Identity Theft at Record Levels

In a country that prides itself on innovation and a citizen's right to privacy, why are we still living with the most antiquated personal credit scoring system in the world?

Our SSN (social security number) is the key to our financial existence. It allows the world to see the good, the bad and sometimes the downright ugly. We have no choice but to use this system to obtain credit, mortgages, insurance and even jobs. Having established the importance of this nine-digit number to us as individuals, why are we still using a system that appears to have been designed for the sole benefit of thieves and robbers? We may just as well walk around with a BIG SIGN pinned to our backs telling any criminal with half a brain "Great Credit - Please Rob Me - All information required listed below."

Anyone who has had the terrible misfortune to be affected by identity theft will know only too well how completely useless and ineffective our current system is. The pain can and normally will go on for many years. YOU ARE THE VICTIM OF A TERRIBLE CRIME! It would appear that everyone knows you are the victim of this crime, but the system has no answers for you. What seems like a very simple solution (remove these items from my credit report) becomes a MAJOR and very time-consuming challenge. The demand letters just keep arriving by the sack load and of course your credit score, the thing we are all judged by, keeps going down. It finally gets to levels we never knew existed before this nightmare began.

Before I outline a possible solution, lets look at the problem. We are asked to give up our SSN every time we need credit. How do we know where that information is going. We complete these credit applications and hand over our life story to someone we have never met before - our name, address, date of birth, bank account and SSN. This person normally takes the application to someone else, who either faxes it or puts the information into an online system. We have no idea where this information is going, so it's strictly "In God We Trust."

With identity theft (the so-called "white collar crime") hitting record levels, it time for the government to start looking after the citizens it's paid to protect. Why are we still using a system most 3rd world countries would laugh at? If we must use a credit score system as a measure of our ability to pay debts, then at the very least put in place a system that protects us from criminals. Why not make the SSN card a "Smart Card" with all our credit information held by a secure government agency. Before you all start crying "big brother," they already have it anyway. Just watch "Law and Order" or any "CSI" program and see how many times they trace someone from a credit card or cell phone. The smart card could have an account number, something like a credit card number. This number plus our zip code is the only personal information they would get. The dealers or stores would pay a small fee to the agency each time they requested a credit score. This would allow them to make a basic decision, yes or no. Should they wish to lend us the funds and we accepted their terms, they could give us an account/reference number that we could enter into a government run secured web site allowing us to complete their application form. This would ensure that only fully licensed lending organizations would be receiving our most personal information.

They (our leaders) would get the chance to put some real meaning into the words "serve and protect" - and we would get to sleep at night without the fear of being left penniless.

Have an opinion or a question you would like me to answer, then write me! Carl@freelocalpapers.com www.carlhampton.com

Carl Hampton is the author of the best selling book "From Credit Despair to Credit Millionaire". His financial column "Your Money Matter" is now syndicated in a large number of newspapers with a readership of over 4 million readers per week.

Selecting a Strong Password to prevent Identity Theft

Maintaining a secure computer is a good defense against becoming a victim of Identity Theft. Use a secure password. By secure, I mean a password that is not easily guessable, such as a word you may find in the dictionary. These types of passwords can ve found by someone using what is known as a "dictionary attack" This type of attack involves using the words that are found in the dictionary and comparing those to a hash that has been generated by the Operating System. If the attack matches the hashes, then the password has been compromised. Don't use birthdays or Social Security Numbers as well. It has been recommended that your password be at least 8 characters long, including small and capital letters, numbers, and special characters.

A password like "alphabet" can easily be compromised. If you were to change it up a little by making every other letter a capital, "AlPhAbEt", this will improve the security. You can then take it a step further and replace the "E" with the number "3", so then your password looks like "AlPhAb3t". Then take the "l" and change it to the number "1" or even the "!". So now the password looks like "A!PhAb3t". It will take a super computer an extremely long time to break this password. At this point the attacker would have to use a method known as "brute force". That means the attacker is taking every possible combination of numbers and letters and special characters and creating a hash to try and match the hash stored by the computer.

To prevent yourself from being subjected to a "brute force" attack, you can set up a security policy that will disable the account after a certain number of unsuccessful attempts.

To further prevent yourself from being compromised since there are programs that can download the hashes stored in your computer, you may want to set some kind of time limit for your passwords. A good example would be that the password would have to be changed every 90 days, and the same password can't be used within a 180 period. This will help ensure that if someone did get the hash of your password, that by the time it is compromised, it would be an obsolete password.

Try to check your logs to see if there have been any attempts on the password. This will certainly let you know if someone is looking at your computer in order to compromise the data that is stored on it.

By maintaining a secure password, you are ensuring that your private information will remain private.

For further information and tips, visit our site at www.whoelseisme.com

Founder of www.whoelseisme.com, we established a site to help those recover from Identity Theft and also how to prevent it from happening.

Think Twice About Identity Theft

If you think identity theft happens only to other people, think twice.

I woke up to that the reality that anyone could be a victim of identity theft when my son called and told me he was notified of suspicious activity on his credit card. He lives in California and the charges occurred in Washington, a state he had never visited before.

Identity theft happens when someone uses your personal information without your permission to commit a fraud crime. An identity thief needs only a small amount of personal information to make the crime happen. Often your first hint that your identity was stolen is when you start to get calls about overdue bills. When the calls stop that does not mean your identity has been restored. The thief may just be changing the address to where the bills are sent when he uses your credit card.

Identity theft refers to the theft of name badges, driver's licenses, social security numbers and other financial information.

If your social security number is stolen, you can place a "initial fraud alert" by calling one of the three nationwide consumer reporting companies:

Equifax: 1-800-525-6285; www.equifax.com; P.O. Box 740241, Atlanta, GA 30374-0241

Experian: 1-888-EXPERIAN (397-3742); www.experian.com; P.O. Box 2002, Allen, TX 75013

TransUnion: 1-800-680-7289; www.transunion.com; Fraud Victim Assistance Division, P.O. Box 6790, Fullerton, CA 92834-6790

If the theft involves your driver's license or other government ID, call the agency immediately to cancel the document and get a new one issued.

To help thwart identity theft use internet passwords with random letters and numbers. Using your mother's maiden name or even a pet's name is insecure.If you discover that you are an identity theft victim, call your credit card companies and cancel your credit cards immediately. Call your bank and discuss whether you should close any accounts there as well.

You can also monitor your personal credit report to spot incorrect information. Remember that fraudulent activity may not show up right away so it is good to monitor often. Here is one website where you can obtain a free credit report: https://www.annualcreditreport.com/cra/index.jsp

Keep an eye out for missing bills and be suspicious if you receive a credit card you did not apply for. Another warning sign of identity theft is denial of a new credit card you applied for or more stringent terms on a new card.

Check out the Federal Trade Commission's ID Theft website for valuable information: http://www.consumer.gov/idtheft/

Identity theft is definitely on the rise. In 2003 over 198,000 identity fraud complaints were issued. According to the latest government report in December 2005, identity theft complaints rose almost 30% to 255,000 complaints were made. In fact, identity theft complaints represented 37 percent of the 686,683 complaints filed.

Identity theft will probably never go away. Be smart and take precautions now to avoid a horrible experience in the future.

Greg Cryns is the founder of McHenry Online, http://www.mchenryonline.com , a website focused on information about McHenry County, Illinois. He is also the owner of http://www.getshredders.info where you can get information about paper shredders.

Greg Cryns is the founder of McHenry Online, http://www.mchenryonline.com , a website focused on information about McHenry County, Illinois. He is also the owner of http://www.getshredders.info where you can get information about paper shredders.

Beating Credit Card Identity Theft

Almost all property in the world can be stolen. Whether it be money in a bank, important documents, copyrights, and now even your intellectual property. Credit cards and ATMs are not spared from this situation, though these properties are protected with complicated passwords that only the owner knows. Recent news proved the world that cards cannot necessarily be stolen but the identity of the owner can.

According to some victims, they noticed that they have been paying their credit card companies more than the actual purchase they made. Troubled by the observation, the said victims extended their complaints to their credit cards companies.

The result was that, in the record of the companies the victims made transactions, not permitted by these victims. The companies later declared that the identities of the owners were stolen.

Knowing this reality, have you ever asked yourself, "How can I protect myself from these thieves?"

Well, if you have asked that question and still looking for an answer let this write-up be a help to you.

Securing your identity is never that hard. It will only cost you discipline and sense of responsibility. Mostly identity theft happens out of improper disposal of receipts and the like.

The receipt of a purchase contains almost all information pertaining to you that is essential in building your identity. Remember that every time you leave a counter you are asked to sign a piece of paper to validate your account and the transaction. Bear in mind that that signature is your identity.

Here are some suggestions of totally securing you identity over credit card thieves:

* Make a list of the products you purchased and make a draft a little of information about it. You may include the date of purchase, the price, place where you bought the product and other important data. These data are written in the receipt and therefore all you have to do is to copy it.

By doing so, you will always know the things you purchased and therefore be aware if any unauthorized purchases done when your bill comes. Aside from that, the list you made will surely help you organize your budget.

* Dispose your bills, credit cards applications, receipts and other confidential documents that contain your identity. A piece of paper with all necessary information in it will take a thief for an identity to be stolen.

If possible, do not use the shredder. You may rather burn these documents. If it does not need the document to be disposed, keep it in a protected place in your house, preferably a safe.

* Always keep an eye or keep your mails with you when falling in line at a bank. Regard them as cash.

* Improvise your mailbox in a manner that it locks by itself after your courier delivers your mail. That is to prevent thieves from stealing your mails as well

Morgan Hamilton offers expert advice and great tips regarding all aspects concerning Credit Cards. Get the information you are seeking now by visiting Credit Card Identity Theft

Hosting Service Providers and Identity Theft

My Hosting Service, My Security Service: How much protection does your web host give you from identity theft...and how much can they?

There are laws now that protect us from identity thieves, sure, but oftentimes, by the time the law gets involved, the damage is already done. Your website may be defaced. Your name may be sullied. Your hosting service may have locked you out. You lose customers. You lose money. To recover, you have to regain lost ground, which also takes time and money. But what can you do to protect yourself? And can your web hosting service help?

In two words: they'd better. At the very least a hosting service in the age of spammers, hijackers, and hackers (oh my!) should at the very least have one or more firewalls protecting your data. They should also be able to offer you protection from Denial-of-Service (DoS) attacks, a common outcome of internet identity theft. Some hosting services may offer you a Virtual Private Network (at relevant expense, of course) for additional protection.

Your payment area should be completely secure, at the bare minimum promising SSL digital encryption of all incoming and outgoing data. You should also make sure the shopping cart your hosting service provides is compatible with the major online payment processing gateways, such as PayPal, NETeller, Citadel, FirePay Click2Pay, UseMyBank, and others.

Identity thieves will often try to access your hosting service account using the "fruits" of their thieving. Once inside, they can hijack your domain away from you or delete important files from your hosting service. If this happens to you, one thing to do is check the server logs of your hosting service to figure out the exact date and time that the theft occurred. Note the IP addresses involved in the action and contact the associated ISP. This alone won't resolve the problem. But it's a start.

If your email address is stolen, you may find you start receiving returned messages that you appear to have sent but which you know for certain you did not. Print each and every one of those messages out immediately and make copies -- they're evidence. Not only may they come in handy in tracing the source of the theft, but they may be the very things that keep your hosting service from terminating your account (if, for one hypothetical example, a thief uses your email address to send X-rated material).

The other immediate action to take if you ever suspect yourself of being a victim of internet identity theft is notify your hosting service, your ISP, and your domain name registrar. Any instructions they give you, follow. You could also file a police report (and probably should, at least to get the crime on record), but as it's unlikely anything will come of it (at least not immediately), this should really only be done after you've first contacted your hosting service, ISP, and registrar.

Hosting-Review.com is the premier resource on web hosting. Visit http://www.hosting-review.com for comprehensive reviews and rankings of over 50 web hosting service providers, as well as informative articles about everything to do with hosting.