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How easy would it be to have your password or "secret" question answered? Find out how we often give away password clues and didn't even know it.

The Scoop on the David Briggs Email Hack:

David Briggs admits that his password was not as strong as it should have been. He's not alone. Briggs lost access to his Hotmail email account after hackers were able to guess his password or else the answer to his qualifying question.

Hackers locked Briggs out of his own email account and stole his identity, spamming all of his contacts. The hackers sent an email out that appeared to be from Briggs reporting that he was trapped in Malaysia and needed money transferred via Western Union.

Sarah Palin Too:

During last year's heated Presidential campaign, the private Yahoo! Mail account of Sarah Palin, Republican vice presidential candidate, was hacked. The hacker, intent on derailing Palin's campaign, used Wikipedia to learn Palin's birthday, a standard security question used by Yahoo.

Twitter got Tweeted by a Hacker:

More recently a Twitter employee was the victim of a similar email hacking scam. The hacker guessed the answer to the employee's email question and reset the password.

Twitter co-founder Biz Stone wrote, "About a month ago, an administrative employee here at Twitter was targeted and her personal email account was hacked. From the personal account, we believe the hacker was able to gain information which allowed access to this employee's Google Apps account which contained Docs, Calendars, and other Google Apps Twitter relies on for sharing notes, spreadsheets, ideas, financial details and more within the company."

How safe is your password?

Whether taken or not, we've gotten lots of helpful advice about creating passwords that don't reflect your birthday, your graduation year or your pets. We've gotten advice about making passwords longer, mixing capital and lowercase letters and numbers.

But then there are those "Forgot your password?" security questions. According to a study by Microsoft Research and Carnegie Mellon University, the most popular web mail providers, AOL, Google, Microsoft and Yahoo, all use "secret questions" that appear to be even weaker than the passwords themselves. Since the study, Yahoo says they've updated their personal questions.

Look at any list of your friends and family, whether from your address book, your Facebook account or your email buddies. Put your finger on any name and ask yourself:

"Where did he go on his honeymoon?" (Costa Rica)

"What's the name of her dog?" (Benson)

"What's the name of her favorite aunt?" (Patti)

"What's his favorite food?" (pizza)

Even a hacking stranger could find out lots of this information with a little research from social networking sites like Facebook or MySpace. How many have their honeymoon photo album posted? How often are these photos labeled or either standing in front of identified landmarks?

A visit to family tree websites like Ancestry.com or Geneology.com can give a con artists a list of your aunts and to start the "who's your favorite" guessing game.

Even your age and your trash leave clues. If you are nineteen and/or you have six pizza boxes poking out of your recycling bin, pizza is a reasonable guess in answer to your favorite food.

Google's g-mail accounts include your frequent flyer number, that is very well on your desk or your library card number, which is often dangling from your key chain.

Since it isn't safe to record your email passwords, it really is imperative that you have an option for retrieving your password should your forget it but don't make this convenience option put you at risk like David Briggs, Sarah Palin and the Twitter employee.

If it is an option, choose "create your own question" or give an un-guessable or un-researchable answer such as "my favorite food is artichokes." Oops, now I have to go change the answer to my security question.

Posted by Lisa Carey at 01:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

How can small businesses be affected by identity theft? You might be surprised! Find out how to handle "identity theft" of your small business.

President Obama has pledged to help America "recover" from the current economic crisis. One of the many parts of the 2009 Stimulus Package; which can be found at the government website recovery.gov, is help for new small businesses. Obama has often argued for the importance of entrepreneurs and small businesses owners to the American economy.

As of May 2009, more small businesses are eligible for U.S. Small Business Administration backed loans. This mean broader access to the much needed start up capital for small businesses in this tough economy. At least temporarily, the SBA will recognize an alternate size standard for the 7(a) loan program. These changes are in effect until September 30, 2010. It is estimated that over 70,000 more small businesses could be eligible for SBA loans.

According to SBA Administrator Karen Mills, "This is just one more step we are taking to make sure small businesses have access to capital to keep their doors open and employees working during these tough economic times."

These changes also make it possible for more small businesses to take advantage of benefits made possible through the Recovery Act that raised the guarantee on 7(a) loans to 90% and reduced fees for borrowers. Those Recovery Act changes were followed by an average weekly increase in 7(a) loan volume of 25%. This also made possible SBA loans by close to 450 lenders who had not made loans since October of 2008.

This is good news for small business owners and entrepreneurs interested in starting new businesses but small business owners and those starting new small businesses need to learn the facts about small business identity theft and identity theft prevention. These aren't lessons that any business wants to learn the hard way.

While the majority of identity theft scams target individuals, businesses, and especially small businesses are also vulnerable targets.

Why would your small business be a target for identity theft?

According to a survey by security firm, McAffee, about 45% of small businesses believed that their business was to small to be a target for identity theft. But there are many reasons that identity thieves will target small businesses including:

-cash reserves
-good credit
-credit lines
-business credit cards
-computer networks
-business checking accounts
-even the company name and address
-a good reputation

One couple that owned a small transportation business was alerted that a criminal had passed forged checks carrying their company name and address. Since the account numbers did not match their accounts, the couple didn't worry.

Unfortunately, after over $10,000 worth of checks with their company name and address were returned, they learned that the check verification companies like Telechek had blacklisted them.

The remedy to remove the blacklist included providing forms and a police report for each individual fraudulent check. The lesson here is to get concerned and take action right away, even if the money isn't coming out of your account. Don't let identity thieves steal your small businesses' good name.

Businesses lose an estimated 50 billion dollars a year to identity theft. Small businesses may be even more vulnerable because they rely on local law enforcement to investigate and not all local law enforcement agencies are prepared to handle business identity theft. The FBI receives close to 300,000 complaints of suspicious activity per month and only investigates around 6,000.

Sometimes small businesses owners already feel like they do it all- the sales, the marketing, the accounting, the payroll and even in many cases the cleaning. In these tough economic times, small business owners may be getting some breaks from the federal government but identity thieves get more, not less active, during hard times so small business owners must also become identity theft watch dogs as well.

Posted by Lisa Carey at 01:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Here's a fun party trick. You tell me your birth date and the state you were born in and guess what? I'll guess your social security number and I may just be right or eerily close.

O.K., maybe I can't do that, but researchers at Carnegie Mellon University have figured out a way to "reverse engineer" social security numbers.

We've all been entrenched with the message: Protect your social security number.

-Don't have it put on your checks.
-Don't carry your card in your wallet unless you know you need it today.
-Lock your social security number and other important personal information away at a home.
-Don't give your social security number over the phone or the internet.
-Shred old or unnecessary papers with your social or other important information.

Education and diligence is often the best protection but then we learn that there where there is a will, there is a way. If someone really wanted to find out or even "guess" your social security number despite your best efforts, could it be done?

How can social security numbers be "guessed" or "reverse engineered?"

First we have to understand that social security numbers are not randomly generated. They are not random because each part of our social security number actually has a meaning or an order.

Understanding How Social Security Numbers are Assigned:

The first three digits of your social security number are tied to your state of birth. The next two numbers are a "group number" that is sequentially issued during a time period. For example, if you and I were born in the same state and applied for a social security number during the same time, it is likely that we will share the first five numbers of our social security number. This makes the first five digits in a social security number very "guessable' by someone who does a little research and comparison.

The last four digits of your social security number are supposedly random. However, by using database known as the Death Master File, which shows social security numbers that were assigned to the now deceased, patterns are seen in those digits as well.

So theoretically, and as the Carnegie Mellon University research shows, it is really more than a theory, if someone wanted to learn your social security number, the best place to start is the Death Master File with a list of dead people born around the time and place of your birth.

Facts about Guessing Social Security Numbers:

-The older you are, the more difficult it is to hone in on your social security number.

-Also, it is harder to guesstimate social security numbers for people born in more heavily populated states.

-Researchers were able to figure out the first five numbers of social security numbers with 90% accuracy.

-Accuracy fell to 5% for guessing the last four digits.

This is an astounding rate of success considering that the odds of just randomly guessing a SSN should be 1 in a billion.

What's really scary...

Credit card verification services have allowed for up to two digits in the social to be wrong as a courtesy in case customers were just confused or forgetful.

There have been many examples of stolen identity that ended up on a credit report with a "close" but not completely accurate social security number.

Botnets could conceivably guess dozens of socials a minute and apply en masse for credit cards.

The Social Security Administration began issuing the numbers in the 1930s as a tracking system for personal taxes. The Social Security Administration argues that the numbers were never intended for general identification and that the institution has long warned the public against using the social security numbers in this way.

According to a government spokesperson, "there is no foolproof method for predicting a person's Social Security number." He also added that the agency is developing a system to randomly assign Social Security numbers.

How do you feel about the consequences of the information learned from this new research?

Posted by Lisa Carey at 09:21 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Pro athletes in the news, is well, nothing new. Pro athletes being arrested isn't shocking either. Vontae Davis, the Dolphin's top draft pick, a former corner back for the University of Illinois, was reported to have been arrested in Illinois on June 9 for a traffic violation. "Yawn," says the public.

Even though it was in fact Vontae Davis's driver's license presented to the arresting officer, the plot thickens. Vontae Davis had an alibi. This wasn't a misleading tabloid story. This was a case of identity theft.

Months earlier, Vontae Davis's driver's license had stolen. It was now invalid, as Davis had replaced it. However, it apparently passed muster when presented to an officer during an arrest following a traffic stop in Champaigne, Illinois.

Davis may not have been the wiser until two weeks later his name made the news with reports that he had been arrested. Davis and his NFL Dolphin's team maintained that he was in fact in South Florida on June 9th.

"There was no way he could have been in Illinois," argued Dolphin's senior vice-president, Harvey Green.
Vontae Davis comments:

"We talk about this stuff every week in our player development meetings [with the Dolphins]," said Davis, "To actually see it happen to you, you're like, 'Wow.' It wakes you up, like this stuff is serious. It's really serious."

Davis had canceled his credit card and bankcards, as well as replaced his driver's license at the time of the theft. The Champaigne Police Department has put the case on hold while they complete an "internal investigation."

"They're still investigating," Davis said, "actually trying to find my old license."

The Champaigne, Illinois Police comment:

Deputy Chief John F. Murphy shared, "We are satisfied that [Vontae Davis] was not the individual we had contact with June 9, 2009. We are working to identify who the individual actually is and pursue charges against him. We regret any embarrassment or inconvenience this situation has caused Mr. Davis."

Identity Thieves Make Many "Hail Mary" passes at Pro Athlete's Identities

There was the bizarre case of "Lambo weezy" in which an imposter had more than 1,200 tweeters following him on Twitter.com believing that he was Davone Bess, the Dolphins receiver.

The Dolphins aren't the NFL team that gets targeted for identity theft. In Wichita, Kansas, two men were caught using the identities of two former NFL players to buy motorcycles. The stolen identities were that of Dexter Coakley, former linebacker for the St. Louis Rams and Gary Sayre, a former Cowboys draft pick.

Frederick McGrew should really get the "Hail Mary" identity theft award. He stole the identity of deceased NFL star Lawrence McGrew to secure a job as football coach at Gavilian College. Despite being on probation with a probation order to not use Lawrence McGrew's identity again, Frederick McGrew continued to use the stolen identity for a job application, a rental application and a checking account.

"Being in the National Football League, there's a target on everybody's back," Vontae Davis said. "Everywhere you go you just have to know people are watching."

Posted by Lisa Carey at 02:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Although it seems that many US officials are not speaking publicly about the attack, emergency notices have been sent to federal agencies and departments advising them of precautions. Security experts warned last year, after a similar attack linked to China that American was more vulnerable to cyber-terrorism that any other form of conventional attack.

According to Ullrich, chief technology officer for the private SANS Internet Storm Center, "It was a pretty massive attack. Nothing really terribly sophisticated. It just floods the websites," "It prevents the websites from responding. They're just overloaded with traffic."

However, according to Keynote Systems, (a mobile and website monitoring company located in California) which monitors 40 government sites in America, the US websites experienced a "significant outage." Ben Rushlo, director of internet technologies at the firm, said of the transportation department site problems: "This is very strange. You don't see this. "Having something 100% down for a 24-hour-plus period is a pretty significant event."

Other cyber experts have differing opinions over the extent of North Korean involvement. Some speculate that hackers simply used zombie computers in the area, while others think that this communist nation has gone from the nuclear to the digital battlefield.

Rod Beckstrom, former head of the U.S. cybersecurity center says, "If Pyongyang is behind the attacks, it probably establishes a new pattern of behavior. If this is them, they are now in the club. And they're probably only going to get better."

Philip Reitinger, deputy under secretary at the Homeland Security Department, said in an interview with the Associated Press that, "the far-reaching attacks demonstrate the importance of cyber security as a critical national security issue." The fact that a series of computers were involved in an attack, Reitinger said, "doesn't say anything about the ultimate source of the attack." "What it says is that those computers were as much a target of the attack as the eventual Web sites that are targets," said Reitinger, who heads DHS cyber security operations. "They're just zombies that are being used by some unseen third party to launch attacks against government and nongovernment Web sites."

If true, the attack by North Korea would be troubling because "they play by their own set of rules, so it is more difficult to calibrate how they're going to respond," says, Jack Thomas Tomarchio, head of Nicor Cyber Security and a former deputy undersecretary at the Homeland Security Department. According to Tomarchia, "the attacks overall show that the federal government is still very vulnerable in terms of its cyber security and that agencies have miles to go to plug the holes." "This is not Pearl Harbor. I'm not trying to alarm the country," he said. "But we do have a serious intrusion problem."

New York Stock Exchange spokesman Ray Pellecchia could not confirm the attack, saying the company does not comment on security issues.

Where does US cyber security go from here?

President Obama announced the establishment of an inter-agency cyber-security office in May and the Pentagon added a military Cyber Command to supplement the civilian effort.

In an emailed statement by the Korea Communications Commission, "the blocked sites are based in the U.S., South Korea, Germany, Austria and Georgia." It is speculated that the "sites may have also spread malicious computer code that causes damage to personal computers," according to the commission.

Amy Kudwa, spokeswoman for the Homeland Security Department, said the agency's U.S. Computer Emergency Readiness Team issued a notice to federal departments and other partner organizations about the problems and "advised them of steps to take to help mitigate against such attacks."

This is not the first time that the US computer systems have been terrorized, past cyber attacks have included The State Department, Homeland Security, The Washington Post and even NASDAQ. According to the experts attacks on federal computer networks are quite common, and may range in nature from those trying their hand at hacking to more serious assaults. In some cases the blame has been placed on China, but U.S. security officials also worry about cyber attacks from al-Qaida or other terrorists.

This time it may have only been a "DOS" denial of service to sites that people are trying to use to gain information or complete forms. Just imagine what damage could be done if control of those servers and services could be taken over by use of advanced programming and botnet devices? The FAA? No longer able to track airlines. The New York Stock Exchange? Stocks floating up and down, or plummeting to worthless, you think the economy is tough now, imagine the shut down of banking and the stock exchange. This attack, no matter if it came from China or North Korea or even from Mars; does evidence how unprepared the US government may be to protect its cyber security to such attacks.

Posted by Lisa Carey at 02:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

In the past week Americans have been shocked by the deaths of many pop culture icons. The passing of Ed McMahon, Farrah Fawcett, Billie Mays and Micheal Jackson stunned not only the U.S. but in some cases people all over the world. But maybe in the mourning or shock of the deaths of these celebrities, global news, especially about North Korea and cyber crimes may have been lost in the "shuffle."

Trouble with North Korea has been brewing for some time. Even during President Bush's administration threats of nuclear testing were a big concern, and they remain one even now. This spring, two American journalists were detained and later convicted of "illegal border crossing and an unspecified grave crime." The penalty, 12 years reform through labor.

What you may not know about in the news this week are cyber attacks on many US and South Korea government websites. According to Johannes Ullrich, chief technology officer for the private SANS Internet Storm Center, the attack began over the holiday weekend and Unites States sites targeted included the White House, DOT (Department of Transportation), Department of Homeland Security, the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration), NSA (National Security Agency) State Department, US Postal Service, US Treasury Department, Voice of American and hit hardest was the Federal Trade Commission site, ftc.gov. Ullrich states that a Pentagon site, defenselink.mil, was also targeted, as well a site for US forces in South Korea. US officials confirmed that the Treasury Department, Secret Service, Federal Trade Commission and Transportation Department sites "were all down at various points over the weekend and into this week and some of the sites were still experiencing problems on Tuesday evening after the attack."

In South Korea government agencies and banks had websites paralyzed by a suspected cyber attack on Tuesday, and some remain inaccessible or unusable.

Both the US and South Korea are working to determine the identity of the creator of the virus. "This is not a simple attack by individuals. The attack appeared to have been elaborately prepared and staged by a certain organization or state," Seoul's National Intelligence Service (NIS) said in a statement. The NIS also stated that "US authorities were cooperating to track down those responsible for hijacking 12,000 personal computers in South Korea and 8,000 abroad which were exploited as vehicles for the attacks."

How did this "cyber attack or cyber terrorism" occur?

This attack was called a "denial of service" or DOS attack. We have probably all seen a similar message on a site when we have tried to access one that is very busy, like a coupon site or a shopping site.

Basically, malware (malicious computer programmers) suspected to be working for North Korea infected thousands of computers using Microsoft Windows with a computer virus. Then the programmer would be able to create a collective of networked computers, or "botnet" that he could program to do whatever he wanted. The technique used would be similar to that reported in Golden Cash Network Uses Bots and Zombies to Steal Information, however.

"There are tens of millions of computers that are potentially vulnerable," Spafford said. "If those systems are implanted with bot controllers, there's little you can to do prevent it."

The collective computers are then directed to access web servers, just like you do when you try to access a website. However, there are subtle differences with the use of spoofing, such as making an IP -Internet Protocol address look like it's busy. The website keeps trying to send information requested tying it up over and over again as it is told that the computer requesting it is busy or unavailable.

Next while the host servers and sites are busy still trying to answer the fraudulent request for information new spoofed IP addresses are created over and over and the servers are overloaded with request and then no longer able to respond.

High volume websites like the White House, Pentagon and New York Stock Exchange seemed to have survived the attack with barely any negative effect, possibly due to the high volume they normally endure as well as higher band -with. Other servers, such as the Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Transportation went off-line.

In simplest terms it is similar in nature (of course on a MUCH larger scale) to when Oprah offered everyone a free KFC skinless chicken dinner. Hundreds of thousands of people rushed to their computer to access the printable coupon from Oprah.com and KFC's site. The servers were overloaded for days, causing the offer to be withdrawn and changed and thousands to receive the message that the website is not available. That is just one small example of denial of service attacks; now multiply that by thousands of computers and include some of the United States most important services and offices, both for finances and security, and you can only imagine the damage that could be done to America's most important offices and agencies.

UPDATE JULY 14
This may or may not have been executed by North Korea.

Take a look here:
http://blogs.usatoday.com/technologylive/2009/07/evidence-has-surfaced-that-the-denial-of-service-attacks-that-crippled-dozens-of-us-and-south-korean-web-sites-last-week-ma.html

Posted by Lisa Carey at 02:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It's unfortunate, but we first brought you True Crime Stories of Elder Abuse and Identity Theft. Now we can share with you tips on what you can do to protect yourself and what several states have started doing to protect their senior citizens.

What is being done to protect senior citizens from identity theft and financial scams?

In June, 2009, The West Central Vulnerable Adults Coalition, in North Dakota, held its first event to educate senior citizens about the danger of identity theft. At this event not only was information provided about how the elderly are targeted but a giant Shred-a-Thon was held to help senior citizens do away with papers containing information useful for identity theft that they may have been collecting for years. Many people, not just seniors are unwilling to get rid of the paper trail regarding certain financial and personal information and this event was an effort to teach what needs to be kept and for how long as well as providing a place to safely get rid of those records that could be trashed. At the event Wayne Stenehjem, the North Dakota Attorney General shared, "Certainly things you need to keep indefinitely like your marriage, divorce, other family, military records. Those kinds of things you keep forever, but your bank accounts and your telephone accounts, those kinds of things can be destroyed."

North Dakota is not the only state that is leading the nation in attempts to protect our elderly. In 2008, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed into effect two laws to help the elderly. The first, SB1343 permits senior citizens to have a friend or family member in the court room to provide support. "By allowing a friend or family member in the courtroom while giving difficult testimony, elderly and disabled adults will feel more comfortable coming forward and pressing charges to allow justice to be served," Schwarzenegger said in a statement. "This legislation not only protects this vulnerable community, but helps to prevent these types of crimes from happening again."

California law SB 612 provides victims of identity theft the opportunity to have their cases prosecuted in the county that they live in, which is not always the county where the crime occurred. This law provided victims with better resources to not only prosecute the crime makes it more likely they will since it will not involve the added expense and trouble of travel.

Ohio and several other states have begun to give stiffer penalties for crimes against the elderly.

The Attorney General's office in Michigan has begun tracking of identity theft in nursing homes and conducts routine checks for residents.

What can you do to protect the elderly that you love or care for?
-Become educated, not only about the types of identity theft and other financial scams that are most likely to target senior citizens but also their rights and remedies. Find out more about the Older Americans Act. http://www.ncea.aoa.gov/NCEAroot/Main_Site/Library/Laws/Older_Americans_Act.aspx
-Quite often seniors carry their Social Security and Medicare Card with them in case of emergencies. Leave your cards at home and carry a copy of your medicare card with you, with the SSN blacked out. This will help you get the medical treatment you need in case of emergency and keep your information safe in case of a mugging. You can provide the real card at a later time. Hospitals will not deny treatment based on this "shortened" version of your card.
-Do not give out information over the phone. Check to determine the caller is legitimate if they claim to be from your bank or credit card company - call the company back. Legitimate businesses will already have the information that fake ones are asking you for.
-Research charities carefully before making donations. Those who use the Internet can do quickly and easily through CharityNavigator.org.
-Keep sensitive information locked up, shred and destroy documents you don't need. For example a 15 yr old tax return can be shredded, one that is 4 yrs old needs locked away.
-Don't sign the back of your credit cards; write in that spot, "PHOTO ID REQUIRED" so that a photo id will be required to use them.
-Sign up for the Do Not Call Registry to protect your phone number.
-Shred documents like pre approved credit card offers.
-Opt out of receiving offers based on your credit report by calling 1-888-567-8688, the Federal Trade Commission's "opt out" line.
-Review your financial records including banking, credit card, Social Security benefits and Medicare statements as they arrive for inaccuracies.
-Use passwords to limit access to your information, but don't use something simple like your birth date, last four digits of phone or social security or mother's maiden name.
-Make copies of credit cards for reference in case of theft. Don't carry any cards with you that you don't need.
-Protect your mail. Use a locking mail box and make sure that if you are going to be gone from your home to cancel your mail delivery through the USPS website or at your local post office.
-Don't put your trash out until the day of pick up. Avoid those dumpster diving criminals who can use your trash for identity theft treasure.
-Be careful when, how and to who you give your power of attorney too.

Use prevention and protection tips and information from trusted resources such as:
AARP
IDtheft.gov (the government's website for this crime)
The non-profit organization Identity Theft Resource Center http://www.idtheftcenter.org/ that also offers Toll Free, No cost victim assistance at 1 (888) 400-5530
The US Department of Justice

These sources can also assist you, along with your local police departments in the reporting and prosecution of the crime of elder abuse and identity theft.

Posted by Lisa Carey at 02:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Identity theft is a form of elderly abuse and the saddest part of all is that family members, caregivers and strangers may take advantage of the elderly in an effort to gain their hard earned money and credit report.

When most people think of elderly abuse they think of neglect, physical, sexual or psychological abuse. There is another form of elder abuse or abuse of senior citizens; that of "using the money or resources of an older person without their knowledge or consent to benefit yourself or another person." Identity theft falls into that category, as family members, caregivers and strangers may take advantage of the elderly in an effort to gain their hard earned money and credit report.

Why is the elderly targeted for identity theft and financial crimes?
-In some cases they may have more money, cash reserves, home equity, and other resources that others as they may have been working for retirement all their lives.
-Many seniors are not "technologically savvy" so may not be aware of many of the scams that are based around Internet usage.
-Since seniors may not be actively "using" their credit report they are less likely to check it regularly and monitor it carefully.
-Retirement home staff, home caregivers and family members may take advantage of their position of trust as well as the information readily available to them.

What forms of abuse may identity theft and other financial scams take?
-investment fraud
-mortgage fraud
-phony charity solicitation
-so called "prize" money awards where they must provide information that can be used later against them
-check cashing fraud
-credit card fraud
-forging signatures to benefit in a financial way (cashing checks that came to the elderly)

The saddest part of all about identity theft, financial scams and frauds against the elderly is that far too often it is committed by someone in a position of trust, like a caregiver or family member.

True crime stories of elderly identity theft . . .
Teresa Julie Robbins of Hinesville, GA was arrested for financial identity theft and elder abuse. Approximately 43 victims have been identified, with all of them ranging in age from 60-100.

Birmingham, AL authorities were investigating Jacqueline Anne Lumpkin, a CNA (certified nursing assistant) who took personal information from a nursing home patient and rang up more than $5,000 in goods and services. She was charged with elder abuse, neglect and identity theft.

A resident in a Boulder, CO nursing home was recently taken advantage of by her son and granddaughter as they stole over $16,000 dollars from her through the use of a power of attorney. They used this power to benefit themselves. The granddaughter was arrested for 92 counts of identity theft and forgery.

A 100 yr old man in Florida was taken advantage of by his self employed caregiver who is accused of stealing his identity to set up cable television and phone number accounts. The caregiver was charged with elderly exploitation and using someone's ID without consent.

In Anchorage, Alaska a 57 yr old man plead not guilty to 17 counts of identity theft, fraud and criminal impersonation. He used the information of an 82 yr old man to get 7 credit cards on which he charged $34,000 in merchandise.

How can you protect yourself and those you love from financial scams and identity theft? Find out how in our next article 15 Tips to Protect Senior Citizens from Elder Abuse Identity Theft.

Posted by Lisa Carey at 02:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)