Posts from ‘January, 2009’

A lawsuit involving a stolen laptop containing personal information has come to an end.   The stolen laptop was in the possession of a Veterans Affairs data analyst in 2006.  The names, dates of birth and Social Security numbers of about 26.5 million active duty troops and veterans were on the laptop and external drive that [...]

Many organizations are adding identity theft protection to their employee benefits package.  This allows employees to be protected from identity theft at the workplace, at home, or even when traveling.  Companies are adding identity theft protection services to their existing benefits to protect employee data and keep the company safe.
The problem of identity theft is continuing [...]

If you receive a letter or notice from the IRS which leads you to believe someone may have fraudulently used your Social Security Number, respond immediately to the name and address or phone number printed on the IRS notice.
If you receive a letter from the IRS that indicates more than one tax return was filed [...]

A common way identity theft happens today is through a method known as Phishing.  Identity thieves pretend to be financial institutions or companies and send you an email or pop up message.  There goal is to get you to reveal your personal information such as passwords, account numbers, and Social Security numbers.
Be very cautious on the [...]

Reports of data breaches increased dramatically in 2008.   The Identity Theft Resource Center’s 2008 breach report reached 656 reported breaches at the end of 2008, reflecting an increase of 47% over last year’s total of 446.
Here is a breakdown of 656 reported data breaches in 2008 that the ITRC monitors:

Business: 240 breaches (36.6% of total)
Educational: 131 [...]

Identity thieves are calling individuals and pretending to work for the local courts.  They are calling potential victims with the news that they have failed to report for jury duty and that a warrant has been issued for their arrest. They then ask victims for personal information, including Social Security numbers, birth dates, and sometimes [...]

Twitter is a free social networking site that has been targeted by phishing scams and hackers.  Thousands of users were tricked into giving their user names and passwords.  They were directed to web sites that appeared to be sent by real Twitter users that contained malicious code.Â
There were also many accounts hacked,  including at least 33 celebrity accounts such [...]