2: Place a “Fraud Alert” on your credit reports, and review the reports carefully. The fraud alert puts creditors on notice to follow certain protocol before they open new accounts in your name or make changes to your existing accounts. Make a call to one of the three nationwide consumer reporting companies to place a 90-day fraud alert on your account. You need only to notify one of the reporting consumer agencies, the one you call is required by law to notify the others.

Here are the numbers for the consumer reporting companies:

Equifax - 1-800-525-6285
Experian - 1-888- Experian (397-3742)
Trans Union - 1-800-680-7289

Placing a fraud alert will entitle you to free copies of your credit reports in order for you to look for companies you haven’t contacted, accounts you didn’t open, and debts on your accounts that you can’t explain.

Here is the contact information for the free credit report:

www.AnnualCreditReport.com
1-877-322-8228
Annual Credit Report Services
P.O. Box 105281

3: Close accounts that have been tampered with or established fraudulently. To close the accounts, contact the security or fraud department of each company where the account was opened or changed without your okay. Follow up in writing, with copies (not the originals) of supporting  documents. Use the ID Theft Affidavit provided by the FTC at ftc.gov/idtheft to support your written statement. Be sure to ask for written verification that the disputed account has been closed and the fraudulent debts discharged. And keep copies of documents and records of your conversations about the theft.

4: File a report with your local police or the police in the community where the identity theft took place. Be sure to get a copy of the report. The report will be needed to get further documentation about your frauduent accounts.

5: File a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission at ftc.gov/idtheft or call 1-877-ID-THEFT. Your report will help law enforcement officials across the country in their investigations.

Your Internet Safety Advisors,

Dave Ballard

Bill Wardell

Colleges have allowed aggressive and often deceptive credit card marketing campaigns on their campuses for years.  Credit card companies are often allowed to set up booths in campus bookstores and include advertisements for their cards in college welcome packets as well as advertising on campus.

Some colleges even provide student contact information to banks which they receive a fee for doing so.  The U.S. PIRG (The Federation of State Public Interest Research Groups) is urging college administrators to take an active role in determining the type of credit card marketing that is allowed on their campuses.

College students are commonly victims of unfair credit card marketing practices, that can and should be stopped.

Your Internet Safety Advisors,

Dave Ballard

Bill Wardell

Corporate Identity Theft is also on the rise. Several corporations and corporate officers have been unkowingly involved in these cases involving corporate identity theft.

Cyber Stalking has also become a problem associated with fictitious identities. Individuals use the assumed identity over the Internet, to terrorize other individuals.

Patented technology has and continues to help law enforcement agencies in Internet related investigations. One process automatically identifies all Internet E-Mail addresses stored on a given computer. Another process automatically identifies all Internet web browsing activity on a given computer. This technology is also used by U. S. intelligence agencies to help identify Internet related links between terrorists and other individuals of interest to the government.

The Future Concerning Identity Theft

Currently, law enforcement agencies rely upon computer forensics to help even the playing field with the criminals who choose to use computers to commit crimes. Nevertheless, that may change if Microsoft follows through with their plans to make personal computers more secure in the near future.

It is important for you to understand that Computer Forensics exists because of the inherent insecurity of the personal computer. There are good reasons to make personal computers more secure but the tradeoff will likely benefit criminals, especially those who use computers to commit crimes and terrorists who rely upon computers and the Internet for their communications.

Our Hope Is That Time Is On The Side of Law Enforcement.

Your Internet Safety Advisors,

Dave Ballard & Bill Wardell

The Federal Trade Commission is one of many organizations that provides valuable facts and information to consumers concerning identity theft, including preventative and resolutions to identity theft concerns.

Almost every worldwide government agency responsible for identity theft issues will tell you the the first step to fighting identity theft is to minimize the risk. To do this they urge consumers to protect their personal information. Start by asking companies how they use your information, and for online transactions, take a moment to review a Website’s privacy policy. In offline tranactions don’t provide credit card numbers, financial account numbers, and personal identifying information over the phone unless you know the communication line is secure. Ideally, you should initiate the conversation. For Internet transactions, be sure the Website offers secure data encryption and other SSL Certificate services to protect your personal information.

Lastly, there are recommended everyday offline practices, such as keeping an eye on postal mail to ensure your bills are arriving when they should be, and taking the time to properly dispose of paper documents that may contain credit card numbers and other identifying personal information. The more private and secure you keep your personal identifying information, the less susceptible to identify theft you are.

Never overlook the possibility of securing your computer from vicious attacks and your personal identity from Identity Theft, be insured against thieves who would steal your identity.

Your Internet Safety Advisors,

Dave Ballard & Bill Wardell

Many online businesses today also store personal information about customers and shopper son their Websites, and that information used when a person returns to the Web site. This provides another way for your personal information to be accessed.

Additionally, e-mail phishing, thieves attempt to gather your personal information. Phishing e-mails falsely claim to be an established legitimate enterprise in an attempt to scam you into surrendering private information that will be used for identity theft. The e-mail will direct you to visit a Web site where you’re asked to update personal information, such as passwords and credit card, social security, and bank account numbers — information the legitimate organization already has. The Web site, however, is bogus and set up only to steal your information.

The outcome of identity theft is usually the same, regardless of how the thief obtains your information, but, there are ways of protecting yourself while online and offline. For more information on how to protect yourself from Identity Theft see Identity Theft Protection .

*****insert a link to the Invisus ID Theft Insurance info and sign up on the last sentence*****

With this information the thief could do things such as apply for loans or new credit card accounts. They can then request a billing address change and run up your existing credit cards without your knowledge. Thieves can also use counterfeit checks and debit cards, or authorize electronic transfers in your name, to wipe out your bank accounts.

Identity theft can also go beyond this type of a monetary impact. Thieves can use your information to obtain a driver’s license or other documentation that would display their photo but your name and information. With these documents thieves can obtain a job and file fraudulent income tax returns, apply for travel documents, file insurance claims, or even provide your name and mailing address to police and other authorities if involved in other criminal activities.

Read our next article “Using Information from your Internet Activities for Identity Theft” .

Although the definition is somewhat broad in scope, it was designed that way to aid the victims of identity theft and prosecute the perpetrators.

Identity theft is the fastest growing white collar crime worldwide. (FTC) And according to Valerie McNiven security adviser to the Department of Treasury, stated that, “cybercrime is now more profitable than illegal drug trafficking”… She went on to say that it was costing about 155 billion a year and going to become worse with the development of technology in other countries.

And guess what? It would behove all of us to recognize an element of the Internet that is pervasive and a scourge on the World Wide Web… They are “identity theft” and “cybercrime”.

Here is how the FTC defines identity theft: “a fraud committed or attempted using the identifying information of another person without authority”.

Your Internet Safety Advisors,

Dave Ballard

Bill Wardell

The more information that is found via Cyber Forensic Applications , the better chance governments have in fighting Cyber Criminals. You can reduce your risks for identity theft, but you don’t have control over government agencies, hospitals, or retail stores that manage to lose your personal information.

The United States Senate has a Bill before them that would allow victims to seek restitution for any money and time they spent repairing their credit history. This legislation would also allow prosecutors more tools to combat identity theft and cyber crime, and would eliminate a requirement that the loss resulting from damage to a victim’s computer must exceed $5,000 in order to prosecute. This legislation would also make it a felony to use spyware or keyloggers to damage 10 or more computers and would expand the definition of cyber crime.

This legislation, called the Identity Theft and Enforcement Restitution Act of 2007, passed the Senate and is on its way to the House. If you would like to support this bill, contact your U.S. representative.

Your Internet Safety Advisors,

Dave Ballard & Bill Wardell

While Internet identity theft is definitely a hot topic in the media today, Internet identity theft actually accounts for 37% of the total identity theft fraud cases in the United States. While this number may seem low to some, if you are the one who the fraud has been committed against, you will feel differently.

A recent survey indicated that identity fraud, as a percentage of the United States adult population went down to 4 percent between 2003 and 2006, while another survey indicates that in 2006 that number rose. In addition to online identity theft, there is still a high percentage of identity theft that takes place through traditional offline channels and not through the Internet.

Whether or not your identity is stolen online you should protect yourself. Identity Theft Protection information is available here on our site along with informtation on how to purchase insurance to add more protection against Identity Theft.

Your Internet Safey Advisors,

Dave Ballard & Bill Wardell

Key Terms To Understanding Identity Theft:

Security:
In the computer industry, refers to techniques for ensuring that data stored in a computer cannot be read or compromised by any individuals without authorization.

Cyber Forensics:
The application of scientifically proven methods to gather, process, interpret, and to use digital evidence to provide a conclusive description of cyber crime activities.

Phishing:
The act of sending an e-mail to a user falsely claiming to be an established legitimate enterprise in an attempt to scam the user into surrendering private information that will be used for identity theft.

E-mail Spoofing:
Forging an e-mail header to make it appear as if it came from somewhere or someone other than the actual source.

Read More about Identity Theft here on YourIdentityDefendIt.com.