Identity Theft

The good news is identity theft over the past few years has decreased. But the fact of the matter is it still tops the list as the number one consumer complaint.

There's a lot of information going around when it comes to this criminal offense as well as a number of misconceptions which if you are not careful can have you moving in the wrong direction.

1. Safeguarding Your Social Security Number Is All You Have To Do

You will see this on the local and national news a lot. More than a few professionals may say this is all you have to do when it comes to guarding your identity. Regrettably that's not true. The reality is your identity can easily be stolen in a variety of ways without thieves even bothering your social security card. Among them is stealing your mail, shoulder surfing, setting up a skimming device at an ATM machine or just going through your trash also known as dumpster diving.

2. Any Fraudulent Charges Are Your Responsibility

Do not allow any company to force you into paying anything if you were the victim of identity theft. It is not your responsibility to pay any fraudulent charges thieves have put on your account. You will discover debt collectors do not care about that. They want the money and they want it now. No problem. As long as you remember you aren't the one doing the payback.

3. It Won't Happen To You

Famous last words. No doubt at one time or another many people who were victimized said the exact same thing. Identity theft spares no one. While it may be on the decline eight million people last year still had their identities stolen. Considering that the number usually hover around ten million as well as the alarming number of ways thieves can pilfer your information and there is little doubt identity theft can happen to you.

4. The Majority of People That Steal Your Identity Get Arrested

Since law enforcement and financial institutions have been more aggressive in dealing with identity theft you figure the arrest rate would be pretty good. Think again. According to studies done by the Gartner Group roughly 1 out of 700 people ever gets caught. No doubt you have seen news reports of law enforcement officials cracking a major fraud ring. This is true but day to day identity theft generally goes undetected let alone prosecuted.

5. Most Identity Theft Criminals Are Strangers To The Victim

Not true and this in many ways is what makes identity theft the epidemic that it is. Most thieves are someone the victim knows. A neighbor, friend, coworker, but mostly a family member. Which should give you a pretty good hint as to why many identity thieves never get thrown in jail. As bad as it is along with the damage done many people that have been victimized refuse to take the next step of preferring charges against their friends and/or loved ones.

To find out more on identity theft and fraud visit identity theft information

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Identity theft is an ever-increasing issue given the sheer amount of people who are having financial difficulties due to the worldwide financial crisis. You can only protect yourself against identity theft, do not leave it up to anyone else to help you.

There are some basic measures we can all take to reduce the risk. The first of which I would suggest would be two have two separate email addresses, one for your financial business, and the other for everything else.

So your online banking, PayPal, your accountant and just about anything you buy online, you should use your financial email address. Use a very difficult password with a minimum of 10 characters including capitals and symbols and don't give this email address out to anyone else. The reason we include any purchases in this email is that you are giving your financial information away to these sites included card numbers and pertinently, your address.

Use the email address only for your financial transactions and never give it even to friends. Use your other email address for everything else.

It's fairly obvious why you wouldn't want people getting hold of your bank details or card number, but the reasons run a little deeper as to why we wouldn't want people accessing this email address. If they guessed your password what would they have access to? A few online purchase receipts (with your address on), details of your PayPal account which they can access to withdraw cash to themselves, your online banking login details? You might think "Well just because someone can access my email doesn't mean they could access your PayPal or online banking accounts" and you would only be partly correct. All they need is access to your email address and they could request a new password be sent. Bang! You're in trouble.

If you have to write down the password and place it in your purse or wallet do so, it's better than making it an easy password to guess or hack.

This has been really focussed on fraud, but there is another, more insidious factor, we need to bear in mind. That factor is identity theft.

Identity theft, to my mind, is worse than fraud. Yes fraud involves stealing your own assets, but identity theft runs deeper than that, they steal your identity and take out loans and credit cards in your name. When the lender comes calling, they are going to be calling the named lender, you! This can not only hurt you financially, but can also affect your future ability to lend, your reputation and your health.

You are particularly susceptible if you create relationships online, i.e. from dating or from social networking. The whole process is ripe for identity theft, it is all about getting to know someone so you can give out very personal information during the course of the chat. For example, they want to know how old you are, you tell them because it's one of those things that come up a lot. But let's take the conversation further:

"What star sign are you?" "Wow I'm Virgo too, when's your birthday?" It all seems innocuous enough, but if you tell them, they combine it with your age and they have your date of birth as easily as that.

Let's go back to the earlier example of them accessing your email. If you have one email address and you give it out, to exchange photos or something (or bear in mind how much information you show on Facebook) they can go to your email provider and pick the option that you have forgotten your password, they can they find out what your security question is and either find the answer by searching through Facebook or directly asking you. As an example, the security question might be your first pets name. They then might start asking questions about your past. "Where were you born?" "Do you have any brothers?" "Were you a happy child" "Did you have any pets?" and before you know it you're discussing fluffy your first rabbit and how it got stuck in your boots. They can then close the conversation, go to your email account and unblock your inbox.

So they have your date of birth and access to your email account, all they need to do is login, find the receipt for the table you bought a week ago and BAM they have your address. And all they have had to do is ask a few questions, ones that are asked every day, very innocuous.

Let's go back to the conversation. They have asked where you were born. In the UK the only information someone needs in order to get a real copy of your birth certificate is your name, town of birth and date of birth. With your birth certificate they have the basis of your whole life.

Where else can someone get your address? Are you on an online directory? Like for example is your phone number listed? The electoral role? Can they search your surname and area and find you?

If you are going to meet someone, do it in a public place, don't show them pictures of your house or your car, all these things can be traced.

Once someone has your address you are open to having your whole life destroyed.

They can apply for loans, credit cards in your name, they could also change your address at your bank although this makes it more likely they will be caught. But if someone has your address and date of birth, and takes out a loan in your name using your credit history by telling them you have recently moved address. Of course this means that the lender will come to you on the first default, also your future credit options will be limited.

Even without your address, if they have your date of birth and birth town it doesn't take much more to get your birth certificate which in some respects can be used to prove your identity. Let's say they want to open a basic bank account in your name, they can take out an electricity account in your name with no ID requirements, when you get your first bill, this can be used as proof of your address, with that, along with your birth certificate, they can open a basic bank account with no credit facility. But after a bit of time they can easily use your electricity bill, bank account statement and birth certificate to take out a contract phone in your name giving them a credit file and history. After a bit of time they can use this credit file to take an overdraft and/or loan in your name, even a mortgage. They can also use your bills to apply for a replacement driving license in your name.

It's surprisingly easy to do all the above simply by knowing your date of birth and address, or in the US your social security number.

So you have to protect yourself. Start off by saving your important emails to your computer and deleting them from your email account. Open a new email account and protect it with a top notch password. Further protect it with a security question that is unusual, one that might cause you to question it if it comes up in conversation. If all the questions are easy then substitute the real answer with one that you will remember that's incorrect, i.e. Mothers maiden name: table.

Be very careful what personal information you give out during normal conversation, it might be a good idea to train yourself to re-read anything you write before you click send.

Be aware also that even your nearest and dearest can steal your identity. I once investigated a case for a woman who's best friend had stolen her identity. In cases like this, I would suggest signing up with a credit reference agency who will be able to email you whenever a change to your file has been logged.

Finally, how do we rectify identity theft? Well if you are in the US, you can call the Federal trade commission on 1-877-IDTHEFT and the IRS on 1-800-908-4490. You should also report it to the Internet Crime Complaint Center. If in the UK, report it to the police first and foremost, then contact the lenders and give them the crime reference number. Keep a close eye on your credit report and deal with issues as they arise. Give your crime reference number to your bank and any lenders you have. Any company part of the finance act has guidelines on how to assist in these circumstances and they will be able to provide you with further information and support.

Phishing websites.

Phishing is the practise of someone getting you to reveal your bank account (or other account) details by way of a form that looks just like the real thing. Most of these scams are done through emails and you will receive it from a legitimate looking address, it might tell you that there is a problem with your account and you should click the link to get it unblocked. The email looks genuine, the link looks genuine and the page it takes you to looks genuine. The way to always stop these in their tracks is to hover over the genuine looking link and read the actual destination link that pops up in a small box, this is the actual destination rather than what is actually typed in the email. Is this destination address taking you through to the right place? If not, delete it. An example destination address might read paypall.com and you might miss the extra L if you wasn't specifically looking for it.

Most financial institutions have a fraud department dedicated to investigating these matters so you can always forward on the email to the company it is purported to have come from. As an example, there was a recent story that the HMRC (British version of the IRS) were sending out tax refunds to people, the stories were correct, but phishers were sending emails to people asking them to log onto a fake online form where they could collect the details. Once I read it and seen it wasn't genuine I forwarded this straight to the HMRC fraud department. Whether anything comes of it they don't say but I hope they catch the culprits.

Dave P Thompson is a security expert of high regard. Dave operates the highly successful ScamSeeker.org website offering free investigative services to anyone.

Also stars as a public speaker dealing with consumer security protection, offering advice on identity theft, phishing and fraud.

To learn more, please visit ScamSeeker.org

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Once upon a time...

Mr. Y had just dropped his mortgage payment and life savings at the poker table in Atlantic City, NJ. Returning home to VA, he became worried and quite embarrassed at losing such a huge sum of money, not to mention this months mortgage payment. He couldn't tell his wife, she would flip out, she wouldn't understand. Mr. Y couldn't borrow the money either as it would cause further embarrassment.

When Mr. Y returned to work on Monday, he "stumbled" upon a way to get the money back. His company EFG Technologies was a rapidly growing company that had lax internal controls. The company only required approval on payments made to vendors that were over $750.00. Mr. Y decided to set up dummy corporations with his wife's initials and use PO boxes to receive the "payments." Mr. Y thought to himself, "once I get that huge Vice President promotion, I can repay the money from the yearly bonus' the company pays all the executives each year."

Mr. Y was able to forge invoices from commercially available software; the accounts payable clerks were overwhelmed with the amount of work volume and they did not check invoices for accuracy. Mr. Y began "billing" his employer for invoices that were under the $750.00 threshold. In a years time he stole over $50,000; enough to make up the mortgage payment and replace his lost life savings.

However, in time, Mr. Y did not get that big promotion he was expecting. Angered by his boss's screw job, Mr. Y continued to bill his employer for the fake invoices and increased the frequency so that he bilked the company of $150,000 in fraudulent payments. Mr. Y felt justified for taking the money since he would have earned as much IF he had gotten that promotion; to make himself feel better he decided to by a new Lexus.

A few months later, Mr. Y's scheme unraveled when internal auditors discovered that his dummy corporations had the same PO boxes. Mr. Y confessed to defrauding the company and was prosecuted and convicted.

Interesting story, wouldn't you say? The story is fictional but it is a common occurrence in today's world. The headlines are full of similar stories such as this one. So what can we learn from this in our pursuit of learning about fraud? The first step is to understand why Mr. Y decided to commit fraud against his employer. We can gain an understanding of why Mr. Y defrauded his EFG Technologies by using Cressey's Fraud Triangle.

Cressey's fraud triangle states that where fraud is present there must be 3 factors. These 3 factors are perceived pressure, perceived opportunity & rationalization. Think of a fire; in order for a fire to burn it must have heat, oxygen and fuel. When all three are present a fire will burn out of control. The same is true for a fraudulent act. When perceived pressure, perceived opportunity and rationalization intersect, fraud is highly likely to occur.

Before I end, let's look at the first component of Cressey's fraud triangle...the perceived pressure. I call it "perceived" since what one person may feel is a pressure may not be a pressure to another. In most cases every fraud perpetrator feels some kind of perceived pressure. Most of the time it is a financial need, like Mr. Y who needed to replace the mortgage payment and his life savings he lost through gambling. However, in some cases the pressure is non-financial in nature. For instance, the underling who is pressured by their superior(s) to report financial results that are better than the company's actual performance.

Pressures can be divided into four main categories: financial, vices, work related and other pressures. Lets look at each one individually.

Financial Pressures

Financial pressures typically involve greed, living beyond one's means, high bills or personal debt, poor credit, unexpected financial needs and personal financial losses. From our example of Mr. Y, he faced financial pressure from losing the money for his mortgage and life savings. One thing to note and we will discuss later, is that financial pressures can be caused by vices, like gambling (in Mr. Y's case).

Financial pressures can sometimes occur without warning (casualty loss), suddenly (vices) or be long-term (disability or sickness). In many cases the fraudsters do not inform others of their financial pressures. From our example, Mr. Y felt he could not tell his wife because she would be angry with him. He felt too embarrassed to reveal he had lost such a significant amount of money to others; others who may have been willing to help him.

Vice pressures

Vice pressures are created due to vices like gambling (Mr. Y), drugs/alcohol or extramarital affairs. Simply put, vices are the worst kind of pressure to commit fraud. Anyone who is willing to go through anything to place that bet, get high or find that thrill from an illicit relationship will definitely look for ways to steal from their employer or commit other types of fraud.

Work-Related pressures

The majority of fraud is motivated by financial or vice pressures. However, in some cases some people will commit fraud to get even with their employer or other people. From our example, we see that Mr. Y decided to continue his fraudulent billing scheme due to being passed over for the Vice President promotion. Other factors that can contribute to fraudulent acts are: getting little recognition for job performance, job dissatisfaction, fear of losing a job or feeling underpaid.

Other Pressures

Finally many fraudsters are motivated by other pressures, such as a spouse who demands a higher standard of living. Sometimes many of us have trouble deciding between wants and needs. We are envious of the brother-in-law that drives the BMW and has the nicer house. Sometimes we all make bad decisions or we are far beyond driven by our vices and they take over our lives. We all are guilty of measuring success by the amount of money someone else has. Don't fall into these traps; concentrate on building lasting friendships and or relationships. Remember life is not all about you, and learn to measure success in other ways than relying on dollars or material possessions.

In my next post, I will discuss part 2 of Cressey's Fraud Triangle, perceived opportunity, stay tuned...

•Thomas R Kaiser Sr. is a Certified Identity Theft Risk Management Specialist in the financial services industry in mortgage banking, identity theft, check fraud and insurance and an Associate Member of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners.

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One of the curses of going online is the flood of spam emails making a variety of fraudulent claims. A lot of them seem to emanate from Nigeria, where corruption is endemic, but they are spreading to all corners of the Internet Globe.

From their frequency, I assume there are people online who are falling for these scams, and there seems to be little or nothing that Internet Service Providers are doing to put a stop to them. I find this surprising. After all, if they can't, or won't, police their fraudulent clients, who will?

These scams vary in their fraudulent offers. The most popular is where the sender has access to an enormous sum of money, apparently deposited by a now deceased client of theirs who left no next of kin, and in return for the cooperation of the recipient, he will share in the windfall. For his part, the recipient will have to provide his personal information, which can then used for identity theft, and also make a substantial administration payment to facilitate the transfer of this non existent sum of money. Needless to say, once paid, the hapless victim is left high and dry and poorer for the experience.

The other popular scam is winning a lottery, and the scammers use email addresses from reputable companies to give authenticity to this type of fraud. There is always an administration payment required, and again, hapless victims are falling for this on a daily basis.

There are always dishonest people hoping to profit from the misfortune of others. With the global economy in a downward spiral, and with unemployment in many countries at an all time high, the hope of instant riches to solve the problems of those at the end of their tether is often too great to resist.

And finally, there are the scams from public international bodies such as the UN, offering to compensate victims of scams, again in return for personal details and an administration payment.

The Internet is exploding at an alarming rate, and to many, it is out of control. It is the beast that cannot be slain, like the Hydra of Antiquity, but that is a poor excuse. The first port of call must be the ISP's. Without an email address, these scammers couldn't operate.

Time for a complete rethink on the way the Internet is policed. As a starting point, I would like to know how these scammers get access to my inbox. I appreciate that they are sent to "undisclosed recipients", so my actual email address is not being used, but that doesn't stop them arriving with alarming frequency.

About The Author
David Osborne is a successful barrister, author, public speaker and media personality. He writes articles of topical interest on the law for newspapers and journals, and he has his own blog at: http://david-osborne.com/blog.

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Due to the increased number of incidents involving identity theft in the last ten years, new tactics are being employed to counter this for both business and residential paper shredding is fast becoming the best way to help keep personal information away from people who may wish to act fraudulently. Shredding, also known as document destruction, helps to keep personal details safe because it quickly tears up paper that may have your address or credit card details on and makes it impossible for anyone to be able to reattach the different pieces and copy down your details. Many families now have a shredder in their home office that is in place to deal with documents containing sensitive information and it is also commonplace to see them in offices.

Shredders come in a range of different sizes and styles and it is possible to pick up a small version quite cheaply that will be more than adequate to deal with your shredding needs at home.It is not just bank statements that people are disposing of either; identity thieves also look for other items containing personal details that you may not have thought of. Simply by looking through the average person's waste paper you are able to find multiple ways in which your identity can be compromised. Identity thieves are on the lookout for anything containing your date of birth and credit or debit card information. Even if you are careful to dispose of bank statements it is still possible to get this information from other sources including monthly statements where you pay by direct debit and this may be all that they need in order to start applying for credit in your name and adversely affecting your credit score. Don't let this happen to you. Act before it is too late.

Increase Your Safety at Home

Recent years have shown that many people are giving more time and consideration towards protecting their home and their personal lives from being targeted by thieves and fraudsters. The age of the internet has meant that there are always new scams that are being devised in order to separate innocent people from their hard-earned cash and they are also becoming more advanced and difficult to spot. There are several ways that you can improve your security in everyday life and keep you protected from being targeted and scammed. The most important step to take is to invest in a residential paper shredding system to enable you to ensure that any personal information is protected by using paper shredding to get rid of old credit card bills and anything else that may contain your personal information. Residential paper shredding systems can be bought form a number of outlets and paper shredding is fast becoming more commonplace in everyday life.You should also take steps to protect yourself when coming into contact with sales people on the telephone.

Unfortunately inconvenient sales calls are a part of our normal life, and most are from genuine companies who are trying to sell you a product or service; however, there are some fraudsters who also use this tactic as a way of getting you to part with your personal information over the telephone. If you have a suspicion that someone you are talking to may be a fraudster trying to obtain your details then it is important to hang up the telephone as soon as possible and avoid giving them any further details. If you need clarification regarding the authenticity of a sales call it can help to use the internet to check whether it is a reputable company or not. You should get enough information first before doing any action.

We individuals generally look with the goodness of the natural environment. As we all know, we are using trees only to have papers that any of us use daily. A small business ecoshred.com takes care of recycling those used papers so they can make brand new ones without cutting trees anymore. In New Jersey, it is easy to find New Jersey paper shredding services because there are lots of paper shredding firms available.

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Amazon.com has not only become the largest online bookstore, but is also a multinational ecommerce company. The company has been spreading its reach like branches of a river while supplying goods to countries across the world. Amazon.com started off by profiting from being an online book brokering system and later offering many products. Amazon.com grew its business through online associates in the form of users.

When scaling a company by having users contributing to both ends of business, buying and selling, fraudulent and malicious activities become inevitable. Amazon did not become one of the largest ecommerce websites in the world by lacking in security though. In 2009, Amazon started to offer multi-factor authentication to protect its users against fraud. They now offer free identification through any mobile device or computer which can run a Time-Based One-Time Password application. They also offer paid multi-factor authentication through a third party proprietary authentication token from Gemalto which is supposed to offer higher security.

Free Amazon Multi-Factor Authentication

If you are able to run a time-based one-time password application on your smart phone, tablet or computer you can utilize the free AWS MFA process. Using this method, when you log into your account with your traditional username and password, a token will be delivered to the application. The token is a one-time password that is generated from an out-of-band network separate from the user's login network which reduces the chances of man in the middle attacks and makes the authentication process more secure.

Gemalto Multi-Factor Authentication

To increase security even further, Amazon's users may pay for service through Gemalto which offers a keyfob device for authentication. Amazon states Gemalto's third part proprietary token device offers better security than the free process. After the RSA hard token breaches, many people are skeptical about the proprietary OTP token's security.

Secure Cloud Computing

Amazon, like many companies, is run on a cloud of servers which allows remote access of data to many users at once. Amazon.com and its cloud network offer financial information to its publishers so they can track their earnings. A publisher's user account could display earnings and options for payment to the user. This is one of the reasons why the need for authentication security using a multi-factor process was necessary.

One of the most secure forms of protection for any company storing data on the cloud is by using an out-of-band, multi-factor authentication process which Amazon has implemented. This is especially true for ecommerce websites which may be storing financial data and personal information belonging to thousands of users. This added layer of security could be the very reason why the multinational electronic commerce corporation has not been present on recent data breach lists.

2011 was the year of data breaches and more companies are becoming like Amazon and are starting to utilize cloud computing. Will these companies follow suit to provide better protection and privacy to their users that are accessing information on the cloud or will there be a bigger data breach list containing more corporations in 2012? Companies utilizing the cloud to store and access information need to add additional layers of security to protect the information and the best way for them to do that is to utilize multi factor authentication.

Adam is a network security professional who believes out-of-band authentication is the most secure form of two factor authentication utilizing a one-time password. He writes to inform businesses about upcoming changes to government regulatory compliance and remote access security.

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Four years earlier Heartland Payment Processor had a database break in which exposed over financial risk. Last year Sony PlayStation Network was breached. 100 million people had their card info exposed. This time internet thieves are at it again.

Spokespeople for the two major credit card companies confirmed that Atlanta base card processor Global Payments was breached and the organization only found out about the breach just recently. While the numbers are a far cry from the above mentioned this is little solace to the one and a half million cardholders who are now vulnerable to identity theft. Unsurprisingly Visa has stopped conducting business with Global Payments.

These types of database break ins make nationwide news but the local media is full of reports of identity fraud just about every day. For instance several people in Georgia were recently convicted of opening fraudulent accounts after stealing mail and credit card information. Another group in Albuquerque New Mexico made use of court records available to the general public online to steal the identity of over two hundred people.

All these occurrences and the many others which go unreported demonstrate a few pretty troublesome realities when it comes to identity theft and fraud

1. There Is Absolutely No Such Thing As 100% Guaranteed Prevention

Regardless of the bank and/or security service none of them can stop your personal identity from getting stolen. Protecting the SSN and other information is effective in reducing your possibility and in a number of instances quite significantly. Yet the bottom line is much of your personal data is available regardless of whether it's medical history, charge card details or even as the Albuquerque incident reveals court files.

In addition to that crooks are finding more and more strategies to take what belongs to you. There has recently been an increase in the number of attacks on mobile phones. Although some identity theft companies do a good job of monitoring what's going on as well as working with you to recover your identity they are unable to stop the attack from occurring

2. More Than Likely You Will Know The Thief

Roughly 50 percent of people that have their identities stolen know the person who did it. Most recently a lady was arrested by the police for taking her very own sister's identity. The sad part is many of these crimes go unreported because the victim either does not know or just does not have the heart to call the police.

3. Mending Your Credit Is Tough

It is really challenging dealing with the credit bureaus particularly if you aren't utilizing some kind of identity theft service. The credit reporting agencies are very slow when it comes to clearing this stuff from your records even when you supply more than enough evidence demonstrating you are not responsible for the fraudulent charges made.

For more information regarding identity theft go to id theft information

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Identity theft is a major crime that provides substantial payout with little possibility of getting caught by authorities. As the Internet era progresses, so do the abilities of the perpetrators of identity theft, which can victimize any individual regardless of their location on the planet. In 2009 alone, as Javelin Strategies have reported, more than 11 million American men and women became victims of identity thieves. This increasingly alarming rise in the number of victims is a highly valid reason for people to obtain protection from services like Identity Guard. Carrying on with the slipshod manners of dealing with finances through the Internet can doubly push these figures skywards.

The continued rise of the statistics is somewhat anticipated by many experts. But what is surprising is the fact that despite the constant warnings and reminders from authorities, many people are still oblivious and careless with their financial transactions. A lot of these people still perform financial transactions without making sure that the environment is a safe one. Additionally, many individuals are not the least bit skeptical with the apps they use in conducting such sensitive matters. To make matters worse, lots of folks remain sloppy with their habits that are connected with the safety of their identities. What most people fail to realize is that while identity theft is a rampant problem, it is something that they can truly avoid.

Identity theft prevention is possible. With a number of efforts targeted at curbing instances of theft, consumers can get themselves protected and safe from the terrible aftermath of stolen identities. Aside from getting protection services such as the one offered by Identity Guard, people can perform utterly practical things that seem so simple but are really effective in thwarting theft. One such way is to destroy paper and plastic trails. Getting a shredder may be one of the best investments made as it is an important instrument in the destruction of documents that bear sensitive information. For the best results, get a shredding machine that can be used for both paper and plastic.

Another effective way is through credit protection services. According to the Javelin research, individuals who subscribed to these services were found to have reduced their amount of losses due to fraud. The company's annual survey revealed that the victims who learned of the crime via their subscriptions to the protection services saw significantly lower amounts of filched money. These people were able to avert the possibility of bigger losses through the said subscriptions and by monitoring their accounts regularly. Their self monitoring activities and the added protection from ID protection services have prevented them from completely becoming victims of identity theft.

Therefore, it certainly pays to have the support of reliable protection services, such as Identity Guard. And when this is supplemented with vigilance from the consumers themselves, the odds of becoming identity theft victims are substantially lowered. To make sure of getting the suitable protection, always make it a point to obtain services from companies that have been providing dependable services through the years. In addition, take advantage of the practical tips that help in improving security.

Protecting yourself from identity thieves can start with offerings like Identity Guard as well as Lifelock reviews and best credit monitoring service. Check a plethora of such services offered nowadays that so useful to have at http://www.creditprotectionpro.com/.

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It was only a couple of months ago that the United State Government led by the Justice Department instituted a nationwide sweep in order to clamp down on identity fraud. It is no coincidence that it was timed to coincide with the beginning of tax season. This time of year has been a boon to fraudsters in years past.

While it may or may not put a damper on the amount of information stolen the move needs to be undertaken on a regular basis. Identity theft at the present time is not going anywhere. It remains the number one complaint by consumers. However it is not all gloom and doom. Statistics reveal that it's declining. People also feel that financial institutions are doing a better job of monitoring it than ever before.

The mistake too many folks make however is believing that these same institutions will automatically protect you against the threat as well as fix it instantly if anything should occur. It still unfortunately takes a great deal of time to work through the process of restoring your credit report. Factor in that in too many instances the identity thief never gets caught. You put out one fire and another one is waiting around the corner.

This is why it is crucial that you take a proactive process to guard against identity theft.

1. Be Aware Of Who Is Actually Around You

The majority of identity theft still happens offline. An overheard phone call where you are providing sensitive information or perhaps you are at one of those online cafe's and somebody is intently watching what you do. This does not mean you must be paranoid to the point you never venture out of the house. But you should have a strong sense of what is going on within your immediate environment.

2. Family Oriented

This may be the epitome of being mindful of who is around you. The vast majority of identity theft comes about when the victim knows the person who did it. Relatives head the list as the worst offenders followed by close friends, co workers and neighbors. For one they make a calculated guess that your suspicions will never point towards them and for another even if you do catch them they figure the chances are you will not press the issue. In other words you may get upset but there is no way you will call the police and have them arrested. On this they are counting on.

It is perfectly understandable that you would hesitate to go that route so make sure that the temptation is not there. Don't let anyone have access to your personal information. If someone comes to your house make sure anything of a sensitive nature is tucked away in a secure place.

To find out more about identity theft and fraud visit identity theft info

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Gartner Inc, a giant in the research field, estimates that only one out of seven hundred people who commit identity fraud ever gets brought to justice. In Medford Oregon recently they apparently found the one.

Associate Press News Service reports on an identity thief who showed at at an area bank to cash a bogus check. What makes this story so bizarre is the thief was caught by the person he had been victimizing. It seems that person was there at the exact time disputing the bogus charges showing up on his financial statement.

Unfortunately for many others who have had their identity stolen there's no chance of them coming face to face with the thief and by some miracle apprehending them. Identity theft and fraud affects eight to nine million people every single year. While check fraud and other forms of identity theft have seen a sharp dropoff others such as phishing websites are rising at record levels. The innovations in technology are making identity fraud a whole lot easier.

For instance cell phone users may be feeling the pinch thanks to downloading certain applications which have the capability of stealing any personal information you may have stored (like online banking logins and passwords)and routing it to a remote server where identity thieves are waiting to record the information.

The good news is there is an excellent resource at your disposal. In 1998 The U.S Congress passed the Identity Theft and Assumption Deterrence Act. This law made identity theft a federal offense and with it comes tougher punishment when identity theft criminals are captured and convicted.

Aside from that it placed the Federal Trade Commission commonly referred to as the FTC at the vanguard of fighting identity fraud. The FTC and in particular their internet site is chock full of information such as preventions tips, videos and news reports. Over the past 10 years they have done an impressive job in their work to inform the public on exactly how firmly and deeply this particular crime has become in this country as well as the measures needed to protect from it.

A key feature was the development of the Identity Theft Clearinghouse database. It is an online repository built to aid local and federal law enforcement officials. Each and every complaints regarding identity theft are promptly entered into the database that is kept up to date constantly.

One other thing this law has done to aid consumers with whatever credit problem they may be experiencing due to identity theft. Even when they are fully aware you've been victimized credit agencies for reasons all their own are still slow to act in terms of eradicating it from your personal records. This action can often get speeded up when you have the United States government backing you up.

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