Identity Theft Secrets           Videos             News               SuperSleuths                Articles               About          Solution           Contact          Links

Join the IDT SecretsSuperSleuths.    Your Name:      E-mail:

What is Identity Theft Insurance? What does it cover? How can I get it? Do I need it? And how much does it cost?

Your questions regarding identity theft insurance are answered in this post.

According to a recent report from the Justice Department, an estimated 3.6 million households have been victims of identity theft or fraud. This number varies based on the FTC and other governmental organizations classification of this type of crime as well as the numbers reported in the United States or overseas (including US citizens traveling overseas). The majority of reported cases involve a stolen credit card number.

Critics of identity theft insurance claim that it is "not worth the money," (Consumer Reports magazine, as reported on MSNBC.com). Critics of identity theft insurance state many concerns, chief among them the fact that in most cases it does not cover the following: reimbursement for money that is stolen or for identity theft expenses that occurred because of who the "thief" was. In the case of a family member, most insurance does not pay benefits. The National Association of Insurance Commissioners cautions consumers that insurance "cannot protect you from becoming a victim of identity theft and does not cover direct monetary losses incurred as a result of identity theft." Another criticism includes that the purchase of identity theft insurance may create a false sense of security.

What does identity theft insurance cover? Just like the many varieties of health, home, life, and car insurance; identity theft insurance comes in many forms. In most cases, but not all, identity theft insurance will cover lost wages due to time taken off work to correct or repair damages due to identity theft. However, this coverage often carries a limit, frequently in the approximate amount of $2,000.00. According to The Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, it is estimated that victims spend on the average the equivalent of 22 work days trying to correct the damage from identity theft, so this may or may not be of benefit to you, depending on what your hourly/daily wage is.

Identity theft insurance also usually pays attorney fees (which may or may not be necessary); mailing, postage, supplies, copy costs, and phone bill charges (for example long distance) associated with providing creditors and lenders as well as credit agencies with the proof necessary to correct your credit and repair your financial situation.

How much does identity theft insurance cost? It depends on both the coverage and how you obtain your insurance. Identity theft insurance can range from free to approximately $40.00 a year depending on how you have purchased it. There are three main ways to obtain identity theft insurance: within your homeowner's insurance policy; as a service of your credit card company or lender; and by purchasing it as an individual. To determine if you have identity theft insurance through your homeowner's policy, contact your insurance company and request a copy of the provision. (You may need to purchase it as a "rider' or extra to your existing policy much like purchasing flood or earthquake insurance - but not as expensive.)

You may be covered through your credit lender; such as the credit card company, mortgage or other loan provider. This coverage may be free, or it may require a yearly service fee through the lender. For example, American Express provides some forms of identity theft insurance to its card holders free of charge. However, consumers need to be sure to check the provisions of this type of coverage. On some credit cards, the coverage only covers that particular credit card company and damages which occur from the loss or theft of that one particular card. What if all the others are stolen and used also? If you are going to rely on this type of "free" coverage you need to make certain that the coverage is available on all your credit cards and lending agencies or that you may purchase additional coverage to protect all your financial information.

Consumers may also purchase a "stand alone" policy through most of the major insurance providers such as Nationwide, State Farm, Farmers Group, etc. There are also many other options available that allow consumers the option to purchase the policy as a stand alone. However, if doing so, you want to make sure that the company is reputable. In some cases, these are the very types of people you should be protecting your information from. Lastly, some providers of this type of insurance provide it monthly, so be sure to multiply the monthly cost by 12 to determine the yearly costs. If you purchase this type of coverage it is important to make sure to keep it current.

One final consideration for identity theft insurance is the level of deductibles. They generally range from $100 to $250, but some may be as high as $1,000. According to the Federal Trade Commission, the average victim spends less than $1,500 to recover from identity theft so it important to do the math and determine if your insurance premium plus deductible is a good value as well as provides the type of protection that you need for your credit and identity.

Finding out about damages to your identity and credit is just the beginning. After that begins the time consuming and often frustrating process of repairing the damage and correcting the mistakes. While nothing can protect you completely, even following basic rules like keeping your personal and credit information safe and shredding all documents, it is good to know that you can also purchase (and in some cases get for free) that added bonus of assistance in the form of coverage and monetary support during one of the most difficult financial times in your life.

Identity theft is a serious crime-- not only to you and your family, but to your finances, your emotional well being and your future. Find out just how far-reaching the damages are to individuals and businesses.

According to CBS News, in 2001, someone was a victim of identity theft every 79 seconds (CBSnews.com, 1/25/2001). Each year hundreds of thousands of people are affected and dollars spent on the crime of identity theft. According to a Federal Trade Commission report between 1997 and 2005 over 3 million cases of fraud and identity theft were reported to over 1400 law enforcement agencies in 19 nations.

In 2005 alone, over 685,000 complaints were filed regarding fraud and identity theft and of those, 37% (255,565) were for identity theft. Reported monetary losses due to fraud (including identity theft) was over $680 million dollars, not including time and money spent by consumers to correct the problems incurred by identity theft.

Statistics for the years of 2003-2005 regarding identity theft:
-215,177 cases reported to the FTC for the 2003 calendar year
-246,847 cases reported to the FTC for the 2004 calendar year
-the majority of cases go unreported to Federal or local authorities
-the most common age group affected by identity theft is 18-29
-the top 10 metropolitan areas affected by identity theft include: Phoenix, AZ; Las Vegas, NV; Miami, FL; San Francisco, CA; and Dallas, TX (2005)
California had the most reported cases of identity theft with a total of approximately 45,000 cases of identity theft (2005)

In 2007 identity theft accounted for 36 percent of the 674,354 complaints received between January 1 and December 31, 2006, a little less than the previous year. This slight decrease may be due to more and more consumers becoming proactive in protecting their credit and taking appropriate steps to monitor their personal and financial information.

Facts every consumer should know: •Credit card fraud (26%) was the most common form of reported identity theft followed by phone or utilities fraud; (18%), bank fraud (17%), and employment fraud (12%). Other significant categories of identity theft reported by victims were government documents/benefits fraud (9%) and loan fraud (5%). (Federal Trade Commission Complaint Data)

The most common method of retrieving information for use in identity theft is through lost or stolen wallets, theft of mail, dumpster diving, and information obtained through friends, family or consumer providers. In some cases an employee of the store or services provider you frequent obtains your information and uses it for fraud.

Synthetic identity theft is a more recent occurrence and very difficult to detect and correct. Synthetic identity theft occurs when bits and pieces of several people are used in order to create an entirely new identity. Information may come in the form of an address from one person, the social security number of another and employment or banking information from a third or fourth.

The Identity Theft Resource Center conducted a study of 173 victims of identity theft. In each case the victim's damages included: an extended period of time to correct their credit status; 85% of the victims found out about the theft when they attempted to apply for a job or credit; victims are currently spending over 600 hours attempting to repair the damages to their credit and an amount of over $16,000 per victim; victims are finding out about the abuse of their identity and credit sooner, but it is taking longer to remove the information from their credit reports and many victims equate the emotional impact of identity theft with that of a violent crime - in some cases similar to a rape as the violation can be that personal.

How serious is identity theft? Hundreds of thousands of people are affected each year in the United States and millions worldwide. Millions of dollars are stolen from consumers and businesses. Time and effort; emotional, physical, psychological and financial are required to eventually make corrections to your credit and financial information. In some cases the damage is so far reaching as to be impossible to completely correct. If you are a victim of identity theft not only is your financial freedom taken away in the form of paying for damages as well as the resulting complications for obtaining future credit. You are also psychologically and emotionally damaged as you fear the unknown repercussions of the identity theft as well as the knowledge that your personal information has been violated. Identity theft is a far reaching crime and if you think you have been a victim, you must report it to the appropriate local, state and federal authorities including your State Attorney General's office and the Federal Trade Commission. Take the first steps to protect yourself and your information; but if that fails, then make sure to take the most effective steps possible to keep it from continuing or happening to someone else. Report it.

Consumers can report ID theft to the FTC by calling the agency's toll-free number: 877-438-4338.

Another European program making inroads into the North American market, BitDefender is headquartered in Bucharest, Romania and is ranked as one of the top 100 private companies in Europe. Its antivirus and computer security programs are currently installed on more than 41 million computers in over 200 countries around the world.

Another European program making inroads into the North American market, BitDefender is headquartered in Bucharest, Romania and is ranked as one of the top 100 private companies in Europe. Its antivirus and computer security programs are currently installed on more than 41 million computers in over 200 countries around the world.

Originally designed in 1995 to root out regionally-circulated viruses "forgotten" by Western software designers, the program worked so well it was launched locally in 1996 and internationally three years later. BitDefender built their programs around a multiple award-winning antivirus engine that's rated VB100% by Virus Bulletin, the highest rating available.

BitDefender offers three products for home users: Antivirus 2008; Internet Security 2008, and Total Security 2008. All three products work on networks, workstations, or stand-alone computers, on Windows or Linux.

The most basic program, Antivirus, offers real-time protection against computer viruses, worms, trojans, spyware, rootkits, and other malware, with proactive heuristic detection (the proprietary B-HAVE system), and includes a drag-and-drop feature to scan specific files as well as a deep system scan and continuous background monitoring. Antivirus 2008 protects against identity theft by blocking the release of personal information through email or web browsing; and protects against phishing attacks by monitoring websites for potential threats.

The database and program updates are fetched hourly, at a user-defined interval, or manually. The company responds within one to two hours to reported malware outbreaks, one of the fastest response times within the industry and matched only by Kaspersky Internet Security 7.0.

BitDefender's most recent version also offers a Gamer Mode, smoothing processor usage and minimizing the program's footprint.

One step up the ladder, Internet Security adds a firewall, parental controls, and a timer and blocker for Internet access as well as certain applications. (Next time the kid says, "I've only been online a few minutes," well, that can be checked!)

Email is monitored (in Outlook and Outlook Express only) for phishing and spam. The program maintains both black and white lists, and Bayesian filters study outgoing email to "learn" the user's individual needs.

Internet Security also offers Wi-Fi network security, alerting users when an unauthorized computer attempts to log onto the network.

The highest end of the market, Total Security, includes security-oriented utilities such as disk defragmentation, an excellent automatic data backup system, and a "file shredder" that erases files from the hard drive to prevent recovery. The Tune-up feature removes unnecessary files and registry entries to improve computer performance.

I downloaded and tested Internet Security for this review. Installation and configuration were simple; some users reported problems with conflicts when installing BitDefender to Windows XP, but I didn't have any.

This is truly an "install and forget" program. Unlike some other antivirus platforms, I didn't detect any hesitations while running BitDefender in the background, even while pushing the system with multiple programs and a live data feed.

The default settings are calculated to balance security with convenience. Users with higher security requirements will have to tweak the system. Unfortunately, BitDefender has no contextual help links to assist the novice. As any sophisticated antivirus platform will not be the most beginner-friendly program, some assistance would be nice particularly during set up.

BitDefender offers technical help via email and telephone 24/7.

Overall, BitDefender is an excellent program, particularly for more advanced users who won't miss contextual help links. It's less expensive than most other antivirus programs on the market and performs as well if not better. Although it would be nice if the email features worked with Firefox or other web browsers, I suppose one really can't have everything.

Just make sure, as with all virus check programs, that you stop one antivirus software before beginning this one. They can sometimes conflict.

BitDefender is a keeper.

Lora and Jamey Costner of Newport, Tennessee, have joined the ranks of identity theft victims after two illegal immigrants, Douglas Valdez and Elizabeth Velasco Bautista, allegedly used the Costner's Social Security numbers to obtain employment at the Koch Foods plant in nearby Morristown.

Bautista also filed for workers compensation benefits after she fell off the food processing plant's production line. Mrs. Costner, on the other hand, had difficulty obtaining workers compensation benefits herself, as state labor officials said she had reported back to work at Koch Foods the previous month.

Mrs. Costner has never worked at Koch Foods.

Koch foods, at least the part of it where Douglas Valdez and Elizabeth Velasco Bautista work(ed), is a chicken deboning facility that, according to reports from employees, bears all the hallmarks of a sweat shop.

Bautista pleaded guilty to criminal impersonation. However, Valdez dodged the identity theft charges because the judge ruled it was not a crime to use someone else's identity to obtain employment.

When I first read that, I was outraged. It made me wonder what the judge was smoking: not to consider identity theft a crime? But I gave this unidentified judiciary the benefit of the doubt, and learned - to my horror - that he had a point, backed by the legal (not always logical) system.

Tennessee law defining identity theft includes the phrase "with the intent to commit . . . any unlawful activity." [all emphases added] Criminal impersonation is defined as assuming a false identity "with intent to injure or defraud another person." Federal statutes are no more helpful, including the phrase "with the intent to commit . . . any unlawful activity."

Under such laws, using someone else's identity requires the intention to commit a crime and cause injury to another person before it becomes a crime itself.

And getting a job doesn't fulfill that criteria. Not even for an illegal immigrant.

Now here's the kicker: Koch Foods apparently did not deduct taxes from Bautista's and Valdez's wages of approximately $30,000 during 2005, so the IRS have levied the bill - not against the perpetrators of the identity theft (Bautista and Valdez), but rather against the victims - the Costners.

Mrs. Costner reported that she and her husband are living in fear that the IRS will begin garnishing their wages. In a letter to her U.S. Senator, she wrote, "The overall burden of it all is crushing us, please help. We have done all we know to do."

The U.S. Representative for the district, Republican David Davis, has assigned Paul Chapman, a field representative, to assist the Costners in sorting out their financial fiasco. It's encouraging to learn that at least part of the federal government, their congressional office, has maintained some compassion, integrity, and sense around this situation.

Even without discussing the issue of illegal immigrants, who are desperate enough to take the lowest-paid, ickiest jobs that no one else wants (regardless of how you feel about the issue), there's more than enough blame to go around here.

There's Koch Foods, employer to dozens of immigrants across the country and now facing federal charges of "encouraging, inducing or harboring illegal aliens," according to Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

There's the personnel manager at Koch, who accepted the bogus documentation without a background check. (Valdez presented his ID as "Jamey Costner" in Tennessee. Apparently, Valdez doesn't speak English - so if, as a personnel manager, your job is to screen applicants, wouldn't it have made sense to look into this applicant a bit more? It would make sense - but only if you really cared about looking into the identities of your employees).

But much of the blame must go to the federal government, which, since 1984, has accepted tax payments filed under the wrong SSN from approximately nine million people. For all the talk of the FTC's deter, detect, defend program dealing with Identity Theft, the government has done very little (if anything) to fix the problem at the organization which accepts the tax payments from 9 million people. While some of these misfiled payments may be due to clerical errors or name changes, no one has bothered to investigate and find out how much of $500 billion in unallocated tax revenue is due to the use of "borrowed" SSNs.

In light of that federal indifference, for the IRS to charge the innocent taxpayer with the fallout is beyond outrageous - it's criminal.

With or without intent.

As you periodically review your credit report, whether it be monthly or yearly, you may come across simple errors in information or incorrect reports of credit that you may have received. There are two ways to correct or "dispute" this information. One is online and the other in writing.

Read more for the step by step process, contact information and process on credit report disputes

If you need a credit report visit "An Overview of the Fair Credit Reporting Act" for information on how to obtain your free credit report and why you are entitled to one.

Here is a step by step process for disputing your credit report information:

It is important that you receive your credit report from all three major credit reporting agencies.

Here's the thing: they have the LONGEST touchtone system information in the history of the planet. (Well, maybe that's a bit of an exaggeration... but it is VERY annoying to get caught in their maze of options, accidentally select the wrong thing, and have to start over.) So to help you, we've given you the touchtone prompts to select. These are current as of December 27, 2007. (But please listen carefully as menu prompts may have changed - for those who didn't get it, that was sarcasm.)

Equifax: 800-685-1111
(These suckers will try to upsell you into getting "your credit score for just $7.95" at every step of the way. (If it's YOUR credit score, how come it costs you money?) Avoid that by using these options below.)
Press 3
Press 3 again
Enter your ZIP, Social Security Number, and numerical portion of your address.
Press 3
Press 3 again
Press 4
Write down the confirmation number
www.equifax.com

Experian: 866 200 6020
Press 2
Press 1
Press 1
Stay on the line for about 15 seconds
Enter your Social Security Number and press #
(Confirm it)
Enter your ZIP and press #
(Confirm it)
Enter the numeric portion of your address (not apartment number if you have one) and press #
Write down your confirmation number.
www.experian.com

TransUnion: 800-916-8800
These guys make it sound like you can't get your credit report through them. But you can (they'll only try to upsell you into getting your credit score once)... here's how.
Press 1
Press 2
Enter your ZIP Code
Press 1
Enter your social security number
(Confirm it)
Enter your date of birth in 6 digits
(Confirm it)
Enter the numeric portion of your address and press #.
www.transunion.com

Different credit companies report to different agencies. Not all creditors use only one and the incorrect information may appear in different reports. You may obtain your credit report online for free one time a year, with each additional report costing and additional sum, usually $10.00. If you are obtaining your first free annual credit report it will include all three agencies, you do not need to request one for each. However, you may find it more cost effective to use a credit monitoring system with a yearly fee that gives you all three credit reports in one on a periodic basis which you determine.

Next, review your credit report and mark the incorrect information. You may wish to print your report out to do this - especially if you have several mistakes or errors. Be sure to record the name, address, amount and account number if available in your notes.

Third, write the credit reporting agency a letter indicating that specific information if incorrect.

Fourth, attach to the letter any supporting documentation to dispute the inaccurate information. I recommend that one of your attachments be a copy of your credit report with specific errors circled or noted in some manner. You may wish to number them and then address as each numbered point within your letter, especially if you have several errors or mistakes. For example, there were errors on my credit report that all listed a false address and a variation of my name. I provided proof of my name over the period of several years, proof that the address did not exist and proof regarding my primary address that was listed on one, as it was not my address but a rental property.
NOTE: The most important thing you need to do when attaching documents is to include COPIES. Do not send originals as you may need that information for another report or in the future.

Fifth, write another letter to the credit lender providing the information. Indicate to them that you have filed a dispute with the credit reporting agency (Naming it specifically) and provide a copy of supporting documentation of the dispute to that information provider also.

If you are using a credit monitoring system online you may be able to eliminate many of these steps. In many of the better versions of a credit monitoring system, as you pull up the details of each account it offers you the option to "dispute" the information. You simply click on dispute and it will automatically pull up the account information you are disputing. You then has a small amount of space to indicate why you dispute the information and click submit.

After filing either your written letter or online dispute the credit reporting agency will investigate the information and determine if your dispute is accurate or not. They also forward all the information you have provided to the credit lender. Usually within approximately 30 days a decision is made as to the accurateness of the information and the credit lender must provide all three major credit reporting agencies with the corrected information. Also when the investigation is complete, you are entitled to the results in writing; a free corrected copy of your credit report; and if you request it a corrected copy of your credit report may be submitted to other credit providers that you may be trying to obtain credit from. For example, you may discover the errors while attempting to purchase a car or home. A corrected copy will be provided to the lender upon your request. If your dispute is denied, resubmit it with additional documentation or contact the credit reporting agency to determine what information would be convincing.

A sample letter is stated below, and provided by the Federal Trade Commission:

*Date
Your Name
Your Address, City, State, Zip Code
Complaint Department

Name of Company
Address
City, State, Zip Code

Dear Sir or Madam:

I am writing to dispute the following information in my file. I have circled the items I dispute on the attached copy of the report I received.

This item (identify item(s) disputed by name of source, such as creditors or tax court, and identify type of item, such as credit account, judgment, etc.) is (inaccurate or incomplete) because (describe what is inaccurate or incomplete and why). I am requesting that the item be removed (or request another specific change) to correct the information.

Enclosed are copies of (use this sentence if applicable and describe any enclosed documentation, such as payment records, court documents) supporting my position. Please reinvestigate this (these) matter(s) and (delete or correct) the disputed item(s) as soon as possible.

Sincerely,
Your name

Enclosures: (List what you are enclosing.)

Disputing your credit is not something you need to hire a specialist to do, and many of those "get help repairing your credit report" programs are scams that are used to obtain your information for their own identity theft purposes or just to make money. Remember, negative information on your report that is correct can not be removed, no matter what someone may offer. This is a simple easy process, which involves very little cost to you. The only cost you incur is your postage and copies. For just a few dollars and a little effort you can save yourself money and permanent damages to your credit report. It's well worth the effort.

* Source: Federal Trade Commission

Credit monitoring can be one of the easiest, most efficient and cost effective manners for preventing and detecing mistakes on your credit report.

Read more to learn to learn how easy it is to monitor your credit and how monitoring my credit enabled me to quickly detect credit blemishes and unauthorized use of my credit information-- as well as how the monitoring system helped me to make corrections to my credit report.

Credit monitoring is an easy, effective method of monitoring the following information: inquiries into your credit line; new account activity; reported address changes on credit information; when and if collection activity has occurred in your name; changes to account information (such as increases in spending limits); changes in public records (such as judgments against you); any delinquencies or other negative changes to your accounts; as well as closed accounts. Credit monitoring does not keep identity theft from occurring, but an informed individual is able to note quickly changes in their report on a regular basis and take the appropriate steps to correct any mistakes on their credit report or detect any changes in their credit status that can be harmful.

From personal experience, I can not stress enough how important it is to monitor your credit. It had been approximately three years since I had need of credit information and upon receiving a free offer for credit monitoring, when I purchased my Turbo Tax system, I thought, "Why not?" I was amazed and astounded by why I found there. There were approximately 15 "mistakes" on my report. Many of them I was able to dispute as they had been paid in full and closed, but wrongly recorded. However, there were others in amounts ranging from $100.00-$500.00 that were totally and completely inaccurate. Small variations in my name and former address had allowed someone to obtain credit. Had I been monitoring my credit information on a regular basis, I would have been able to become aware of this information much sooner. I was one of the lucky ones, upon filing disputes and proving the falseness of the information every one of the so called mistakes were removed from my record. Not everyone is that lucky. Now every month I receive a report of any activity, as well as instant reports whenever any changes occur. It is similar to receiving your savings and checking account statements each month- and you wouldn't give those up would you?

It has been proven, that although credit monitoring does not stop an identity thief dead in their tracks, it does limit your liability as well as keep you informed when any change occurs. Those who detect this negative or false activity on their report early are able to lessen any possible financial and credit rating damages.

There are several variations on credit monitoring services. The ones stated here are pretty much the industry standard, however, you may purchase additional services. The report itself is easy to read and provides credit providers, balances, contact information, payment information etc. In some cases you can even file your dispute (a disagreement with the facts presented) online while viewing your report. I suggest whatever report you chose allows you this option. You will be more likely to move quickly and efficiently in clearing up any mistakes. I also recommend that whatever monitoring service you use includes email statements and that it encompasses the three major credit agencies of TransUnion, Experian, and Equifax. Without this option, some credit problems may not be reported to you, if your service only monitors the one program. Not all credit providers use one program to file their reports.

The cost of credit monitoring services varies in price from approximately $39.99 to over $200.00. In most cases this is for one year of monitoring service. The federal government has provided consumers with the ability to obtain one free credit report each year through the rules and regulations of the Fair Credit Reporting Act and is available from annualcreditreport.com. Your report may be obtained either online or via regular mail. However, once a year may not be enough to protect you, so you may want to invest in an additional program. Look for deals like I was able to get from Turbo Tax, when you are searching for an income tax filing system within the next few months. One last word of caution; be sure your credit monitoring service is reputable. You may want to contact one of the three credit report agencies or a financial professional to help you in making your choice of credit monitoring service.

Children are the perfect targets for identity theft, as it may go undiscovered for years. Most often this crime is committed by a friend or family member, but more and more often it is a result of online information.

Read more to discover how your child's identity may be stolen and what you can do to prevent it.

The other day my daughter received two credit card offers in the mail. This happens to many of us quite often. But not when we are only 12 years old! How did this company get her name and more importantly her address? What could I have done to provide information that would cause her to receive a credit card invitation in the mail?

More and more families are utilizing the web to stay in touch with friends and family long distance; sites such as MySpace, Photobucket, Facebook as well as everyday web pages are turning into family showcases. But are our families, and most importantly our children safe online? We often hear of the incidences of children being approached by a sexual predator online, but what about credit predators? Is there a chance that this information can be harmful?

The answer is a resounding Yes! According to the Federal Trade Commission over half a million children were victims of identity theft in 2005. In some cases, a child's Social Security Number has been stolen keeping a parent for using their dependents and exemptions for their children as someone else as already filed using their child's information. Sadly enough, often times a child's identity is stolen by another family member, parent or close family friend; someone who may have access to the child's information such as date of birth and Social Security Number.

Children are the perfect target for identity theft. They have a spotless credit record and because they are not using their credit it may go undetected for several years. They grow up and suddenly there discover their credit records are blemished in many cases far beyond repair.

What can you do to protect your child from identity theft? The National Cyber Security Alliance advises that people think of social networking sites as "billboards in cyberspace." Would you post on a billboard your child's personal information, such a social security number? To protect your child from identity theft you can take the following steps:

- Keep your profile and information as well as photographs, blogs and other personal, family information private. If you wish to share it only allow those friends and family members you trust to access the site.
- Do not provide your child's school with the social security number. Another number can be "generated" for use by the school district, and schools can not deny an education based on your refusal.
- Keep your child's personal information under lock and key. If someone asks for the Social Security number, be sure to check the reasons for doing so. Ask for copies of the bank account statement or other verifying documents if they claim that they are setting up a savings account or other investment opportunity for your child.
- If someone wants to invest in your child's future, establish the account yourself and note that deposits can be made by specific individuals on the account. This keeps your child's social security number private.
- Don't carry your child's SSN in your wallet. If you are asked for the information indicate that you will call back with the information that you don't carry it with you. Wait until your children are older to provide them with their official SSN card; just last week even my 20 yr old asked me where his was and he had it since his majority.
- Shred, shred, shred. Shred any documents that you can. Shred credit card offers. Shred medical forms once they are no longer needed. An investment of a $20.00 shredder can save your child money and trouble in the future.
- Make sure to set your computer for parental controls, including spyware and anti virus software. Unfortunately many parents think to protect their own information, but are not so thorough with their child's.
- Monitor your child's internet usage. If they have email, check incoming and outgoing messages. If they have a MySpace or other social networking site make sure you have their password and monitor the "friends" and other contributions and messages to their sites.
- Be wary of any website or telephone call that asks for your child's social security number. Make sure that it is valid, relevant and necessary before providing it.

Diligence and caution are essential in protecting your children from identity theft. Remember the majority of instances of identity theft to children are committed by friends or family members, however more and more instances occur as a result of information posted on the internet; whether by yourself or your child. Your caution now will never been seen as "rude," but simply as a concerned parent who is being very aware of your child's surroundings. Anyone who is "upset" by your failure to provide your child's information and you may want to ask yourself, "Why?" they would feel that way.

MySpace, Facebook and other social networking sites are some of the fastest growing uses of the internet for the promotion of bands, businesses, people and just staying in touch. However, there are some pitfalls with so much personal information in one place that is so easily accessible.

Read more to learn how MySpace and other social networking sites can put you at risk for identity theft and how you can avoid it.

Identity theft is one of the fastest growing crimes in the United States today. This year it is estimated that approximately 6 million identity theft crimes will occur in varying degrees. What types of crimes may these be? Anything from borrowing your photos from Facebook or MySpace pages and using it to create some form of identification, to altering it in astounding ways and setting up a new website; to making purchases and obtaining credit with your personal, financial and credit information.

Information that to you may seem worthless may seem to someone looking for a new "identity" to be gold. In approximately 7 minutes online on MySpace, I was able to find out where a young man lived, what school he went to, where he lived, his birthdate and what his plans are for the Christmas holidays. Give me about 10 more minutes and I would probably be able to find out enough information to be able to start my own new identity from his.

What is some information that can be pieced together? First, your profile is a great help to someone wanting a new identity. Your picture may be posted, your city, state, sometimes even your address, birth date, your last vacation, and your plans for other vacations, and simply general comments about what you do, when you do it and where you do it. With that information you can also be sent follow up emails which may gather additional personal information; such as one individual who was sent an email, which appeared to be from his university requesting verification of his social security number. Within minutes the mail had been sent and the student's now so called personal information is someone else's.

How can you protect yourself on MySpace or Facebook? First, set your profile to private, allowing access to your information from only those that you invite or add to your list. However, this doesn't work if you simply add to your list anyone who contacts you and asked to be added. Be careful who you share information with.

Make sure that your password is different for your email account as it is for your MySpace, Facebook or other social networking sites. If you notice postings and changes to your MySpace that you are sure that you did not post, it is possible that someone has figured out your password and is now using it to access your account. If you have the same passwords they can in turn access your email.

Other information that people mistakenly post on their social networking pages include their favorite music and relationship status, but also their cell phone numbers, and previous employers. All of this information can be used to create a credit account in their names.

Another reason that users of social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace are at high risk is because so many of their users are young, inexperienced and because of the "trust" level that is achieved when you meet "friends" online. Many users of these sites simply take a great deal of information at face value and then reciprocate by providing their information in the form of casual conversation, comments and blogs. However, your "friends" may not be your friends and may be simply there to gain information to use for some other purpose.

The National Cyber Security Alliance advises that people think of social networking sites as "billboards in cyberspace." Would you want your credit card or employment information on a billboard? Or when you will be gone from your home? To stay safe from identity theft online; be careful what information you post, make sure to keep your profiles safe and secure by limiting access, use unique hard to discover passwords, and make sure to use up to date anti virus as well as Spy ware software programs. In this way, you can know that you are taking the appropriate precautions to keep your personal and financial information safe as well as having a good time with your friends on these sites.

The Fair Credit Reporting Act is basically the who, what, when, where, why, and how of an individual's credit rights. It is an American; federal law which was most recently (2006) revised to include new methods of reporting and collection of information to keep up to date with new methods and technology.

Read more for how this important law protects you.

The Fair Credit Reporting Act governs how credit information can be collected, who may collect it, and how it may be used as well as providing specific consumer rights in an effort to keep the information private as well as provides for penalties for unlawfully obtaining or using an individual's credit information.

How does this work for you?
First Credit Reporting Agencies, such as Equifax or TransUnion, or Experian contain databases of information. This information contains an individual's name, address, telephone number, social security number, and date of birth. This information is gathered by two methods. First, whenever you apply for credit to use to make a purchase this information is furnished by you to the bank or financing agent you at applying to. The other way that credit reporting agencies obtain information is by being contacted by lending or financial institutions; such as a bank or credit card company with information about you. The financial institution reports to the agency your personal information, how much money, in the form of credit you borrowed, and provides a history of your payment arrangements and remaining balance. The database then passes this information onto the next financial institution that you apply to.

How and why is this information important?
First credit lenders look at this information to determine if you should have any more credit; if they should allow you to borrow any more money. Some employers may use this information to determine if you should be employed by them, especially if your position involves any responsibility with money.

Why is it important to have a federal act that protects your credit information?
First by having a federal act your information is protected the same way in every state. If there was no federal law, your personal information as well as items of financial responsibility may not be treated the same way. This could cause you problems with relocating to another state or city. Second, it is important that your personal and financial information be protected as completely as possible. If it is not then unscrupulous people may use that information to borrow money and not pay it back. .This non payment is then reported on your report making you look irresponsible as well as leaving you open to collectors, court proceedings and possibly even wage garnishments. A study conducted in 2004 found that 79% of credit reports contain errors or mistakes. You should check, I did and found 12 errors that needed to be corrected.

How does the Fair Credit Reporting Act protect you?
It protects you because it designates that only certain agencies may have a credit reporting database. This limits the access to your financial and personal information. It also provides you as a consumer with specific rights; such the ability to obtain a free credit report for your review, the rights to provide information to the credit agencies to dispute or disagree with any information that is incorrect on your credit report; the right to have these "mistakes" removed from your credit report; and the right to know why you may have been refused credit, such as obtaining a new credit card or purchasing a new house or car.

Lastly, the Fair Credit Reporting Act also designates the penalties, fines, and obligations for those that unlawfully use your personal, financial, and banking information for their own purposes.

While the Fair Credit Reporting Act contains many important rules and regulations and is the defining law for the protection of consumers it can not anticipate every situation. The use of technology as well as the wealth of information available about a person with the use of online banking, online bill paying, online purchases; saving your information online and the numerous credit offers in the mail there are too many opportunities for someone to attempt to gain your information. You need to be proactive to protect your credit and personal information. To do this obtain a copy of the act, read it and know your rights. Each year obtain a copy of your credit report and correct any errors. Make sure you know your rights and what you can do to protect yourself from damages to your credit or person.

To obtain a complete copy of the Fair Credit Reporting Act, you may download it from the Federal Trade Commission website.

To obtain one free credit report per year you may request it by telephone, mail or through the government authorized website.

Kaspersky Labs

Kapersky germinated in 1989, when Russian computer technician Eugene Kaspersky found the Cascade virus on his PC. He developed his own anti-virus program and purged the little monster, and released his program to the public in 1993.

Since then, Moscow-based Kaspersky Lab has developed into a multi-national company with offices in Europe, Asia, and North America, and with Eugene Kaspersky still in R&D. Although the company's software is currently better known in Eastern Europe and Asia, it's growing in popularity elsewhere, particularly after Kaspersky Anti-Virus 6 won the PC World Editor's Choice award for Antivirus programs in 2007.

Kaspersky Lab offers three consumer products: Anti-Virus 7, Internet Security 7, and new Mobile Security.

Kapersky Antivirus (pricey at $59.95 per year) detects all the usual suspects, including Trojans, viruses, and worms, and it also scans for spyware, adware, and keyloggers at the same time. The program gives strong and prompt detection, with the malware database automatically updating every hour and the signatures of new virus and spam attacks added to the database within one to two hours of the outbreak's first report.

There's constant background real-time scanning of files, email, and Internet usage. The current version roots out rootkits and analyzes for as-yet unknown threats based on heuristics. Any alterations made by an infection can be reset and the program includes tools for creating a rescue CD.

On the next step up, Kapersky Internet Security ($79.95 per year) combines the Anti-virus engine with a personal firewall, spamware, privacy screen, and parental controls. Although the latter is still rough, it does allow for blacklists, allowable content, and usage time limiting. While the spam protection is average, the firewall is ferocious, as reported by PC Advisor and numerous other technology comparison websites and magazines.

For those unenlightened individuals who allow the default program on their computers to remember their passwords, the privacy screen monitors that Windows-based storage area for suspicious activity.

To get the highest level of security from these two programs, the default configurations require attention from the user. For example, while the level of "riskware" protection can be raised, the default setting did not catch ordinary advertising tracking cookies detected by the free program AVG Anti-Spyware.

Some customers reported resource-hogging with Version 6 of Kaspersky Lab's Anitvirus engine, but Version 7.0 works to level out processor usage and reduce the software's footprint. While the background scanning could still create problems for older systems, the 1.67GHz with 480 MB RAM on which it was tested did not slow discernibly even while running a live currency-exchange rates charting feed at the same time.

The first complete system scan for this 40GB hard drive took an hour and 23 minutes. The second one only checked the files that had changed and took ten minutes.

Kapersky Mobile Security ($29.95 per year) performs similar real-time virus scanning and data protection for Smartphones, with a similar light footprint on battery resources. Database updates are at user-scheduled intervals, scans can be scheduled or on demand and take only a few minutes, and all incoming messages are checked.

Considering the trend amongst some Antivirus companies to charge for support, Kaspersky's free email and telephone access, as well as a dedicated user forum, are appreciated.

All in all, these are excellent programs and deserve the multiple awards they've won. The download and setup were simple, and the background monitoring truly is background. For anyone who stores sensitive data on their computer--banking information, balance sheets, passwords--the proactive and forward-looking attitude of the parent company is a huge asset.

Despite Kaspersky's price structure, this one's a go.

Meet the new face of Identity theft. Or at least one of the young faces of Identity theft.

Two apparently white collar, otherwise normal college students (well, one recently graduated) have found themselves in police custody.

Jocelyn Kirsch is (was, before this) a Drexel University student and her boyfriend, Edward Anderton, is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania.

Their alleged crime?

Oh, nothing really.

Just taking the personal information from people in their apartment complex and using it to visit Paris, Hawaii, and do other odds and ends... like have $17,500 in cash (on hand) in their apartment.

I definitely don't want to laugh at someone else's misery, but what really amazes me about this, more than anything else, is this part of the article.

The fraud scheme paid for jaunts to Paris, London and Hawaii and a stop at a tony salon for $1,700 worth of hair extensions, police said.

I don't have any idea what a Tony Salon is, but $1700 on hair extensions?

How is that even possible?

If you're going to steal someone's information, especially the people around you, it's probably a good idea to not come back to the people around you, or your university.

They allegedly stole the information of people living around them, and like most, assumed that they wouldn't be, or never thought that they would be caught.

Does anyone have any idea how they could assume they wouldn't be caught? Or how you can spend $1700 on a hairstyle?