe they have exposed themselves to this type of fraud. If you know you have been a victim, you can add a fraud alert to your credit report that will remain for up to 7 years.

It is now also possible to put a credit freeze on your credit report. The credit freeze will stop someone from opening a new account or a line of credit. The freeze can be left in place for up to 7 years also. If you need to create a new account, it’s possible to temporarily lift the freeze so a lender can do a credit check.

Each state has different laws and fees related to these actions, but the general rules are the same across the board. If you want to place fraud alerts or credit freezes, it is recommended you contact one of the 3 major credit agencies – Equifax, Experian or TransUnion. The one you contact will inform the other 2 national credit reporting agencies.

Keeping updated on current laws concerning protecting your identity is important. One thing that is always pointed out is that you must move quickly when you suspect someone is trying to commit fraud using your personal information. The longer you delay, the more likely you will become a victim.

Think of it as putting a great big padlock on your credit information, making it far less likely that criminals will gain access and turn your life upside down by stealing your identity. It is called both a credit lock and a security freeze but the service is the same.

Just recently all three of the major credit agencies provided the ability for individuals to lock their credit reports providing limited access to the information in their credit report. This proactive measure isn’t free. But then can you put a price on your protecting your identification. Anyone that has had their stolen can tell you the cost to restore things to normal can be substantial. Services like TrustedID and Lifelock offer credit lock as part of their services.

Although a credit freeze provides superior protection, nothing is fool proof and this is no different. It cannot halt duplications of ID that’s not related to your credit. So for example, if someone fraudulently creates a drivers license or social security card it can’t do anything to protect you from those fraudulent activities.

It also doesn’t stop all companies from accessing your credit information. Credit companies and lending institutes that you have or have had business with will still have access to your credit report, however new companies won’t be able to access it.

You will continue to get those pre-approved credit card notices in the mail because the credit bureaus can legally continue to sell your name and address to credit card companies. The only way to stop this is to visit http://optoutprescreen.com.

Collection agencies that are acting on behalf of the financial institutes you have existing contracts with, child support agencies, government, or law enforcement will continue to have access to your information.

One draw back to the credit lock is the amount of time it takes to fill out the paperwork plus it requires certified letters. You also have to remove the freeze to allow access and then put it back on. It doesn’t protect your identity to just freeze a couple of reports. It’s all or nothing. So if you put the freeze on and then want to apply for a new car loan you will need to lift the freeze to the credit bureaus and then put it back on. The cost varies but it’s about $10 each time. That compared to the cost of getting your identity back is really peanuts.

You might consider one of the services like Lifelock or TrustedID, which offer it as part of their package. It can save you a bundle and you get other services to increase your protection a little more. And in today’s world of white collar, educated criminals we need all the help we can get to keep our identity safe.