Archive for the ‘Identity Theft’ Category

Isn’t it amazing how millions of people willingly disclose sensitive personal information about themselves every day on social media websites? At other times, it’s just assumed that you’ll give up all sorts of personal details that are seemingly irrelevant to those who request it ⎯ our doctor’s office, our kids’ schools, a prospective employer or our local credit union.

Carelessly disclosing too much can get you in trouble. And unless you’re in the habit of regularly checking your credit report, you might not realize your identity has been hijacked and your credit impaired by an identity thief who’s used your personal details to open a line of credit in your name, thank you very much.

Thankfully, the government has begun trying to reel in the free flow of personal information, restricting or eliminating the use of Social Security numbers on Medicare cards and military ID cards, for example.

In Connecticut, where I live, a new law went into effect on October 1 that makes any individual or organization that collects your personal information responsible for safeguarding it. That means that if an employer collects your Social Security number or driver’s license number, they must create a privacy protection policy that is publicly displayed (like on a website or in an employee handbook). If any individual or entity collects your passport number, credit or debit card number or health ID number, they, too, must come up with a means of protecting your information and limiting access to it, whether that means safeguarding data and computer files or destroying them before disposing of unneeded information.

Those who fail to do so can be fined $500, up to a maximum of $500,000 per instance.

What’s your take on the new law? Sensible idea or overkill?
Does anything like it exist in your state?

It isn’t just Disney that receives high scores for creativity in Orlando, Florida. Identity crooks also seem to be getting so creative that some are asking what could they really achieve if they put their creative minds to do good work instead of thievery and crime.

The story that received so much attention involved a Wal-Mart store in Orlando, where a strange box with an antenna was found, resulting in the store being evacuated and the police bomb squad being called in. The box didn’t contain a bomb at all, but surveillance cameras and further investigation showed that it contained a spy-cam that was seemingly focused on customers making credit card transactions inside the store. It’s suspected that the spy-cam captured the credit card numbers of unsuspecting Wal-Mart customers and beamed those credit card numbers via the wireless video device to thieves waiting in a van in the store parking lot. Though it’s not yet known if any of these customer credit card numbers have yet been used by the crooks or other accomplices, it certainly is expected that these thieves set up this elaborate scheme to perpetrate credit card fraud and identity theft. Police and Wal-Mart authorities are attempting to alert customers of the potential for further unauthorized activity.

There’s no doubt that some of these crooks could use their creativity and skills in a much more productive way. And even if they aren’t interested in helping others, they could help themselves by turning their technical ability into a high-paying technical career that might include helping organizations secure their sensitive data, much in the same way that perhaps one of the most famous identity crooks, Kevin Mitnick, does today.

Normally when we think of identity theft, we think of the many high-tech ways in which victims precious names are stolen and their bank accounts and years of their financial future drained with it. While it’s true that organized criminals are beginning to take more interest in perpetrating identity theft, the typical identity crook isn’t some high-tech computer hacker but rather an unsophisticated criminal who’s prowling for victims and taking advantage of how difficult it is to prosecute identity theft crimes.

Still, who’d think that a razor blade and some glue could be the tools of the trade? Some identity crooks are resorting to credit card shaving, a process whereby the crooks might purchase valid credit card numbers from other crooks and then manufacture a “new” card with that number. They don’t need an elaborate scheme and a fancy production system. They simply purchase a valid number for only a few dollars, then use the razor blade to shave appropriate numbers off of gift cards or expired credit cards and glue them onto another card — essentially manufacturing a card that resembles the valid credit card.

But wait a minute! How about that magnetic strip on the back of the card that’s supposed to hold matching information for the credit card? Well, that’s a simple security measure to avert. They scratch it so that it’s unreadable. Bring back any memories when you were making a valid transaction with your credit card and the card reader couldn’t read your card? Let me give you a hint: If the reader fails to read your card, the clerk takes a few extra seconds to key in the credit card information via the keypad.

To make it worse, being the victim of identity theft via credit card shaving might mean that it’ll take longer for you to detect. Credit card shaving isn’t going to be the method used if the crook physically possesses your credit card. That means your card is likely going to be comfortably tucked away into your wallet and you won’t be aware that there’s a fake duplicate out there being used to make purchases.

Under certain circumstances, credit card shaving could pose a real and increased identity theft risk to you. However, if you make a point to go through your credit card statements very thoroughly, you should be able to notice that unauthorized activity, report it to your credit card company and likely be responsible for only a small portion of that unauthorized activity.