MyEntrust

Over 300 Workers Using Stolen Identities Arrested At Chicken Processing Company In Five States

MyEntrust — Sat, 19 Apr 2008 22:15:46 GMT

By Ken Stoll

Once again the spotlight was focused on the growing problem of stolen Social Security Numbers as U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), in coordination with the Department of Justice and other local law enforcement agencies arrested more than 300 foreign nationals employed at Pilgrim's Pride chicken processing plants in five states.

It is alleged these workers committed identity theft and other criminal violations in order to obtain their jobs. So far, 311 Pilgrim's Pride employees were taken into custody during the enforcement action. Charges against these individuals include false use of a Social Security Number and document fraud.

Innocent citizens faced with serious problems triggered investigation

Authorities began their investigation after receiving multiple complaints from citizens who were wrongly requested to pay unpaid tax bills, experienced denial of medical service, damaged credit ratings and even false arrest.

"A significant percentage of identity theft is carried out by illegal aliens trying to avoid detection and gain employment. However, even under the least damaging circumstances, these identity thieves wreak havoc with the credit and tax histories of innocent U.S. citizens who spend years trying to repair the damage," said Julie L. Myers, Department of Homeland Security.

During the investigation, numerous identity theft victims came forward who described to ICE agents hardships they suffered as a result of having their identities stolen, including mistaken tax liens, denial of medical and social services benefits, and damage to their credit ratings.

Some of the victims had been notified by the IRS and told they owed taxes on unreported employment wages. Others had even been arrested on warrants issued for crimes committed by the person who stole their identity.

Simultaneous raids were conducted at Pilgrim's Pride plants in Mount Pleasant, Texas; Live Oak, Fla.; Chattanooga, Tenn.; Batesville, Ark.; and Moorefield, W.Va.

Authorities made it clear that the arrests were not random, and they had proof those in custody were working under someone else's Social Security Number.

"A good set of documents that had the right Social Security Number and right name could run up to $1300," said John Chakwin, Special Agent, Immigration & Customs Enforcement. "It costs you more money, that is more money for the right Social Security number and right name and date of birth. All the documents are provided to you, including drivers license, birth certificate. And they are all counterfeit."

Around 80% of the employees used stolen identities

Domingo Garcia, Legal Counsel for The League of United Latin American Citizens General Counsel said it was well known that around 80% of the workers at Pilgrim's Pride had fake identification. He also said the plant had to have known about it.

"It's an open secret. Bo Pilgrim wasn't taken away in handcuffs. Why not? Why the double standard? Why go after the employee and not the employer? If you are going to do it, do it right," said Garcia.

Headquartered in Pittsburg, Texas, Pilgrim’s Pride features 37 production facilities processing over 9 billion pounds of poultry annually and is the largest producer and marketer of poultry in America.

Ranked number 432 on the Fortune 500 list of largest U.S. corporations, Pilgrim’s Pride has been named one of Fortune magazine’s most admired companies in 2005, 2004 and 2003.

Credit Freezes and Credit Monitoring Offer No Protection Against Identity Theft Tax Fraud

MyEntrust — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 10:05:39 GMT

By Walter Dubowec

With the federal tax filing deadline just around the corner, USA Today is reporting identity theft is a growing menace to honest taxpayers.

Identity theft experts also report that credit freezes and credit monitoring provide no protection against this type of identity theft. Tax fraud is a growing form of identity theft which begins with the misappropriation of one's Social Security number - a valuable piece of personal data that is not protected by either credit freezes or traditional credit monitoring.

Only an identity monitoring system offers any form of advance detection. Failing that, taxpayers are advised to acquire an identity recovery service to help break through the IRS bureaucracy as they attempt to reclaim their stolen identity.

Tax-related identity theft is a major problem

David Hodge of Mount Vernon, NY got a big surprise when he filed his federal tax returns. "I was stunned," says Hodge, when his accountant said the IRS had rejected his return because someone had already filed using his name and Social Security number.

Hodge contacted the IRS and he was told to produce copies of his Social Security card and birth certificate within 30 days, "or else I would probably have more problems with that number."

As tax deadline day approaches, Hodge's bad experience is becoming more common. Federal Trade Commission complaints involving tax returns linked to identity theft are up 158% since 2003. Similar complaints to the IRS Taxpayer Advocate jumped 644% in three years. Last year there were over 21,000 known cases, but experts believe the problem is much larger.

Nina Olson, head of the IRS Taxpayer Advocate office, reported to Congress that identity theft is now one of the top problems facing taxpayers. Olson believes the statistics only reflect a small part of the problem.

"If you want quantification, we don't know," Olson says. "The IRS has no idea how many cases of identity theft exist."

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., criticized the tax agency's efforts to combat the problem during a Thursday hearing. Saying, "Victims of identity theft deserve better," he directed the IRS to produce a comprehensive action plan within 90 days. IRS Commissioner Douglas Shulman, conceding the agency's response to the problem "is not where it needs to be."

"It's time to end the nightmare for honest American taxpayers who fall victim to identity theft," said Baucus.

That identity theft nightmare is spreading. This according to USA Today interviews with more than a dozen accountants and other tax experts across the country.

Many different schemes to which taxpayers fall victim

Often, identity thieves look to collect a fraudulent tax refund. They file with one stolen identity, claim multiple dependents and apply for the federal Earned Income Tax Credit. An identity thief can get a tax refund worth thousands of dollars this way.

Diana Aliffi, a Riverhead, N.Y., accountant, allegedly stole former clients' personal information in a scam that could have netted up to $19 million in tax refunds, according to an indictment recently unsealed.

"People create a phony business, phony children, phony working hours and other details to get a very nice refund," says Eduardo Leiseca, an enrolled agent in Miami who says a client who ran an import-export business fell victim to just such a scheme.

Stealing someone else’s identity can help thieves hide a criminal conviction, illegal-immigration status or other problem that could block them from getting a job. Their employers file W-2 wage-reporting forms with the IRS, which attributes the income to the true owner of the Social Security number. Victims don't discover the problem until the IRS contacts them with questions about under-reported income.

Eventually, the innocent victims are faced with weeks or months of battling the bureaucracy to verify their identity so as to avoid longer-term financial damage.

A New York State Police trooper whose identity was stolen last year waited from February until September to get his anticipated tax refund as the IRS sorted out the problem. "He was counting on that refund to pay his real estate tax bill. He didn't have the money to pay on time … and he had to pay penalties and interest, so of course it was a hardship," said his tax preparer.

ID theft victims forced to wait for refunds

A worker at the Hiram Walker distillery in Fort Smith, Ark. received an IRS letter questioning whether he had under-reported his income, says Charles Homolka in Muldrow, Okla., who prepared his tax return.

"Someone using his name and Social Security number worked at an aircraft factory in California. The IRS thought my client was hiding the income," Homolka says. "It made me laugh, because the commute would have been murder."

The distillery employee wasn’t laughing, because the problem took at least three months to resolve with the IRS.

Many cases take far longer. From 2002 through 2005, multiple identity thieves used the name and Social Security number of a Mexican-American factory worker to get jobs in Kansas, Texas and New Jersey, says Bob Smith, a tax preparation agent in Albert Lea, Minn.

"One year, he supposedly had over $240,000 in income" from all the different jobs, Smith says. "He said, 'I'll pay the tax if I can have all that income.' "

Each time, the IRS held up the worker's tax refund while investigating whether he had under-reported his income, Smith says. Each time, it took about six months to prove his client hadn't worked elsewhere and to get the refund released, he says.

Many ID theft victims complain about IRS delays and bungling in resolving their claims. Olson acknowledged in her congressional report that while IRS response has improved, the agency "too often exacerbates the difficulties" faced by victims. She said the IRS:

•Used procedures that ignored common-sense evidence about the rightful owner of a disputed Social Security number.

•Gave alleged victims temporary identification numbers to file tax returns and then denied tax benefits because they did not use Social Security numbers to file.

•Provided inadequate authentication processes for the electronic filing system used by many taxpayers and tax preparers.

•Provided instructions that varied from office to office, leaving victims "bounced around from one place to another."

Tax fraud begins with the theft of a Social Security number - personal data not protected by either credit freezes or traditional credit monitoring.

American taxpayers need to be on the alert. The ID theft protection they thought they had, may not provide much protection at all.

Man Arrested, Loses Job and Family After Credit Card Used To Make Child Porn Purchases By An Identity Thief

MyEntrust — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 12:21:07 GMT

By Walter Dubowec

This true story is every online shopper’s worst nightmare.

It’s a chilling tale with links to Texas, England and Indonesia. It proves that identity theft is an international menace that knows no borders. Anyone can be a victim.

As a result of a stolen credit card being used to purchase child pornography, Simon Bunce of Hampshire, England was arrested and falsely accused of being a pedophile, he lost his $250,000-a-year job, his father and siblings abandoned him and his computer was confiscated by the authorities.

The BBC reported that Mr. Bunce was an innocent victim of Operation Ore, a massive British online kiddie-porn crackdown that grew out of Operation Avalanche. That US-based sweep was an earlier American operation which began with a raid on Landslide Productions, a Texas company that handled credit-card transactions for adult web sites.

American authorities handed over a list of British credit-card numbers allegedly used to make purchases through Landslide’s payment processing facilities.

British law enforcement began rounding up 7,200 people, whose card numbers showed up on the list. Among them were rock star Pete Townshend of the Who and in 2004, an unsuspecting Simon Bunce.

Bunce was arrested without any investigation "on suspicion of possessing indecent images of children, downloading indecent images of children and incitement to distribute indecent images of children" — all before a single image of such had been found on his computers at home and at work.

Mr. Bunce was fired from his high-paying job and estranged from most of his family. Only his wife believed his innocence. So while his computer sat in police custody waiting to be examined, Bunce began trying to clear his name.

"I knew there'd been a fundamental mistake made and so I had to investigate it," he said.
Using the U.S. Freedom of Information Act and a catalog of Internet Protocol addresses, Bunce began the process to prove he was falsely accused.

Credit card was stolen from an online shopping site

Bunce discovered that his credit-card number had been used in Jakarta, Indonesia, to buy child pornography online at the exact same moment he used the card to pay a bill for dinner at a London restaurant.

It turns out that Bunce’s credit card number had been stolen from a popular online-retail site and was subsequently used to make illegal online purchases.

Finally, after several months, the police admitted that Bunce was innocent and there was no evidence of child pornography on his computer.

Mr. Bunce eventually found a new job and now sells computer security services. However, the loss of time, money, his job and damaged personal relationships can’t be measured.

Think it can't happen to you? Think again!

FBI Reports Botnets Quietly Steal Identities From Home and Business Computers

MyEntrust — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 15:56:53 GMT

By Myles Cairns

The FBI recently provided a warning to consumers and businesses that concerns everyone and highlights how vulnerable we all are. Even if you do everything right - you could still become a victim of identity theft.

There are criminals all around the globe who seize control of thousands of computers through what are known as "botnets". These botnets are a dramatically growing threat, says Shawn Henry, deputy assistant director of the FBI’s Cyber Division, in an interview with Newsmax.

Botnets target home and business computers

Consumers, business, hospital, government and even police departments are targets of infiltration by botnets. According to Newsmax, the FBI has recently arrested 11 individuals who allegedly infected and commandeered over one million personal computers and turned them into robots that did their bidding.

The number of cyber crimes grows each year as identity thieves get more sophisticated and consumers must take measures to minimize the danger to their computers, their credit and identity. Everyone needs to use updated antivirus software, spyware protection and firewall programs.

Shawn Henry of the FBI suggests computer users think of the Internet as they would a dangerous neighborhood where their personal safety may be threatened.

“If you’re walking in a neighborhood that’s a high crime neighborhood, you have to be aware of your surroundings,” Henry says. “You don’t walk looking at your shoes and walk straight ahead. You’re aware of what’s going on. You’re looking ahead, you’re looking to your side, you hear somebody who’s walking behind you and you’re going to turn your head.”

The Internet should be treated the same way.

Slave computers are used to attack

A botnet allows a criminal to seize control of any number of computers by introducing malicious programs into each computer through its Internet connection.

With a single command, these slave computers can be used to engage in phishing schemes, inducing people to give up their personal information in response to phony emails supposedly sent by banks.

“The bad guys who control such networks have harvested hundreds or thousands or tens of thousands of pieces of information,” Henry says. “That includes people’s user names and passwords for their brokerage accounts, people’s pin numbers for their bank accounts, and people’s tax records.”

To harvest information, a cyber criminal might send a million spam emails to unsuspecting computers across the country.

“If one half of one percent of the people respond, they’ve got some good numbers to work with,” Henry says. Once a computer is compromised, a criminal can retrieve any information from that computer. Affected consumers often have no idea that their computer has been compromised.

You must provide the first line of defence

“It’s important for computer users to understand that they’ve got to take certain measures in their home. They are the first line of defense”, Henry says.

Henry suggests that consumers choose passwords that have upper case and lower case letters as well as numbers and those passwords should be changed periodically.

"What we’ve seen via the Internet is groups of people who are collaborating online to commit crimes,” Henry says. “They never know their co-conspirators’ true names. They don’t know where they live, but they all have a skill. In the virtual world, it’s done virtually, collaborating online without anyone actually knowing each other.”

"If determined enough, sophisticated criminals can penetrate any computer", Henry says.

“But taking the right precautions makes it more difficult,” Henry says. “And the higher you can raise the bar, the better off you are as a consumer.”

Social Security Number Stolen As A Child - Woman Unaware She Was A Victim of Identity Theft For Sixteen Years

MyEntrust — Sun, 23 Mar 2008 14:04:23 GMT

By Walter Dubowec

Thousands of Americans are victims of identity theft, only they don’t know it. The theft is often unknown to the victim for years.

Their identity is stolen and their credit is ruined. This can go undetected for years. Another such case has surfaced which involves an identity thief in California and an innocent woman in Kentucky.

A 24 year old Kentucky woman recently discovered she had been an ID Theft victim for the last sixteen years. Her Social Security number was stolen when she was just eight years old.

The victim was unaware that her Social Security number was being used until she recently tried to obtain utility services in Kentucky. She was notified by the utility company that someone in Sacramento had an active electricity account under her Social Security number.

ID Thief purchased homes while victim was denied credit and utility service

Four years ago, the Kentucky woman began to suspect there was something wrong when she encountered difficulties getting credit and was subsequently denied credit.

She was not able to pinpoint the source of the problem until she was denied service by the local utility in Kentucky. A trace was made back to the identity thief in Sacramento.

Authorities stepped in and arrested 30 year old Vicente Soto who fraudulently obtained a child’s Social Security number sixteen years earlier.

After further investigations, police learned that Soto used the girl’s stolen Social Security number to purchase homes totaling $621,000 for two residences in the Sacramento area. He has lived in the second home for more than two years.

Two Homes In Foreclosure Ruin Woman's Credit

Both homes are in foreclosure. The foreclosures now are blemishes on the Kentucky woman’s credit until she fully clears her name.

Soto also used the Social Security number in other states, including Minnesota, where he obtained a driver's license.

Soto is now facing identification theft charges.

Sacramento law enforcement warns people to safeguard their Social Security numbers by monitoring their credit reports regularly. It is also important to monitor your complete identity, including Social Security numbers.

Identity Thieves File Phony Returns In The Names of Tax Payers To Collect Refunds

MyEntrust — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 11:50:16 GMT

By Walter Dubowec

There is a growing problem with identity thieves making false refund claims through the IRS using stolen identities, reports the Wall Street Journal. These criminals file phony tax returns with your name, Social Security number and other personal information to collect a refund.

Growing numbers of victims are complaining to the Internal Revenue Service and the Federal Trade Commission about this scam.

Identity theft has become one of the "most serious problems" facing taxpayers, said IRS National Taxpayer Advocate Nina Olson in a report to Congress early this year. Among the major problems that can arise are:

Delays of tax refunds
Denial of tax refunds
Assessment of tax debts from income reported on a fraudulent return.

The problem is rapidly escalating, having more than doubled over the past few years. The Federal Trade Commission received almost 21,000 complaints on tax-related identity-theft issues in 2007, up from 15,000 in 2006 and 8,000 in 2003.

Ms. Olson believes those numbers "significantly understate" the size of the problem and the number of taxpayers hurt by it because, she says, the agency doesn't have a comprehensive method of tracking the various types of identity-theft cases.

Here are examples of tax identity fraud:

1. Multiple Tax Refunds: In one recent case in Pensacola, Fla., a former Girl Scout leader, was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to multiple counts of identity theft and filing "false and fictitious" claims for tax refunds. The woman created a bogus Girl Scout medical-release form to get sensitive information, including children's Social Security numbers. She then used the information to prepare and file electronic federal income-tax returns

The phony refunds were transferred into five different bank accounts she controlled. She "filed false claims totaling more than $187,000, from which she obtained more than $87,000" from the government "as a result of fraudulently using the identity of these children, including her own children.”

2. Refund Anticipation Loan Rejected: A Connecticut woman was recently notified by a New York bank that her application for a refund anticipation loan had been rejected.

"That blew my mind," she says -- because she hadn't applied for such a loan and hasn't yet even prepared her tax returns for 2007. She also recently received a letter from the New York state tax department questioning her 2007 return, which she hasn't yet filed.

"It's horrible," she says. She has no idea how her identity was stolen -- but adds that "I now shred everything that comes to my house with my name on it" before throwing anything away.

3. Thief Collects $4,005 Instant Loan from H&R Block: In another recent case, the victim was a 53-year-old Michigan woman named Marie Mendoza. Ms. Mendoza received a call from an H&R Block representative at a nearby office. The tax-preparation firm had prepared her returns for the past decade or so. She says the Block representative asked her to bring back some paperwork she accidentally had taken with her two days earlier when she was there to file her return for 2007.

"I said, 'What, are you kidding?' " Ms. Mendoza replied that she hadn't been to the Block office at all this year, hadn't filed her tax return for last year -- and isn't planning to use Block because she feels they charged too much last year.

Ms. Mendoza soon discovered that someone had filed a fraudulent return in her name. The thief had arranged to collect $4,005 through an instant loan and already has pocketed the money. "It was very upsetting," she says.

Ms. Mendoza says Block has said she will not be held responsible for the loan, but her problems are far from over. When she tried filing her tax return electronically, the IRS rejected it. That rejection was "very stressful," she says, because she needed that refund to pay her bills. Since then, she says, she has had to borrow money, mainly from friends. She recently filed her federal income-tax return on paper but doesn't know when she will get her refund.

4. Illegal Workers Use Stolen SSN's: To make matters worse, refund fraud isn't the only type of tax-related identity theft. In other cases, the thief uses a stolen Social Security number to get a job in the U.S.

In a typical case, that person's employer later files a Form W-2 reflecting the wages, and IRS data systems attribute those wages to the rightful owner of that Social Security number. Victims discover the problem after getting a startling notice from the IRS asking about unreported income.

NBC Reports Consumer Privacy Is Being Violated By Bankrupt Mortgage Companies

MyEntrust — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 01:00:48 GMT

By Myles Cairns

America's mortgage crisis is having an unexpected impact on the privacy of many consumers. These consumers have tremendous exposure to potential identity theft through the common practice which the FTC refers to as 'dumpster diving'.

It seems that recently bankrupt mortgage companies are illegally dumping piles of confidential personal paper documents belonging to former clients in common dumpsters across the country.

These companies include First Magnus of Tuscon AZ, Alpha Mortgage Services of Toledo OH, American United Mortgage of Northbrook IL and Union Mortgage Services of Cleveland OH, to name a few. Similar incidents from Hawaii to Georgia and virtually everywhere in between have been discovered in the past months and years.

An NBC news reporter quite easily discovered all the most sensitive and confidential information an identity thief would need to steal the identities of hundreds of consumers. They were all openly sitting in a dumpster.

Sensitive records such as Social Security Numbers, tax returns, credit reports and banking records are routinely discarded in open dumpsters which violates FACT regulations. The problem is that it is difficult if not impossible for authorities to prosecute a defunct company.

“It makes you wonder how bad your credit rating becomes if people get this in their hands,” Kim Soeder said, whose personal financial records were recovered from a Cleveland area dumpster by the NBC news team.

Study Finds Big Banks and Large Telecoms are Most Likely to Fall Victim to Major Data Breaches

MyEntrust — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 12:12:34 GMT

By Walter Dubowec

A new report from the Berkeley Center for Law and Technology finds that the world's biggest banks and telecommunications companies are most frequently the companies whose security is lacking and thus become targets for data breaches.

Unfortunately, it is consumers who become the victims of the eventual identity theft crimes. This is according to data collected from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).

The study was compiled from 88,000 complaints filed with the FTC over a three month period in 2006. It concludes that major banks and telecommunications companies accounted for a much larger portion of the filed complaints than other industries.

According to author Chris Hoofnagle, a senior fellow at the Berkeley Center, the report was designed to provide consumers and regulators "objective tools" to compare banks, consumer service providers and utilities based on how they handle security and incidents of fraud and theft.

"Without such tools, consumers cannot 'vote with their feet' and choose safer institutions,” said Hoofnagle.

Here is a summary of the report's findings:

• Bank of America ranked highest of all the companies, with an average of 1,117 incidents over the three-month period. Next was AT&T with 763 incidents, followed by Sprint Nextel with 698. Rounding out the top five were JP Morgan Chase (including Chase and Bank One) with 613 cases, and Capital One with 442.

• The institutions with the lowest number of complaints over the period studied were Macy's (2.9 incidents per month), BellSouth (3.9 incidents per month), and Dell (1.8 incidents per month).

• In studying the banks, when Hoofnagle divided the incidents by total deposits, HSBC had a higher rate of fraud than Bank of America, at 21 incidents per billions of deposits compared to Bank of America's 17 incidents. ING Bank had the lowest rate of fraud, with one incident reported over the three-month time period.

The exact source of each identity theft crime is often impossible to accurately determine. Hoofnagle noted that many factors contribute to identity theft which complicates studying the findings.

Among them were incidents of "synthetic identity theft," where the thief takes pieces of genuine identities and forges a new false identity to commit crimes with, would not be accurately reflected in the complaints.

Hoofnagle also believes that the lengthy FTC complaint form could discourage many consumers from providing accurate data, which results in difficulty in linking incidents to the proper financial institutions and/or major service provider.

Experian Files Lawsuit Against LifeLock and Alleges Consumer Fraud

MyEntrust — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 18:25:48 GMT

On February 13th, 2008, credit bureau Experian filed suit against the identity theft prevention company LifeLock, accusing it of deception and fraud in its advertising. Here is a summary of key points raised in a February 20th report published by msnbc.com.

From the files of msnbc.com

In the lawsuit, Experian alleges that LifeLock's advertising is misleading and that the firm is breaking federal law in the way it goes about protecting consumers.

Experian contends that LifeLock's chief ID theft prevention tool - the placing of continuous fraud alerts on consumers' credit file is illegal because, under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, fraud alerts can only be requested by the individual consumer or an individual acting on behalf of the consumer.

"The FCRA does not permit the placement of an initial fraud alert by corporations such as LifeLock," the lawsuit reads. "Despite this prohibition, LifeLock has surreptitiously placed hundreds of thousands of fraud alerts on Experian’s files by posing as the consumer."

The fraud alerts, which last for 90 days and warn companies checking a consumer's credit to be on alert for imposters, can only be placed when there is suspicion of imminent fraud, Experian says. Placement of fraud alerts by LifeLock for any consumer who requests one asks also runs counter to federal law, the firm says.

LifeLock’s service includes an automated request for a new fraud alert every 90 days, to create an indefinite fraud alert. Experian calls these "illegal fraud alerts."

Experian also claims that LifeLock’s advertising is deceptive to consumers. They allege that LifeLock is attempting to profit off a free service established by Congress in the Fair Credit Reporting Act.

Experian has also been the target of criticism that it sells a service that Congress mandated should be free. Its FreeCreditReport.com site has been targeted by the FTC, which expressed concern that the site could be confused with AnnualCreditReport.com.

Doesn't stop all ID theft

According to the Experian lawsuit, LifeLock misrepresents the effectiveness of its identity theft prevention tools.

"LifeLock … creates the overall net impression that LifeLock can protect against all types of fraud including computer hacking and accessing a bank account using stolen passwords,” the lawsuit says. “Fraud alerts only are effective against fraud that requires accessing a credit report.”

In one ad cited in the lawsuit, LifeLock claims “you’ll find out how to lock down your identity, making it virtually impossible for identity thieves to wreak havoc on your good name.” But, Experian contends, the company’s tools provide no protection against identity theft that's already in progress, or against unauthorized use of a credit card.

LifeLock’s systems in many cases can’t stop an undocumented worker from using a consumer's Social Security number to obtain employment, one of the more common forms of identity theft.

Most services are free

In addition to continuous fraud alerts, LifeLock provides three other basic services to consumers: It helps them stop junk mail and the mailing of pre-approved credit card offers, and it offers a copy of their credit report.

All three services are free; so are fraud alerts, though few consumers would take the time to continually request fraud alerts every 90 days.

Experian also claims in the lawsuit that Lifelock is deceiving the credit bureaus. When it contacts a bureau and asks for fraud alert, LifeLock is “actively concealing that its requests are being submitted by a corporation.” Instead, LifeLock represents that it is the individual consumer, Experian says.

LifeLock also utilizes AnnualCreditReport.com, a free site, to obtain credit reports on behalf of consumers, and then effectively charges for these reports by including them as part of LifeLock's monthly subscription service.

LifeLock consumers, unaware of this, then try to get their own credit reports from AnnualCreditReport and are denied because LifeLock has already used their once-a-year benefit, Experian says.

The flooding of Experian’s systems with thousands of fraud alert requests each month also presents a hazard to consumers, Experian argued, threatening to clog the system with stale, unnecessary alerts when LifeLock "cries wolf" on behalf of consumers.

The LifeLock fraud alerts cost Experian “millions of dollars,” the firm says. And its advertising creates among consumers a false impression that they must pay for fraud alerts, which are free, it adds.

Lifelock CEO Todd Davis called the lawsuit "baseless".

Entrust America Provides The Top Five Identity Theft Protection Services To American Consumers

MyEntrust — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 10:17:51 GMT

By Ken Stoll

Another independent review of identity theft services indicates that Entrust America offers the top five identity theft protection features, while not surprisingly making no mention of credit freezes or lockdowns.

While the likes of Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Paul Harvey, Laura Ingraham are paid promoters who proclaim the benefits of credit lockdown services, most of the nation’s ID Theft experts do not endorse credit freezes as the nation's best identity theft solution.

Most experts agree that lockdowns and fraud alerts offer incomplete protection; credit monitoring alone does not adequately protect you and your credit cards or banks do not have you covered.

Gartner Research says that identity monitoring combined with credit monitoring offers a much more comprehensive solution. Entrust America’s independent focus groups felt that Full Recovery Services were a very valuable component which offered an important benefit to consumers.

The Top Five ID Theft Solutions:

A review in the American Chronicle suggests that these are the most important identity theft services for consumers:

1. Recovery - This is the most important component of any identity theft solution! Sometimes it is called restoration or resolution; it is the process of returning all records that have been fraudulently affected by an identity thief´s action to the way they were before the fraud was committed. These records could be credit reports, financial records, wage and earning reports, driving records, medical record or criminal records.

2. Credit Report Monitoring - This is an important part of a total protection strategy. But, it is not an identity theft solution, as it is sometimes portrayed by certain companies. It will not prevent identity theft, nor will it resolve any issues for you if you fall victim. It is only an early warning system that to tell you a thief is working behind the scenes, which can save time and prevent further damage to your good name. Without some type of credit monitoring, you may not be aware that a criminal is operating in the shadow for months, perhaps years. Credit monitoring is not 100% foolproof.

3. Identity Scoring - This involves scanning on a regular basis over national databases to look for anomalies in the use of a person´s name, social security number and address, alone or in any combination with other personal data. With this system, it may be possible to stop identity theft before the damage is done! According, this service is becoming one of the key components in the fight against identity theft damage.

4. Expense Reimbursement - Sometimes called Identity Theft Insurance, this is sold with various coverage limits from $15,000 to $20,000 or more. While this is a valuable part of the overall strategy, it is not a solution.

5. Education - Law enforcement says being informed and taking responsibility for safeguarding your personal information is the best prevention you can practice. Look for programs that provide you with current information, receive newsletters or alerts.

Interestingly, Entrust America's Identity & Credit Protection System provides all FIVE 'must-have' services within one single program. No wonder, it is called America's Most Comprehensive ID & Credit Protection system. Remarkably, this complete coverage is available for only $19.95 per month.

New medFICO Scores Could Be Coming To A Hospital Near You This Summer

MyEntrust — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 12:07:42 GMT

By Walter Dubowec

The fastest growing area within the world of ID theft is medical identity fraud. That’s where an uninsured person steals your identity so that they can receive medical treatments using your health insurance plan. The FTC reported more than 200,000 cases last year and those numbers are rising.

Now medical ID Theft may cause even more damage. The health industry is now creating its own score to judge your ability to pay.

The new medFICO score will start being used by healthcare providers as early as this summer in some hospitals. An identity thief could damage your medFICO score and prevent you from receiving medical care, fear some consumer groups.

Healthcare Analytics, a Waltham, Mass., health technology firm, is developing the score in conjunction with Fair Isaac.

The medFICO score is raising concerns from consumer advocacy groups and legislators who worry it may be checked before patients are treated. There is the potential for those with low medical credit scores to receive lower-quality care than those with a healthy medFICO score.

Fair Isaac is now in the process of collecting payment history information from large hospitals across the US. They will analyze the information and determine if patients are likely to pay future medical bills. It is an attractive idea for the healthcare industry which deals with $40 billion in unpaid bills each year.

Consumer groups and legislators are concerned about medFICO

Consumer advocates are skeptical about the program. They warned that the scores could be used to turn away patients, deny a hospital stay or follow-up visits.

"How much assurance do I have that they're not going to look at this medFICO first, before they decide whether to treat or not?" asked Linda Foley, founder of the Identity Theft Resource Center in San Diego.

That will not happen, said Stephen Farber, chairman and chief executive officer of Healthcare Analytics. Hospitals will check the score, which will be based on the patient's medical bill payment history, only after the patient is discharged, he said.

Minnesota's Attorney General, Lori Swanson is concerned with this latest development, considering that:

•One-third of Americans have problems with medical debt

•The Consumer Federation of America surveyed 500,000 Americans and found that about one-third erroneously had credit scores 50 points less than they should have. (Ms. Swanson wonders, “will the provider tell the patient: We could have saved your arm but there was a transposition error on your credit score?”)

•Even the medical credit scores of the more-affluent could be affected if their HMOs or insurance companies deny or delay claims.

•Medical debt is the leading cause of personal bankruptcy.

According to Minnesota’s Attorney General, “today's credit scores reflect a borrower's payment history with voluntary debt like credit cards, car loans and home mortgages. Health-care debt is fundamentally different. Patients do not go to the hospital because they want to -- they go because they have to. The health-care consumer seeking hospital treatment is a far different consumer than the one who goes to a big-box retailer to buy the latest plasma-screen TV.”

Presently, a consumers health care payment history is not reported to credit bureaus. With the medFICO score, this data will be collected and reported.

Swanson says, “I will be drafting legislation to prohibit the distribution of credit scores to medical providers until after the patient's treatment is completed. The legislation also will prohibit providers from reporting health-care debt to credit bureaus. We shouldn't send patients into a financial death spiral simply because they get sick.”

This is certain to be a very contentious issue in the months to come. It provides another powerful reason for consumers to protect their identity and their credit score.

Consumer Protection Head Is Latest Victim of Identity Theft

MyEntrust — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 00:35:25 GMT

By Walter Dubowec

It is true. Absolutely no one in America is immune to identity theft!

Ellen Gabler, a consumer affairs specialist with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported a woman named Janet Jenkins recently had her identity stolen. The news seems insignificant at first blush because identities are stolen in America at a rate of about one each minute, right?

Wrong!

What makes this case different is that Janet Jenkins heads the State of Wisconsin’s Office of Consumer Protection. Her job is to help ensure that the citizens of Wisconsin don't get scammed or taken advantage of.

But she was scammed. "It just goes to show, you can't entirely protect yourself," Jenkins said.

Here's what happened, according to the Journal Sentinel:

“In late December, Jenkins noticed her credit card bill online had some unusual charges - two $116 bills at a florist. Jenkins said she hadn't bought any flowers and called the florist. They had her name, address and credit card number.”

“Jenkins then called the credit card company and told them what had happened. They transferred her to the fraud department where someone discovered there were a few more charges that hadn't yet showed up online. The thief even had "pinged" the account, which Jenkins described as someone making a $1 charge just to make sure the card works.”

So how did it happen?

This is the scary part.

As with many cases of identity theft, the victim has no clue how their personal data and credit card information was stolen. Its a total mystery to Janet Jenkins.

Ms. Jenkins said she hadn't lost her credit card and she only shops occasionally online. Yet, an identity thief acquired her card info, found her address and other personal information prior to making the illegal purchases - even though Janet's card never left her wallet.

Once again, the threat of identity theft appears to be on the rise.

Video Interviews Woman Who Fell VictimTo Phishing Scam And Lost $3,000

MyEntrust — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 22:17:26 GMT

By Matt LaMey

Phishing scams are more elaborate than ever and everyone with a computer is a potential identity theft victim.

Phishing is where an internet identity thief sends an email posing as a legitimate business like a bank, a retailer, a credit card company or an online auction site.

The typical phishing scheme asks you to update your personal information. So while you may think you are responding to a valid bank request, you are in fact turning your personal financial information and access codes to a cyber thief.

The identity thief has created an email message which impersonates a well known company like Citibank, eBay or Bank of America to name a few. Many of these schemes originate in Eastern Europe and Asia and are beyond the reach of US authorities.

Once your private data is received, the identity thief has the tools needed to empty your bank account or spend until your credit card is maxed out

CBS News produced an excellent report on Phishing Scams which should give cause to virtually everyone in America to consider acquiring Identity & Credit Monitoring Services along with Full Recovery Services. This CBS video demonstrates just how clever the phishing schemes have become.

Click below and you'll see how easy it is to become a victim of today's sophisticated phishing scams.

(c) CBS News

J.C. Penney Cardholders Have Personal Data Stolen And Now May Be Exposed To Identity Theft

MyEntrust — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 11:22:25 GMT

By Myles Cairns

Credit card customers of J.C. Penney and other smaller retailers may be at risk of identity theft after a major data breach was announced last week.

Personal and credit information on 650,000 J.C. Penney customers and as many as one hundred other retailers could be compromised because of a missing computer tape.

GE Money, handles credit card operations for J.C. Penney and other retailers, reported the missing information includes Social Security numbers for 150,000 consumers.

The cardholders’ personal information was on a backup computer tape that went missing in October. The tape was being stored at an off-site warehouse run by an independent data storage company. The data breach was publicly announced over three months after it occurred.

According to GE Money, the tape was never officially checked out of the secure facility, but it cannot be found either. In a statement that offers little comfort to consumers, a spokesman for the data storage facility said, “Because of the volume of information we handle and the fact people are involved, we have occasionally made mistakes.”

GE Money has attempted to reconstruct the missing data and inform consumers they may be at risk of identity theft. Some customers are being offered one year of free credit monitoring.

Identity theft fraud experts believe credit monitoring alone will not protect these consumers against synthetic identity theft. Only identity monitoring (such as that offered by Entrust America) provides such protection.

Resulting identity thefts may not show up for months or years

Last year’s report by the Government Accountability Office determined that law enforcement agencies often could not track cases of identity theft back to data breaches, because the fraud did not occur until a year or more after the breach.

The massive data breach at T.J. Maxx in 2007 resulted in many cases of known identity theft and an unknown number of cases which cannot be directly linked.

Experts warn that exact links between data breaches and identity theft can be difficult to trace. This is due to factors such as the number of lost or stolen records, the type of information that was lost.

Data breaches can result in information being sold on the black market for only a few dollars. This information is then used to create a synthetic identity, which involves taking pieces of different people's personal information and combining them into a new identity, making its misuse harder to determine as fraudulent.

Nor can law enforcement easily track the identity theft back to its original source, as the data often changes hands overseas before returning to America for fraudulent use. Authorities say only that cardholders are advised to remain vigilant.

Over Four Years Spent To Reclaim Identity Stolen From Eleven Year Old Girl

MyEntrust — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 17:54:12 GMT

By Walter Dubowec

It seems that even children and students are potential identity theft victims. Four years ago, Alicia Melendez was a bright young sixteen year old who applied for a position at a local Chicago area Target store.

"I was the only person in that room who could do the job," Melendez, now 20, said of the Target position. "But after they did a background check and a credit check, I didn't get it."

Alicia did not have bad credit, a criminal record or any other blemish on her name – at least not that she knew of. What she didn’t know was that for years someone else had been using her Social Security number.

According to police, a 39 year old West Chicago man named Ambrosio DeJesus-Flores had been using the young girl’s SSN and ruining her identity and credit – even though she was still a minor.

DeJesus-Flores was charged last week with identity theft. In Illinois, identity theft is a felony and he faces four to 15 years in prison if convicted.

Identity thief purchased SSN for just $200

Police say DeJesus-Flores bought the number in Chicago for only $200, when Alicia Melendez was only 11 years old.

Over a nine year period, authorities allege he illegally used the number to secure a $149,000 mortgage on his home, maintain employment, receive cell phone service and register two vehicles.

At the same time, Alicia Melendez was denied numerous employment opportunities because of misinformation from another person using her number. She was forced to spend countless hours trying to clear her name. In total, she spent over four years reclaiming her identity.

"It was frustrating because he had a job and was making money," Melendez said. "And what did I get? Nothing. For something that wasn't my fault."

Melendez's mother, Shirley Short, said the ordeal has prevented her daughter from getting well-paid jobs, which usually require credit and background checks.

Melendez said she was advised to contact the local Social Security office to clear up the mess. Though Melendez and Short said they thought the problem had been solved after the got a new SSN card - DeJesus continued to use Melendez's identification number for another four years.

The Social Security office printed a new card with the same number, but with her middle name spelled out. But the new card did not purge DeJesus-Flores from Melendez's records. Instead he continued to use the number until his arrest.

The problem was not solved until police became involved and through their investigations, they were able to apprehend the identity thief.

Identity Theft was the #1 complaint received by the Illinois Attorney General's office in 2006.

Gartner Survey Recommends Consumers Rely On Services Like Those Offered By Entrust America

MyEntrust — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 11:10:15 GMT

By Ken Stoll

Gartner Inc. recently released a survey which provides interesting data relating to the identity theft industry. Gartner is a leading independent global researcher of identity theft and security issues.

Their research indicates that credit monitoring alone does not provide consumers with enough protection against identity theft. According to Gartner, it falls short as a standalone solution, even though it provides an important line of defence.

Instead, Gartner suggests that consumers need protection from other services including credit restitution and identity monitoring. These services are valuable because they watch for more than just the unauthorized use of a credit bureau report for a given identity.

These findings are interesting because they recommend that consumers consider a comprehensive identity theft solution which mirrors the Identity & Credit Protection System offered by Entrust America. In fact, the report specifically refers to our identity monitoring solution as the most viable option, when used in conjunction with credit monitoring (which Entrust America offers through TransUnion).

Older and more well off consumers are more likley to be data breach victims

Based on the survey results, it appears consumers are more likely to be a data breach victim if they are older and have a higher income.

Gartner reports that one-third of the surveyed population, which corresponds to an estimated 58.6 million individuals, received notifications that their personal information may have been compromised as a result of a data breach, or of stolen or lost equipment. Almost two-thirds of this population received a notice in the 12 months preceding the survey as breach incidents continued to escalate.

Adults older than age 35 and those who earn higher incomes are more likely to get a breach notification than adults under the age of 24 and those who earn less than $25,000 a year.

Here is a list of the types of companies from which these consumers reported data breach disclosures:

My Employer or VA - 31%

Credit Card Issuer - 24%

My Bank - 21%

Company I Did Not Know - 13%

Retailer - 9%

My Brokerage House - 2%

The results of this independent research by Gartner Inc. were released in November 2007.

Consumers Are Worried They Gave Away Their Identity During the Season for Giving

MyEntrust — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 14:10:43 GMT

By Walter Dubowec

The season for giving is over for another year, but many Americans are worried they may have accidentally given their identity to thieves.

The holiday season is a time when identity thieves are most active. However, many consumers will not discover they are victims until January, February or even March. That’s when unauthorized bills and collection notices will arrive.

According to new research by the Ohio Department of Insurance and the National Association of Insurance Companies, 57 percent of U.S. adults said they were worried about identity theft this holiday season and 66 percent believe they are at greater risk because they purchased online.

Of those consumers surveyed who said they had been victimized last year, 46 percent said their identity theft exceeded $1,000. Also, 42 percent of those consumers said it took three months or longer to resolve the problem.

During the post-Christmas season, here are tips to help protect against identity theft:

1. Check for unauthorized transactions:
If you notice strange or unfamiliar transactions on your bank statements, check with your credit company immediately to determine if they are valid charges. If purchases are not legitimate, immediately contact one of the three major credit bureaus – TransUnion, Equifax and Experian and ask for a fraud alert to be placed on your record. Also file a police report.

2. Follow-up on statements that have not arrived:
Be suspicious if a credit card statement does not arrive as usual. If you are expecting your monthly bill to arrive and it doesn't, then follow up immediately. The bill may contain unauthorized charges. The identithy thief may be diverting the statement from you so you are not aware of the purchases.

3. Shred documents before disposal:
Any items that include personal information should be shredded before being discarded. After Christmas is a prime time for thieves. Make sure there is no personal information to be found. Thieves will often go through your trash looking for valuable personal data.

Remember to keep a close eye on all your bills and make sure the charges are legitimate. Early detection of suspicious charges will help minimize the damage. By checking closely, you may also discover costly bank or credit card errors.

'Tis The Season For Identity Theft Across America

MyEntrust — Sat, 15 Dec 2007 23:49:27 GMT

By Myles Cairns

The holiday season is in full swing and the number of bountiful opportunities for identity thieves rises signficantly. With so much shopping both at retail outlets and online, the chances of you becoming an identity theft victim increases too.

During the Christmas holidays, shoppers are more likely to be careless and drop their guard. Its not always easy to stay focused and organized when you are trying to buy that perfect gift for Aunt Martha and Uncle Jim or find a little something for your kids' teacher - all in a few hours of frantic mall shopping.

Security experts advise you to be more cautious with your purse and wallet during the holiday season because that's when identity theft and other scams are at their highest levels. The thefts usually show up about a month after thieves steal your credit cards or personal information.

Clever ID thieves and old-fashioned pickpockets are extremely fond of America's crowded shopping malls in December.

So here's some advice to consumers as they go about their holiday shopping:

- This is a new concern! Beware of people holding cell phones but not making calls. Often, identity thieves use cell phones to take photographs of credit cards or personal information when you're at the checkout.

- Don't take more credit cards than you need. Too many cards in your wallet increases the risk of one falling out by accident.

- Don't take out credit cards before you approach the cash desk. Limit the number of people who might see the cards' information and protect your credit card numbers from the people nearby.

- Shop at secure sites. Make online purchases ONLY through secure and trusted web sites run by legitimate companies.

- Watch your receipts. Keep all receipts together in a secure place so you don't accidentally drop them.

WLKY in Louisville, KY recently ran a short news report on precautions consumers should take during the holiday shopping season, which you can view here:

USA Today Says Data Thefts Have Tripled in 2007

MyEntrust — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 23:27:13 GMT

By Ken Stoll

USA Today reports a massive increase in data theft. All signs are that identity thieves are systematically stealing sensitive personal data from companies, government agencies, colleges and hospitals like never before.

According to USA Today’s analysis of data losses from the past two years, “more than 162 million records have been reported lost or stolen in 2007, triple the 49.7 million that went missing in 2006.

So far in 2007, there have been news reports about major data losses in 98 companies, 85 schools, 80 government agencies and 39 hospitals and clinics. This does not include the smaller companies and organizations whose data breaches went unreported.

Identity thieves are rarely caught

Most surprising is that with all this theft of private data, arrests or prosecutions have been reported in just 19 cases.

Names, birth dates, account numbers and Social Security Numbers are all traded and sold on the cybercrime black market. All can be used to build a fake identity which can ultimately come back to haunt you and hit you in the pocketbook.

More data on the internet means an increased opportunity for theft

The amount of data which travels over the worldwide web continues to expand rapidly. Business data worldwide is predicted to increase to 988 billion gigabytes by 2010, up from 161 billion gigabytes in 2006. That is a 600% increase in data over five years.

Cyber identity thieves are getting their hands on your personal data through databases, PCs, websites and portable storage devices.

In 87 cases this year, thieves cracked their way into organizations' databases. In other cases, they absconded with 63 laptops and 28 desktop computers and hacked into 54 websites. Over 25 million records were lost by the British revenues and customs office through the loss of disks, tapes and other portable storage media crammed with personal data.

Organized-crime rings here in the US and abroad look for unattended laptop computers, US mail that contains disks or tapes and employees susceptible to bribery. A leading security expert says, "They're looking for the weak link and aiming their resources at it."

Amazing Video Shows Live Identity Theft At A Florida Gas Station

MyEntrust — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 12:28:11 GMT

By Ken Stoll:

Here is an amazing video from the Broward County Sheriff's Office in Florida. In just four seconds it shows how someone's personal information can be stolen by an identity thief at a gas station.

You will actually witness live video of a woman's purse being stolen from her van in just 4 seconds, while she is standing right next to her vehicle filling it with gas.

Thieves are targeting vans and SUV's because they are larger and the owner's view can be obstructed.

The Broward County Sheriff points out that nowadays thieves are not only stealing purses and wallets for the cash they contain. Instead, they are looking for identities which can be more valuable than cash.

You can be certain that this form of identity theft is occuring at gas stations everyday all across America and not just in Florida.

Learn how to protect yourself. Watch this remarkable video now.