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It's been a busy week for identity theft criminals. And for some reason they seem to have targeted this identity theft secrets writer. And the thieves have pulled out many of the common threats we warn you about.

It's been a busy week for identity theft criminals. And for some reason they seem to have targeted this identity theft secrets writer. And the thieves have pulled out many of the common threats we warn you about.

First, an email message from my bank states, "Do not respond to text messages that "pretend" to be from our bank." Now, why would that be you ask? Somehow the telephone numbers of members of this particular credit union were stolen. Members with cell phone numbers listed were contacted via text messaging, with a spam message of sorts. Things like "your account has been compromised" please reply text message with your account number and password so we can check the status of your account.

Next, Wyndham Vacation resorts sends out a letter to guests of their resorts in Florida. Recently their data systems were compromised and the credit card names and numbers of guests were stolen from the database. Guests were urged to put a credit freeze and fraud alerts on their credit reports and accounts.

But it doesn't stop there. I was the winner of Five hundred thousand, Great Britain Pound Sterlings (£500,000.00) for the ANNUAL 2009 Lottery promotion which is organized by YAHOO/MSN LOTTERY INC & WINDOWS LIVE. How were winners chosen? Through a collection of email addresses of users of these services, random winners were chosen. To claim my lottery prize all I needed to do was submit the following information:
Full name..............
Contact Address........
Age....................
Telephone Number.......
Marital Status.........
Sex....................
Next Of Kin............
Zip Code...............
Occupation.............
Company................
State...
Country................
Nationality............
Amount Won.............
Your Reference and Batch number at the top of this mail:
The good news is I knew this was a scam. The even better news is, this is actually my "junk mail" account with fake information to protect the real me from emails like this. The bad news is that this actually made it through my spam ware - both the private service and the spam detection services provided by Yahoo Email.

The week goes on. I receive an email from my Uncle. It claims that he is in London, England traveling on vacation and that his wallet and all documents were stolen. Could I please help him? It very thoughtfully included all the information I would need in order to make a Trans Atlantic transfer of funds. The funny thing is my uncle is in Idaho. I just spoke with him. He travels with my aunt quite often, in an RV. So, I am pretty sure he didn't drive it to England. And, they don't fly. After contacting him directly, I discover that recently he received the following email message:
Account Alert
Dear Valued Member,
Due to the congestion in all Yahoos, There will be removal of all unused Yahoo Accounts, Yahoo would be shutting down all unused Accounts, You will have to confirm your E-mail by filling out your Login Info below after clicking the reply bottom, or your account will be suspended within 24 hours for security reasons.

UserName:... ......... ......... ......
Password:... ......... ......... .......
Date of Birth:...... ......... ......
Security Answer...... ......... ....
Country Or Territory:.. ......... .........

After following the instructions in the sheet, your account will not be interrupted and will continue as normal. Thanks for your attention to this request. We apologize for any inconvenience.

Warning!!! Account owner that refuses to update his or her account before two weeks of receiving this warning will lose his or her account permanently.

Warning code:....... ......... .VX2G99AAJ

Looks convincing doesn't it? But it's a scam just like so many others. I have warned him and other family members of the dangers of responding to messages like this, but he thought it sounded real. After attempting to log into his account several times and being unsuccessful, the truth dawned on him. Not only had all his contact information been hijacked, but he had also given his date of birth and security answer. Many people use the same security answer for multiple accounts from shopping to email to credit cards, just because it is easy.

Score? Three for the good guys, one for the bad. My uncle's email account has been closed, Yahoo has been contacted and now he begins the mess left behind and tries to contact all his services that he used his security answer for to change it.

No one is immune from the reach of identity theft - as is evidenced by my week.

How was my family protected?
- Knowledge, the more you know the less likely you are to fall prey to the scams like these this week.
- You have heard this before, but do not provide your private information via email, and do not click on links taking you to sites that could be harmful.
- Use different safety words for different accounts. It's hard to keep track of, you may want to consider software like Roboform (for more information read Roboform Keeps Passwords and More Protected, ) but at least you won't have the week that my uncle is having.
- Set up "junk mail" accounts. By having one, I was already pretty sure that my lottery winning email message was junk.
- Do not answer phone calls or text requests for personal, credit card or bank information.

It all seems so easy, but sometimes in this fast paced world, the thought of being without our technical services such as online banking or email scares us a little, and so we take information at face value.

Protect yourself and your family, dig a little deeper before you release any information and always contact the service providers directly.

Lastly, to help fight electronic identity theft, be sure to report these messages to your providers, whether they are stores, banks, credit card or internet so that they can use their resources to track down, stop and hopefully prosecute identity theft.

If you own a company and haven't yet put together a comprehensive identity theft plan for your company, please contact us for more information (at no cost to you).

For those of you who are CITRMS certified, or are benefits specialists speaking to companies about their need to pprotect themselves against data breach lawsuits, here's an article from NetworkWorld.com that you may want to print to take with you on appointments.

A Chicago-area Starbucks employee has brought a class-action lawsuit against the coffee retailer, claiming damages from an October 2008 data breach.

Laura Krottner was one of 97,000 employees notified late last year after a Starbucks laptop containing employee names, addresses and Social Security numbers was stolen on Oct. 29. Krottner's suit accuses the company of fraud and negligence.

IDC: Oracle's X Factor: HP Oracle Exadata Storage Server and HP Oracle Database Machine: Download nowThe lawsuit was filed Thursday in federal court in Seattle. Starbucks has offered employees one-year's free credit monitoring and protection, but Krottner is asking the court to extend that to five years. She is also seeking unspecified damages and asking that Starbucks be ordered to submit to periodic security audits of its computer systems.

"Starbucks failed to follow reasonable precautions to secure its employees' [personally identifiable information], failed to provide timely notice, and failed to protect employees from invasion of privacy, fraud, identity theft, and associated expenses," court filings state, adding that Krottner and the other employees must now spend "considerable time and money to protect themselves," from identity theft.

Lately, however, chatter on some Starbucks message boards shows that there have been some ID theft victims as a result of the incident, the lawsuit states.

News of the lawsuit was first reported Saturday on the Spam Notes blog written by Venkat Balasubramani, the principal with Balasubramani Law.

The suit is the latest of several in which plaintiffs are trying to prove that data breaches are harmful, even if they do not result in identity theft, Balasubramani said in an interview Monday. Courts in Arkansas and Indiana have rejected similar claims in recent years, he noted.

The plaintiffs in the Starbucks case, who are seeking a jury trial, may have better luck, however. "Washington could be different," he said. "I think Washington is viewed as a privacy friendly state."

Late last month the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs reached a US$20 million settlement with plaintiffs in a class-action suit seeking damages following the 2006 theft of a laptop and hard drive containing data on 26.5 million veterans. According to reports, veterans who can show harm related to the theft will be paid between $75 and $1,500.

Starbucks has lost laptops before. In November 2006, the company reported that it had lost two laptops containing the Social Security numbers of nearly 60,000 current and former employees.

Here's a new take on the Nigerian fraud scheme I got this week.

I wanted to post it here to say that if you get this email, IGNORE IT! It goes in the trash.

Anti-Terrorist and Monetary Crimes Division
Fbi Headquarters in Washington, D.C.
Federal Bureau of Investigation
J. Edgar Hoover Building
935 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, D.C. 20535-0001
Date: 22/02/2009

ATTENTION FUND BENEFICIARY,


This is an official advice from the FBI foreign Remittance/telegraphic dept. it has come to our notice that the C.B.N bank Nigeria district has released
10,500,000.00 us dollars into bank of America in your name as the beneficiary, by inheritance means. The C.B.N bank Nigeria knowing fully well that they do not have Enough facilities to effect this payment from the United Kingdom to your account, used what we know as a secret diplomatic transit payment s.t.d.p to pay this fund through wire transfer, they used this means to complete the payment.

They are still, waiting for confirmation from you on the already Transferred funds which was made in direct transfer so that they can do final crediting to
your account. Secret diplomatic payments are not made unless the funds are related to terrorist activities why must your payment be made in secret transfer,
if your transaction is legitimate, if you are not a terrorist, then why did you not receive the money directly into your account; this is a pure coded, means
of payment?

Records which we have had with this method of payment in the past Has always been related to terrorist acts, we do not want you to get into trouble as
soon as these funds reflect in your account in the U.S.A, so it is our duty as a word wide commission to correct this little problem before this fund will be
credited into your personal account.

Due to the increased difficulty and unnecessary scrutiny by the American authorities when funds come from outside of Europe, and the Middle East, the
f.b.i bank commission for Europe has stopped the transfer on its way to deliver payment of $10,500,000.00 to debit your reserve account and pay you through a
secured diplomatic transit account (s.d.t.a). We govern and oversee funds transfer for the World Bank and the rest of the world.

We advice you contact us immediately, as the funds have been Stopped and are being held in our custody ,until you can be able to provide us with a
diplomatic immunity seal of transfer (dist) within 3 days from the world local bank that authorize the transfer from where the funds was transferred from
to certify that the funds that you are about to receive from Nigeria are antiterrorist/drug free or we shall have cause to cross and impound the Payment, we
shall release the funds immediately we receive this legal documents.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

We have decided to contact you directly to acquire the proper verifications and proof from you to show that you are the rightful person to receive this
fund, because of the amount involve, we want to make sure is a clean and legal money you are about to receive. Be informed that the fund are now in United
State in your name , but right now we have ask the bank not to release the fund to anybody that comes to them, unless we ask them to do so, because we have
to carry out our investigations first before releasing the fund to you. Note that the fund is in the BANK OF AMERICA right now, but we have ask them not to
credit the fund to you yet, because we need a solid proof and verifications from you before releasing the funds.

So to this regards you are to re-assure and proof to us that what you are about to receive is a clean money by sending to us FBI Identification Record and
also Diplomatic Immunity Seal Of Transfer(DIST) to satisfy to us that the money your about to receive is legitimate and real money. You are to forward the
documents to us immediately if you have it in your possession, if you dont have it let us know so that we will direct and inform you where to obtain the
document and send to us so that we will ask the bank holding the funds the Bank Of America to go ahead Crediting your account immediately.

This Documents are to be issued to you from the World Local Bank that Authorized the transfer, so get back to us immediately if you dont have the
document so that we will inform you the particular place to obtain the document in United Kingdom U.K, because we have come to realize that the fund was
Authorized by H.S.B.C Bank in London.

An FBI Identification Record and Diplomatic Immunity Seal of Transfer (DIST) often referred to as a Criminal History Record or Rap Sheet is a listing of
certain information taken from fingerprint submissions retained by the FBI in connection with arrests and, in some instances, federal employment, naturalization, or military service.

This Condition Is Valid until 27th of FEB. 2009 after we shall take actions on canceling the payment and then charge you for illegally moving funds out of
Nigeria.

Guarantee: funds will be released on confirmation of the document.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Final Instruction:

1. Credit payment instruction: irrevocable credit guarantee.
2. Beneficiary has full power when validation is cleared.
3. Beneficiaries bank in U.S.A. can only release funds.
4. Upon confirmation from the world bank/united nations.
5. Bearers must clear bank protocol and validation request.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

NOTE: We have asked for the above documents to make available the most complete and up-to date records possible for the enhancement of public safety,
welfare and security of Society while recognizing the importance of individual privacy rights. If you fail to provide the Documents to us, we will charge
you with the FBI and take our proper action against you for not proofing to us the legitimate of the fund you are about to receive.

The United States Department of Justice Order 556-73 establishes rules and regulations for the subject of an FBI Identification Record to obtain a copy of
his or her own Record for review. The FBI Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) Division processes these requests to check illegal activities in
U.S.A.

An individual may request a copy of his or her own FBI Identification Record for personal review or to challenge information on the Record. Other reasons
an individual may request a copy of his or her own Identification Record may include international adoption or to satisfy a requirement to live or work in a
foreign country or receive funds from another country, i.e. Diplomatic Immunity Seal Of Transfer, letter of good conduct, criminal history background, etc.)



FBI Director
Robert S. Mueller, III

Whether someone wants to rent your house, date your son or daughter, mow your lawn, supervise a youth group or just meet for a drink, FindPublicRecords.com can arm you with the knowledge you've been wondering or worrying over.

FindPublicRecords.com can't firm your mattress or fluff your pillow, but this easy to use service may just help you sleep better. When you're concerned that you've met a wolf in sheep's clothing, counting sheep may not help you drift off peacefully until you have answers. On the other hand of course, maybe really missing someone is what is keeping you up at night and you'd like to find a special person from your past.

FindPublicRecords.com is an on-line records provider that allows customers to access information which has already been gathered from thousands of public and private sources. What's great about FindPublicRecords.com is that they are a one-stop shop for information and they update their information everyday.

What can you learn from FindPublicRecords.com? Search results may include:

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With FindPublicRecords.com Jillian learned some disappointing news. Mr. Unbelievable was unfortunately unbelievable. He had lied about his age as well the number of times he'd been married. Jillian was so thankful that she made a small investment in FindPublicRecords.com that really paid off before she gave away her heart.

You can access instant search results for a name for a one-time-only billing of $29.95. You can add a 1 Year Unlimited Search Pass for that name for an additional $9.95 and keep monitoring for new information for a whole year.

You don't have to have a whole lot of information to use FindPublicRecords.com. Enter a first and last name and approximate age. If you have a middle initial; city and state this will narrow down the search too. Before you invest, FindPublicRecords.com will give you a list of possible matches so you can choose the right one. If there are no results, there is never a charge.

Results from FindPublicRecords.com are:

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With over a billion records on file and over a million database photographs at FindPublicRecords.com, you don't need to hire an expensive private investigator or spend hours searching court house records in person. You don't have to be embarrassed when you go to do a check on someone, because it's smart to check and it is completely private.

Over 600 new records are added while you sleep at night.

Or is it while you're losing sleep wondering if you're missing some important information?

Well hit the computer and go to FindPublicRecords.com (and then you can hit the sack).

Utilize Reverse Phone Directories to Dodge Identity Theft Phone Scams
Although online identity theft scams get far more attention these days, phone based scams have interrupted even more lives over the past few decades. These calls start off innocently enough. A person on the other end tells you that you've won a great prize or that you are pre qualified for a great new credit card and all they need is some basic information in order to send you your amazing gift through the mail right away. Of course, there is no prize or credit card, only a series of events leading to your identity being stolen by a phone scammer.

It Can Happen To Anyone
While concrete numbers are more difficult to come by, it is thought that thousands of people every year fall victim to these scams. It isn't because they are foolish, it is simply a case where a telemarketer called at just the right time and used just the right offer to gain someone's trust before having a chance to think things through clearly.

If you live in a household with multiple people, chances are that they'll be just as vulnerable to aggressive telephone scams as well. Anyone with access to a credit card or bank account number is susceptible to deceptive persuasion by clever phone scammers that are out to assume your identity and wipe you clean.

Caller ID vs. Name Blocking
Up until recently, caller identification was the most powerful tool in the fight against phone scam artists. You could use the digital read out to see what number and name was calling and you could weed out phone scam calls by not answering calls from unrecognized numbers, but new technology has introduced caller ID name blocking which allows scammers to block their name when placing calls. All you are left with is a number with no way to tell who it is from.

Reverse Phone Lookups Help Screen Calls
An alternative to ignoring calls from unknown numbers is to use a reverse phone directory to identify the name registered under any phone number. These directories sift through large phone number databases to find information associated with any queried 10-digit number, similar to how any internet search engine filters through massive amounts of data to match relevant documents and web pages to keyword searches.

Rules of Phone Conduct to Live by:
If you happen to answer a call from an unknown number, remember the following rules to help protect your identity from unknown callers:

• Never give your social security number or personal information
• Keep your financial information to yourself
• If you cannot remember the person after they have identified themselves, ask them to stop calling and hang up

You know the difference between synthetic turf and real grass, so what's the difference between identity theft and synthetic identity theft?

It's on the rise and even harder to track down than "true identity theft."

We associate synthetic with "fake" or 'unreal." Well, as if good ole' homegrown identity theft wasn't bad enough, experts are tracking a new trend of identity theft labeled as "synthetic identity theft." This technique used by identity thieves to "fake" an identity has quite "unreal" consequences.

In the past identity thieves have used theft or scams to collect the information needed to steal and use someone else's identity to obtain credit, create fraudulent credit accounts or charges or even obtain medical care. In these instances, identity thieves are using a real identity, like perhaps yours, but in a fraudulent manner.

In synthetic identity theft, identity thieves are actually creating identities synthetically. They may be using bits of pieces of people's identity pieced together with a fictional identity. Often this mish mash of information is used in places where credit checks aren't as vigilant. Synthetic identity thefts vary in technique but thieves may use a name similar to a victims, along with victim's social security number or even part of it and a true address only to quickly create a change of address. The end result is that in synthetic identity theft thieves are creating new identities with a combination of authentic and fake information to order to establish new accounts with fictional identities.

Consider this synthetic identity theft scenario:

Some uses your social security number on a credit application. Even though you are checking your credit report regularly, this doesn't show up. Why? Because the thieves will be using your real social security number and teaming it up with another name.

According to Chris Jay Hoofnagle from the Samuelson Law, Technology and Public Policy Center and a senior fellow with the Berkeley Center for Law and Technology at the University of California, "combinations" often don't show up on credit reports.

Here's real example of synthetic identity theft:

One victim of synthetic identity theft did notice what he thought was an "error" on his credit report. The credit report included an extra social security number, which was off from his own social security number by only one digit. It was accompanied by along a new address and a phone bill. Would a credit bureau grant credit with an incorrect social security number and still match it to a person's name? Apparently yes. So no one should assume that something "extra" is a harmless error. All discrepancies should be reported and pursued.

The Synthetic Identity Theft Picture by Numbers:

*All forms of identity theft are escalating but synthetic identity took the lead over "real-name" identity theft seven years ago.

*Over 85% of fraud events (such as opening accounts or doing a change of address) are part of a synthetic identity theft.

*Synthetic identity theft is less often reported because there is no clear victim and credit agencies have to write off the loss.

*While the losses are difficult to define, experts estimate that synthetic identity theft accounts for 80% of credit card fraud and at least 20% of credit charge offs by businesses.

*Synthetic identity theft is less often reported because there is no clear victim and credit agencies have to write off the loss.

Consumers all pay for synthetic identity theft, whether as victims harassed by creditors, or because as consumers we all absorb the losses and cost of fraud.

A Sensational Synthetic Identity Theft Story:

Remember this synthetic identity theft story? While the outcome was sensational the "hints" along the way make this story worthy of repeating.

Margaret Harrison received a new bankcard in the mail with an imposter's photo. The bankcard "Pablo" had using her information expired and a new card was mailed to her address. The reason Harrison had chosen to go with a photo bankcard was that she was once denied unemployment claims because records showed she was working. In another instance, a bank teller had looked up her account by her social and not her account number and asked if her name was "Pablo." Despite all of these "clues," Harrison kept checking her credit report and it remained clean and clear.

Are you ready to defend yourself?

Much of the same wisdom of protecting yourself from identity theft applies. The first and foremost, and most successful steps are preventative ones like smart e-mail and on-line practices, shredding and always questioning the necessity of sharing your personal identifying information whether in writing, by phone or on-line.

However, synthetic identity theft requires even more vigilance.

*Recognize and report any discrepancies on your credit report, even a slight alteration of your name or social security numbers or address.

*Even if your credit report is clean, pay attention to the telltale signs like in Harrison's case. A photo bankcard could protect you in more ways than planned.

*Check your Social Security Benefits statements that arrive a few months before your birthday each year. If you see additional income listed, don't think this an error that could entitle you to additional benefits. Someone could have used your social security number for employment and you don't want to be left with the consequences or liability.

Note: Even if you don't see additional benefits, unfortunately this doesn't mean that someone hasn't used your social security number to obtain employment. Sometimes unmatched information goes into such a file.

*Evaluate yourself and your risk and consider an identity theft program. Many of the tactics used by identity theft programs like can be done yourself but be realistic about whether or not you are willing to take the time and effort or whether it may be better to pay someone a small fee to watch your back.

Of course educating yourself on identity theft, and synthetic identity theft, is the best defense, so congratulations readers. There is lots of talk about developments in synthetic intelligence but to fight synthetic identity theft, we recommend research and good ole' common sense.

Spam is not the only threat to your computer on the rise. Malware

Recent research shows that, "Anti-virus vendors are getting more than 50,000 submissions of new malware per day now." Larry Seltzer at eweek.com shares with readers how malware is created and how we can protect ourselves and our information from malware programs that can steal information or harm our computer systems.
What is Malware? Malware is actually a combination of terms, malicious and software. Malware is software that is specifically designed to cause harm to your computer systems. There are different types of malware, which include Trojans, Spyware and Viruses.

How is it that anti-virus provider's are getting so many submissions each day? Are there that many forms or malware out there, is more being "created" or written each day. Are all of them effective at harming our computer? Computer expert Larry Seltzer shares with us an inside look at creating malware.

First, it is important to understand that this software is being created every day in an attempt to circumvent any existing security systems you have in place. In order to quickly and easily generate malware, it can either be written (in computer language) or you can purchase a malcode generator. Next malware troublemakers submit this code to a public malware scanning service, like VirusTotal, however there are others available. This is done in an effort to "test drive" the newly designed malware programs and to determine exactly how much undetectable damage this software can do.

If the malware is a so called good one, it can take some time before it is detected or protection can be designed for it. The effective versions of malware programs are eventually reported and distributed among the many anti virus service providers so the window of opportunity is very small for use and distribution of malicious software.
Why so many malware programs each day? This is basically using the concept of you will catch more fish with a big net. The more malware programs that are submitted and found to be "effective" the more they can generate as well as the more damage that can be done. Many of the ones tested are ineffective (good news for us) and as a result it's back to the keyboard for malware designers. The turnover is tremendous, much like in health and child care.

If there are so many malware programs out there how can we protect ourselves. Security Center Editor, Larry Seltzer recommends, "Anti-malware needs to be combined with other forms of defense, like a firewall, an intrusion prevention product, running your system with least privileged access and not clicking on links in e-mails (or at least being very careful about doing so).

For more information about how to protect your computer using the methods described here read:
For information on CA's Internet Security Suite of Services read "Do Your Trust Your Internet Security? EZ Trust/CA Antivirus Security Review"

For more ways to protect yourself online, "10 Ways to Protect Yourself Online"

Avoiding spam and not clicking on links in your email read "More is Not Always Better: Spam Email Increases in 2009"

Did you know there is a 411 lookup service for e-mail addresses? Finding someone by simply using their email address is relatively simple, if you have the right tools.

Many of us have used 411 on the telephone to try to locate a phone number. Email-411.com can provide us the same services for e-mail addresses. E-mail addresses from the "virtual world" may seem virtually impossible to track down but Email-411.com can help whether you need a person's e-mail address or you need to know whom an e-mail address belongs to.

Who is Email-411.com?

Email-411.com is a reliable company that has provided public records searches for many years. Email-411.com has systematically gathered information from both public and private sources to create the highest level of investigation services. They offer an easy to use service with the latest search engine technology to allow you to find people through their e-mail address. Today almost everyone has an e-mail address. That's the good news if you want to find a long lost friend or relative or contact. Email-411.com can also perform reverse search if you've already been contacted by someone by e-mail and want to know just who is really behind those e-mails.

What information may be available from E-mail-411.com?

*Address
*Phone numbers
*Property information
*Criminal record
*Background report
* Marital Status
* Date of Birth
*Neighborhood Info
*Alias Names
*Sex Offender Check
*State Criminal Check
*Nationwide Criminal Check.

Bethany really wanted to find an old friend but wanted to know a little more about his life today before she made contact. Using Email-411.com helped her find his e-mail address and then his phone number. Bethany really likes that Email-411.com was a private way for her to hook up with an old friend.

Eric had a different challenge. He was receiving constant e-mails from one source. Nothing he tried was stopping the e-mails and he couldn't get to the bottom of who was sending them. Email-411.com finally helped Eric put a name to the sender and then he was able to report the problem and stop the harassment.

How does Email-411.com work?

Email-411.com is really easy to use. You can find an e-mail address and other information with as little to go on as a first and last name and state, or you can choose to do a nationwide search. If you have an approximate age or middle initial that will help narrow down the search too. If you want to do a reverse search on an e-mail address to find out more about the sender, that's all you need. Before you sign on you'll get to see a list of possible matches.

The Advantages of Email-411.com:

*It's fast, as in it takes only seconds.
*No results means no charges.
*It's private. You don't have to hire anyone and no one even has to know you're looking.
*Printable reports.
*It's convenient. You can search from home and the information comes right to your computer.
*Alleviates hassles. Whether you've been wondering about someone, desperately needing to find someone or really curious or even concerned about who's behind e-mails you've received then Email-411.com can help you and answer your questions today.

Email-411.com offers ONE-TIME ONLY billing. Instant search results for one person are only $14.95 and you can add an unlimited search pass for 1 year for an additional $9.95.

If you've ever used reverse search or information 411 on the phone for telephone numbers and thought that was easy, you'll be amazed that you can do the same thing to find e-mail addresses or do e-mail reverse searches with Email-411.com.

How can you go about finding out information on whether or not someone has been arrested or has a warrant out for their arrest? How do you know how many times they have been in court, or if they have ever filed for bankruptcy? No matter if it is a new significant other or a prospective business partner, sometimes you just need to know what their court records are.

There's a site that can help.

There are times in all of our lives that we'd just feel a little better if we had a little more information about a person who suddenly has entered our neighborhood, our circle of friends or family, or our business world. But how can you go about finding out information on whether or not someone has been arrested or has a warrant out for their arrest, or has ever filed for bankruptcy?

Courtrecords.org makes it easy. No finding or paying a private investigator. No tedious courthouse records searches. No embarrassing interviews. At courtrecords.com you can find out the information you need from the privacy of your own home. No one ever has to know you checked but you'll have access to information from public and private databases.

The Advantages of Courtrecords.org:

• Over 15,000 visitors each month
* Updated daily
* Public records on file: 1,247,528,873
* Database photographs on file: 1,592,733
* Over 600 new records weekly

Kenny was in tough situation. He wasn't all that comfortable with his daughter's new fiancé who hadn't really taken any time to court her, but had just gone straight to it and popped the question only two weeks after they had met. Whom she married was of course up to her. But before he deeded over family land to the two of them, Kenny just had to know. He's glad he checked. He's keeping his family land out of the hands of a criminal with a history of being frequently in court and just may have saved his daughter a lot of pain as well.

CourtRecords.org is the fastest search engine for instantly accessing detailed reports that may include:

*National arrests
*Court Warrants
*Bankruptcy
*Tax Liens
*Civil Judgments

You may also use CourtRecords.org services to search for:

*Felonies, Misdemeanors & Sex Offenses
*20 years address history and phone numbers
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"This guy's a professional"

Whoever was committing the fraud knew what they were doing, according to an identity-theft expert. That's because the person only duplicated and forged people's information if they had good credit and no history of criminal activity.

Bank records and receipts in Simmons' name show criminal-background checks were conducted on people whose identities were stolen. If the victims had no criminal history, their identities were put in envelopes with handwriting saying: "Great! Nothing! Clean!"

Take a look at the news story:

When Brandon Michael rolled up a storage-unit door in Denver on New Year's Day to sort through the contents he had just purchased at an auction, the young man expected to find the usual items he could later sell on Craigslist or eBay: tools, laptops and furniture.

Instead, Michael discovered boxes, filing cabinets and trash bags full of hundreds of U.S. passports, birth certificates, driver's licenses, Social Security cards and other documents - most stolen within the past two years.

He found St. Anthony Central Hospital records containing dates of birth, Social Security numbers and copies of the driver's licenses of 150 patients who had been admitted into the emergency room or general surgery.

He found drug paraphernalia,

Among the evidence were piles of documents that all had people's personal information and stacks of stolen IDs, pills and the printer used to make counterfeit documents.

"That's not right that somebody has all this stuff," Michael said.

"It's the mother lode of identity theft," said Sgt. Ryan McGinty of the Denver police check fraud and forgery unit.

Michael's discovery has prompted investigations by Denver police, Centura Health and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Office for Civil Rights.

Shocked and worried about having the documents and drugs, Michael packed it all up and drove straight to the Police Department. But he says the officer at the front desk told him police weren't interested and said he should throw it in the trash.

"I told him I had driver's licenses, fake IDs, drug paraphernalia and everything. And he wanted a citizen to be back out on the streets with all this stuff and go find a Dumpster for it," Michael said.

Instead of trashing the evidence, Michael delivered it to 9News.

The interesting quote from someone in this news story is where the man says "You just expect the hospital to be like the bank." He's referring to how he believes that the bank is a safe place for your information.

It's not, but it's interesting that the man's statement shows that he thinks it is.

The other interesting thing from this story is the idea that you could steal two people's identities, writing checks out of the first person's accounts and using the second person's information to cash the checks.

All in all, this story relatively unremarkable.

The thing that makes this story different is that the police (who are overburdened as it is, dealing with things like rape, murder, and drugs) turned down the box of evidence.

The police work very hard, and unfortunately, sometimes Identity Theft takes a backburner to other more violent or pressingly urgent types of crime.

But congratulations are in order to Brandon Michael, the guy who bought the contents in an auction, and did the right thing by:

• Not using the ID's himself
• Not selling the ID's - which he could have
• Attempting to turn the evidence over to police
• Pushing the issue with the media until it got results

And to 9News who took the story and recognized it, pushing the story so that those in the police department with the authority and knowledge to do something about it actually now can do what needs to be done.

No doubt someone will be prosecuted in this case, and it looks like the guy from the story is the guy who's going to get caught, because he was dumb or forgetful enough to leave the stuff in a storage unit.

Not too bright.

There are, also unfortunately, Identity Thieves who are much smarter than he is.

Read the full Denver Post Article here: http://www.denverpost.com/search/ci_11595823