The Federal Trade Commission Identity Theft Clearinghouse and its Steps to Prevent THEFT

The Federal Trade Commission Identity Theft Clearinghouse is the second step when you become a victim of identity theft to report the crime. When you report identity theft to the Federal Trade Commission Identity Theft Clearinghouse, the services will contact various contacts, including the law, investigators, particular "consumer reporting companies," lawyers and so forth in an effort to help you through the crime.

Once you report to the right authorities that you have become victim of identity theft, police department worldwide will have this knowledge. Next, you will need to report the theft to TransUnion, Experian, and Equifax and request and dispute any unauthorized debts, including bankruptcies.

It depends on the state in which you live, but few states offer the option of placing a FREEZE on your credit reports, which supposedly prohibits access to anyone but you and the bureaus. You will be provided a PIN number, which you can remove temporary to allow viewing of your reports in the event you are applying for a job or credit.

Victims of identity theft should be aware that any debts incurred on their reports come from creditors, or public records. When a person is sued, files bankruptcy, files for divorce, or judgments and tax liens are filed against, thus the information is public.

One of the cruelest laws is that the media can report crimes committed by a person, including placing the persons address in the papers. This is a surefire failure in the system that opens up the advantage for perpetrators of identity theft, and even predators to take control of a person's life. Thus, placing your social security number, home address, phone number and other information on credit reports where anyone can gain access is another failure in the system that opens the door for identity theft.

Thus, when a person is victimized by identity theft and the perpetrator commits an act that enforces tax liens, bankruptcies and delinquencies the information goes on the credit report. It is up to the victim to dispute the charges, however, even if the victim succeeds the information may stay on the credit reports for seven, ten, or fifteen years. Many people believe that debts stay on credit reports up to three years, however, Experian clearly states on its letters that debts linger on reports for 'seven years," while 'bankruptcies" remain on the reports for 'ten years,' and "tax liens" stay on the reports for fifteen 'years.'

When you dispute a charge on your credit report and after the investigation it is found you are telling the truth, thus the credit bureaus will place deleted behind the charge. To dispute any charges you must contact the credit bureaus dispute service by calling or going online and visit the credit bureaus sites. Keep all letters where a dispute was filed on records. If the companies accusing you of the debt, after a dispute is made cannot show proof that you incurred the debt, thus the credit bureaus will include "dismiss" or "deleted" behind the charge.

Thus, under the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) laws you have the right to sue anyone causing damage to you, by giving out, selling, or leasing your information, you may sue him or her in federal or state courts. Therefore, learn your rights, since companies will sell, rent, lease, or give out your information to others in some instances.

It is against the law for any company willfully given out information to others without the consent of the individual. Thus, under law the person can be sued, fined and tossed in jail, or both. For example, if a company sells, leases, rents, or gives your information out to someone else and you become victim of identity theft by reason of this action, you have the legal right to file charges and sue the company.

Finally, the steps to reporting identity theft include: Filing a report with the police, Federal Trade Commission Identity Theft Clearinghouse and notifying the credit bureaus. You will also need to contact the Department of Motor Vehicles, as well as the Social Security Administration. For more information on identity theft, read and learn.

Tony Robinson is an International Author, Webmaster and Security Guru. Check out his Identity Theft Protection Tips at http://www.officialidentitytheft.com/

Some Tips For Preventing Identity Theft

These days it is becoming increasingly common to see people suffering from identity theft. It has become a huge business for thieves and con artists all over the world.

If it has never happened to you, trust me you don't want it to. These people who specialize in stealing identities can run up charges on your credit cards, empty your bank accounts, sell off investment portfolios and have the funds transferred to offshore accounts, and ruin your credit almost overnight.

So, how do you protect yourself from this new crime threat? I have gathered a few tips for you that will give you a good start to guarding against identity theft.

One of the easiest things that one can do to help prevent identity theft from people going through your garbage is to buy a cross-cut type shredder. Shred all your important papers and especially pre-approved credit applications received in your name and other financial information that provides access to your private information. Don't forget to shred your credit card receipts as well. These shredders can be bought now for under $50.

Be careful at ATM's and using Phone Cards. "Shoulder Surfers" can get your "Pin Number" and get access to your accounts. Another thing is to be careful when pulling up to an ATM and watch out for people in the area. I also suggest not going to ATM's late at night and especially if they are in remote areas just from a safety standpoint.

Get all of your checks delivered to your bank - not to your home address.

Do not put checks to pay bills in the mail from your home mailbox. Drop them off at a U.S. Mailbox or the U.S. Post Office. Mail theft is common. It's easy to change the name of the recipient on the check with an acid wash. Another thing you can do to guard against this type of theft is buy a better mailbox. There are many mailboxes now that only allow the postman to drop mail in the box and only the owner can access it. These extras steps require some time and effort on your part but they are well worth it.

When you order new credit cards in the mail, or your previous ones have expired, watch the calendar to make sure that you get the card within the appropriate time. If it is not received by a certain date, call the credit card grantor immediately and find out if the card was sent. Find out if a change of address was filed if you don't receive the card or a billing statement. Cancel all credit cards that you do not use or have not used in 6 months. Thieves use these very easily - open credit is a prime target.

By following these tips and avoiding sending personal information and checks from your home mailbox you can go a long way in preventing identity theft.

Gregg Hall is a business consultant and author for many online and offline businesses and lives in Navarre Florida with his 16 year old son. Get a secure mailbox from http://www.mailboxsuperstoreonline.com

What Everyone Should Know About Reducing the Risk of Identity Theft

Identity theft commonly begins with the loss or theft of a wallet or purse. But there are many or high-tech and low-tech ways criminals can get their hands on your personal and financial information in order to commit identity theft. When someone uses your name or personal information, such as your credit card number, driver's license number, Social Security number, telephone number, or other account numbers, without your permission, you become a victim of identity theft.

Thieves steal your personal information and use it to open credit accounts, bank accounts, telephone service accounts, and make major purchases in your name. These criminals use your sensitive information to take over existing accounts, or open new accounts. Their criminal activities can result in damage to your credit rating and denials to credit and job offers.

Protecting Your Identity While there are no guarantees that your identity will never be stolen or compromised, there are several steps you can take to minimize the risks. Here are a few of them:

* Before you discard your personal information that you no longer need, such as credit card receipts, billing statements, and pre-approved credit card offers, shred them using, at best, a diagonal-cut shredder.

* Create unique passwords and personal identification numbers (PINS) and avoid using easily available information such as mother's maiden name, date of birth, or last four digits of your Social Security number.

* Do not give your Social Security number to people or companies that you do not know.

* Guard your mail from theft. Promptly remove your incoming mail from your mailbox and place outgoing mail in locked collection boxes at your local Post Office.

* As an extra measure of security, install a lock on your mailbox, even if mail theft is not an identified problem in your neighborhood.

* Before disclosing personal information, even to people you know where you shop or do business, insist on knowing the reason(s) your personal information is required and how it will be used.

Low-Tech Rip-offs: Thieves can do much damage with what they remove from your mailbox.

Criminals are increasingly creative in the methods they use to get their hands or eyes on your personal information, and ultimately, your money. Here are some of the low-tech techniques they employ:

* Dumpster Diving, one of the easiest ways for them to appropriate your personal information.

* Mail Theft from unsecured residential mailboxes. According to statistics, mail theft most often takes place at unprotected and easily accessible mailboxes in public places.

* Shoulder surfing takes place when a thief watches or listens literally over your shoulder as you enter your PIN into an ATM machine. They may even follow you home or your place of work to gather additional information about you.

High-Tech Techniques: Data transferred across the Internet can be intercepted during its journey.

* Phishing and Pharming: While phishing is a scam in which consumers are tricked into entering their personal information via a bogus email and website form, pharming occurs where hackers steal personal information from numerous people simultaneously through something known as "domain spoofing". They take over a DNS server and redirect user information to a new website that they use to gather, collect, "pharm" illegal information.

* Skimming: Thieves quickly and temporarily steal a credit card and run it through a skimmer, a credit card reader that has been reprogrammed to steal information off the card.

Fight Back: Reduce the Risks

Make education about the scams, schemes, and frauds criminal use to steal your identity your priority in view of the rising occurrence of this multi-million-dollar-problem. With education comes prevention. Here are some prevention tips to help reduce the risks:

* Safeguard your personal information. Never take simple things for granted.

* Carry with your only the information you need. Always keep your personal information and documents in a safe and secured place of your choosing.

* Order and review a copy of your credit report at least once a year.

* Shred documents containing your sensitive information before discarding them.

For extensive information about ways to protect your identity, visit "Protecting Your Identity" at http://www.ProtectingYourIdentity.blogspot.com/.

Known as The Master Blog Builder, Etienne A. Gibbs, MSW, helps small business owners and non-profit organizations improve their customer relationship marketing. Often he comes across cases that are red flags calling identity thieves to come in. Hence, he started the "Protecting Your Identity" blog. Contact him at http://www.MasterBlogBuilder.com/ for more information

The Business of Identity Theft

Q: I use PayPal to accept credit cards for my online collectibles business. I recently received an email that my PayPal account was going to expire in five days if I didn't click a link in the email and give them my PayPal account information. Being naturally paranoid I decided not to give this information and I'm happy to say that my PayPal account did not expire. Was this a scam? -- Brenda A.

A: Be thankful that your paranoia kicked in, Brenda, because you were about to fall victim to the scam of the week, this one aimed at the 35 million merchants and individuals who use Paypal.com as their online payment processor.

The email you received was not from PayPal, but from an Internet bad guy behind a forged email address using the PayPal.com domain. You should understand that no reputable online company will ever ask you to provide your account information. Think about it. They already have this information. Why would they ask you to provide it.

Since I use PayPal for several of my online ventures, I, too, received the email in question. The email first seeks to instill fear in you by saying that your PayPal account will be closed if you do not provide personal information. You are then directed to open an attached executable file and enter your PayPal account information and other personal information that PayPal doesn't even require, including your social security number, checking and savings account information, driver's license number, and other personal information that can be used to clean out your PayPal account and perhaps even steal your identity.

If you're not familiar with PayPal, it is a hugely successful, web-based company (purchased by eBay in 2002) that many online retailers and eBay sellers use to accept electronic payments for everything from newsletter subscriptions to consulting services to just about any product for sale on eBay.

The allure of PayPal is that it does not require the seller to have a bank merchant account through which to process credit cards. Anyone with a verifiable email address and bank account can use PayPal and the service can be implemented almost immediately after registering.

When someone places an order on a website that uses PayPal for online payments, that customer is directed to PayPal.com to complete the payment process using a credit card or electronic check. The merchant can transfer the money collected in his PayPal account to his checking account any time he likes. Since many larger merchants make this transfer just once a week or so, their PayPal accounts are ripe for the picking from those who have the cunning and lack of ethics required to gain access.

The shear number of PayPal customers is one reason it has become a popular target of scam artists trying to steal personal information from individuals and businesses alike.

Identify theft is on the rise. Thanks to the Internet stealing someone's identity has never been easier. At any given moment, there are any number of Internet thieves using all manner of high tech wizardry to steal personal and business information from unsuspecting souls, and many times they can gain access to this information simply by asking the person to provide it through fraudulent means.

The PayPal scam is just the latest in a long line of sophisticated attempts to steal personal information through online means, Amazon, eBay, Dell Computer, and many others have been the brunt of many such scams in recent years.

Identity theft is what's known as a knowledge crime, which means that the criminal doesn't have to break into your house to rob you blind. If you have a bank account and a social security number, you are susceptible to identity theft.

While most people are familiar with identity theft, most business men and women never think about it happening to them, at least on a professional level. Consider this: if a criminal can learn your business checking account number or the number of your company credit card, they can steal far more from your business than if they had simply knocked down the door and carted off your desk.

The Internet aside, most business and personal identity theft is still the result of stolen wallets and dumpster diving. You should guard your business records closely and be very careful what you throw away. Stop and think for a moment what a criminal might find in the dumpster behind your office.

There's a good chance that dumpster has, at various times, contained scraps of paper with your social security number, driver's license number, credit card number, old ATM cards, telephone calling cards, and other pieces of vital business information like bank statements, invoices, and purchase orders. A dumpster-diving thief could literally rob your business blind in a matter of hours.

Here are a few ways to protect yourself from business and personal identity theft.

* Never give out your first name, last name, business name, email address, account passwords, credit card numbers, bank account information, PIN number, social security number, or driver's license number.

* Change your online account passwords every 30 days. Believe it or not, a hacker who steals your personal information can guess your online account passwords in about two minutes. If your Charles Schwab online account password is your birthday or the name of your first born or family pet, count on a hacker cracking that code faster than you can say 'Bill Gates.'

* Never provide personal information in response to an email or telephone call. Just because someone calls and says they are from Dunn & Bradstreet and need to confirm your business information does not mean they are really from Dunn & Bradstreet.

* Never give your business credit card number over the phone to place an order with someone who has called you unsolicited. If you are interested in what they are selling get their number, check out their company, then call them back to place the order.

If you think that you have become the victim of identity theft or think someone is trying to steal your identity or personal information you should report them immediately to the Federal Trade Commission. You will find more information on their website at http://www.consumer.gov/idtheft/. For more information on what to do if identity theft happens to you visit http://www.privacyrights.org/fs/fs17a.htm.

So, if you ever receive an email from PayPal, Amazon, eBay, or any other ecommerce website asking you to update your account information by email you can pretty much bet the farm that it is a scam.

In business, as in life, a little paranoia is a good thing.

Tim is written by veteran entrepreneur and syndicated columnist, Tim Knox. Tim Knox is the founder of DropshipWholesale.net, an online

organization dedicated to the success of online and eBay

entrepreneurs. Related Links: http://www.prosperityandprofits.com

http://www.smallbusinessqa.com http://www.dropshipwholesale.net

Identity Theft Scams

Identity Theft scams continue to flourish on the web. One that you need to be aware of and beware of is any site that seems to be selling high-demand items (digital cameras for instance) at a much lower (almost unbelievable) price than you can find on other sites or the manufacturers site.

Often the victims are told to pay nothing until they receive the merchandise. The person behind the scam uses the victims name and a credit card number belonging to another person to purchase the item at a legitimate site.

Once the item is shipped, the victim then authorizes his credit card to be billed or sends payment directly to the scammer. The scammer has now put you in the position of being in receipt of stolen merchandise while they get away with your money.

Another scam that still seems to be working is being contacted through e-mail by someone claiming to be from your credit card company, your internet service provider, Paypal, or Ebay.

The scammer will send a message stating that your account information needs to be verified because their files were hacked into, their database crashed or they believe that someone has tried to steal your account information and they want to verify your information in order to protect your account. The con artist then uses the information supplied to verify your account to run up fraudulent charges.

NEVER give personal information to a company, such as AOL or Ebay, that already has it. If you are suspicious about being contacted, contact the company yourself before giving out any personal information.

Get your FREE credit report online now and subscribe to our FREE weekly newsletter TO YOUR CREDIT.

Visit http://www.yourfreecreditreportnow.com for more information.

jimdim815@aol.com

Identity Theft: They Got Him

His hard earned money? Gone. Creditors on his back everyday. The cops knocking on his door. His family strained to the breaking point. He didn't do anything wrong but my business partner's life got turned upside down a few years back. He became a victim of what is now the fastest growing crime in the world. Identity theft.

According to the Federal Trade Commission, since 1999 over 27 million people in the US alone became victims of this epidemic 10 million more last year. Harris Interactive, a marketing research company, reports that between 2002 and 2003 more roughly 19,178 people per day fell victim.

Your identity can be stolen in many ways. For my partner, the thief gained access to his social security number and address then applied for a series of loans in his name. When the bills came due, guess who the creditors and law enforcement held accountable?

He and his family felt the full impact. Identity theft can cripple and even destroy a person's life. The time loss trying to recover your identity as well as the out of pocket expense U.S.Treasury Secretary John Snow calls identity theft "the greatest threat to consumers and far more insidious and harmful to our national welfare than many people realize."

The internet doesn't make it any better with its almost limitless access to information but a great deal of identity theft still comes from the offline world. Wherever it comes from the goal stays the same. To get your personal information and steal what belongs to you for as long as possible.

In many cases, this can lead to the victim filing for bankruptcy or worse. As reported by the Orlando Sentinel, one man whose identity got stolen recently spent 54 days in jail before authorities realized their mistake.

Yet even when the thief finally gets caught, victims find out all too often the worse part still lies ahead. The recovery of their identity. For my partner, that meant never ending battles with the same credit bureaus that previously gave him good ratings.

They destroyed his credit almost overnight even though he did everything they told him to get it restored. The agencies refused to clear his record and instead, started sharing his information with each other. His mortgage rates went thru the roof. He paid more for everything but still got declined. With all of this came the burden and fear of him not knowing if he would ever recover his identity.

Six years later he finally did. He started working with a company that within 90 days restored his credit. His mortgage rate dropped and he went back to paying full price for everything like the rest of us.

And like my partner, all of us risk becoming victims. In San Antonio Texas, television station KENS 5 spoke with a man convicted of identity theft who warned "Don't take for granted what you have because anybody could take it away - I mean at the snap of a finger."

He would know. The ways of stealing an identity have turned this crime from nuisance to worldwide crisis.

Daryl Campbell is CEO of Campbell Marketing, L.L.C. His website, mini-sites, and articles help people to grow and protect their internet marketing business. Go to winthemarket.com now.

** Attn Ezine editors / Site owners **

Feel free to reprint this article in its entirety in your ezine or on your site so long as you leave all links in place, do not modify the content and include our resource box as listed above.

fourpreps@comcast.net