Identity theft, Protect yourself

[leus]

An illegal activity called "Phishing" involve the mass distribution of 'spoofed' e-mail messages which appear to come from banks, insurance agencies, retailers or credit card companies.
These fraudulent messages are designed to fool the recipients into divulging personal authentication data such as account usernames and passwords, credit card numbers,social security numbers, etc.
Because these emails look "official", recipients may respond to them, resulting in financial losses, identity theft,and other fraudulent activity.
Those messages that appear to be sent from a legitimate company?s website or domain address,
but in fact are not. In reality, spammers are hijacking the company?s brand to attract the attention of customers and potential customers, often to
gain personal information.
The following article tells you the steps that you can take to help identify and to help protect yourself
from deceptive (spoofed) Web sites and malicious hyperlinks.

http://support.microsoft.com/?id=833786

Regards

[matauri]

Yes, this is happening quite a lot I noticed. My bank has been the victem of it 2 years in a row. There have been a few other institutions in Australia victem of it, many of the banks & Telstra (our commnications provider).

I know that when I get emails from them requesting info that it is a scam thou. Its hard enough to give info in person to them..LOL..so I know they wouldnt ask for it by email! :-)


Cindy

[TrafficProducer]

Financial fraud involving fake web sites has become common over the past year - a practice dubbed "phishing".

Crawler to catch them. Hope it works!!!

http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99994531

[MannyR]

I am lucky. I am a subscriber to EverydayWealth. A complete credit and debt management system that protects me up to $25,000 against identity theft. That's insurance through AIG with no deductible. Since I am a subscriber and representative of EverydayWealth it is something I do study and try to understand. Here is something we may not know....

The Latest Numbers On Identity Theft Cases, Down To The Minute!

An average of 1 case per 2.7 minutes in your state!

An average of 22 cases Per Hour in your state!

An average of 528 cases Per Day in your state!

An average of 3,696 cases Per Week in your state!

An average of 14,784 cases Per Month in your state!

One of the ways to protect yourself is insurance, try this site for an answer that might suit you against the fastest growing crimes in America, identity theft and credit fraud.

www.wealthlink.com/overcomefinancialdebt

Hope this helps,

Manny Rodriguez
Overcome Financial Debt
www.overcomefinancialdebt.com
1-800-350-6783

[MannyR]

Identity theft continues to be a major crime affecting Americans from all walks of life:



· 27.3 million Americans have been victims of identity theft in the last five years, including 9.91 million people or 4.6% of the population in the last year alone.[1]

· Nearly 85% of all victims find out about their identity theft case in a negative manner. Only 15% of victims find out due to a proactive action taken by a business.[2]

· 16% say it was a friend, relative or co-worker who stole their identity.[3]

· The average time spent by victims is about 600 hours, an increase of more than 300% over previous studies.[4]

· Last year’s identity theft losses to businesses and financial institutions totaled $47.6 billion and consumer victims reported $5 billion in out-of-pocket expenses.[5]

While there are numerous tips and suggestions for “protecting” yourself from Identity theft, the fact is no one is immune. You insure your home, your car, and your health. What about your identity?

Imagine that you have been saving for your first home and are ready to make the big purchase. You have finally saved enough for the down payment and discover your loan was declined due to credit fraud that happened years prior.

Your credit rating is your responsibility. As a subscriber to EverydayWealth you have the ability to put a stop to this type of crime early. Review your CSC/Equifax credit report on a monthly basis. Active monitoring of these reports helps to spot new accounts or inquiries early. Should you ever become a victim of identity theft, your subscription includes $25,000 of coverage – with no deductible – against costs, legal fees, and lost wages as a result of correcting the situation.

The emotional impact of identity theft has been found to parallel that of victims of violent crime.[6]

I share because I care.

Manny Rodriguez
Overcome Financial Debt
www.overcomefinancialdebt.com
800-350-6783

[1]Federal Trade Commission 2003 Identity Theft Survey Report prepared by Synovate
www.ftc.gov/os/2003/09/synovatereport.pdf
[2] Identity Theft 2003: The Aftermath. A study conducted by the Identity Theft Resource Center www.idtheftcenter.org/idaftermath.pdf
[3] Privacy & American Business 2003 Identity Theft Survey www.pandab.org/
[4] Identity Theft 2003
[5] Federal Trade Commission study
[6] Identity Theft 2003

[simonm]

My wife was a victim of identity theft. Not of the phishing variety but somebody passing themselves off as her in order to commit fraud.
We found out when my wife was threatened with a court summons for non payment which took a great deal of effort on our part to prove that it was fraud. Having done that, nothing further happened, the company in question (British Gas) said it wasn't worth the bother chasing the money almost £500. The police said that as we had detected and resolved the problem from our end and hadn't suffered financially, no crime had been committed!
Don't let anybody tell you British justice is wonderful, its now a system to "deal with crime and protect the criminal" I'll get off my soap box before I say what I really think!

[TrafficProducer]

British justice is wonderful, its now a system to "deal with crime and protect the criminal" I'll get off my soap box before I say what I really think!

Dont get down just yet, (soap box that is), write to Your MP. United Kingdom (http://www.locata.co.uk/commons/)

The more complain the more will be done.

Also view Crime issues, UK Government sites at:-

http://www.ukonline.gov.uk/QuickFind...iceTopic/fs/en

http://www.crimereduction.gov.uk/

Good Luck.

[OutsourcingDoug]

I am lucky. I am a subscriber to EverydayWealth. A complete credit and debt management system that protects me up to $25,000 against identity theft. That's insurance through AIG with no deductible. Since I am a subscriber and representative of EverydayWealth it is something I do study and try to understand. Here is something we may not know....

The Latest Numbers On Identity Theft Cases, Down To The Minute!

An average of 1 case per 2.7 minutes in your state!

An average of 22 cases Per Hour in your state!

An average of 528 cases Per Day in your state!

An average of 3,696 cases Per Week in your state!

An average of 14,784 cases Per Month in your state!

One of the ways to protect yourself is insurance, try this site for an answer that might suit you against the fastest growing crimes in America, identity theft and credit fraud.

www.wealthlink.com/overcomefinancialdebt

I always wanted to see those numbers, it is simply astounding. Thanks.

It's amazing that people still fall for the Nigerian Scam, but they do.

There are new users everyday, new to the internet, new to business, new to making money and new to losing it.

The devil is around all corners. These scams fool ALL people: buyers, sellers, grandmas, grandpas, employees to CEO's.

They prey on your newness to the net or the mood you are in that day. For example, you were speaking to Bank of America today on the phone, and you got this email "from Bof A", you may think it is real. These coincidences happen.

Never give out your info,
Check your email often.
Don't believe everything you see.
Delete Delete Delete
Keep good passwords
Stay Virus Free
Ignore things that are to good to be true.
You do not have any secret admirers.
You did not send anyone a virus, if you are not infected.
If it's too good to be true, it is.
RIF Reading is Fundamental.
Buy Low, Sell High
Shut up, Sit Down!

Enjoy your day!




Technology, isn't that special!

[Nic Samojluk]

I was a victim of identity theft a couple of months ago. I have no idea how it happened. I was contacted by the Fraud department of my credit card asking if I had ordered services from Great Britain worth over one thousand dollars. I was shocked, and responded in the negative.

Fortunately, the card company assured me that if I had not incurred those charges, I would not have to pay. They cancelled my credit card, and issued a new one. Later on I learned that the business that provided those services would have to take the loss, since they had not followed the prescribed policy by the credit card company.

How can I avoid this from happening again, since I have no idea how they managed to steal my identity?

[MannyR]

Here is some more identity theft information we may not know about.


Authorities say such scams are made easy in an age when people's personal information is available for the right price or a click of a computer button
-- Richmond Times Dispatch

Georgia authorities have uncovered a fraud ring that sold identities of deceased people for $500 -- $600. Eighty people are suspected to be involved in the crime.*

Using obituaries, a Georgia woman would order background checks (including Social Security numbers, dates of birth and credit records) from the Internet on people who had recently died. She would then sell that information to consumers who would use it to buy cars, listing the deceased as cosigners. Employees of the car dealership are being investigated as well.

Stealing identities of those who have died is not a new crime. In fact, it has been around for many years.

Identity theft of the deceased has put surviving family members in the position of being harassed for bills they didn't know existed. Last years identity theft losses to businesses and financial institutions totaled $47.6 billion and consumer victims reported $5 billion in out-of-pocket expenses.**

<Mod Edit:: See Rules>


Manny Rodriguez
Overcome Financial Debt
www.overcomefinancialdebt.com
800-350-6783

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* You can read the full story in the Richmond Times
Dispatch at http://www.timesdispatch.com/servlet...=1031772953981

** Federal Trade Commission 2003 Identity Theft Survey
Report prepared by Synovate
www.ftc.gov/os/2003/09/synovatereport.pdf