One person also asked "Why are you reviewing the Lifelock scam on a good web site like yours?"

Here's the thing I encourage you to do. This interview is here so that you can make up your own mind about whether or not Lifelock a scam, and how much of it is promotional hype vs. actual product.

Personally, I think the service is pretty good. (I now have it myself). But I transcribed the audio Interview , because some people asked if they could read the interview with Lifelock, rather than just listen to it.

- - - - - - - The transparent nature of the Internet: Vanity Searches

Finding yourself also used to refer to a time in your life when you might go on a very long walk, or go away to the mountains for a weekend retreat. I once heard a comedian make a joke that you could go to the mall to "find yourself" on that little map which says "you are here." However, in the 21st century, there are many more adventurous ways of finding yourself .

Lately, I have had a lot of experiences which have reminded me of the transparent nature of the Internet, and how finding information has become amazingly easy.

A friend of mine was very surprised when he found a picture of himself, in the third grade, by doing a vanity search on Google.

What's a vanity search? Simply go to Google and type in your name.

Now if you really want to get creative, go to Google and in your vanity searching, type in your name, your city and state, and/or something else personal to you. Examples of things you can type in:

Your name + Your employer
Your name + A Pet's name
Your name + Names of schools (high school, college, middle school, elementary)
Your name + name of someone you know well
Your name + city where you used to live
Your name + any organization you have ever belonged to

Just your phone number
Just your address
Just your email address

- - - - - - - How an ATM Card Switch Scheme Works

This type of fraud scheme is less likely to happen to someone bscause it requires physical interaction with a victim, and requires the people committing the crime to actually be caught by the ATM's video camera.

However, it is very interesting to see how an ATM Card Switch scheme works in real life.

Watch the video below to see what I mean.

- - - - - - - Who Are These People? Talvest Mutual Funds "Expert"

In an article referencing the Talvest Mutual Funds data breach from the Montreal Gazette, this was the quote...

Phil Levi, a local forensic and investigative accountant, says criminals typically act quickly in cases of identity theft, usually within 48 hours of obtaining the information.

"With these fraudsters, it's hit and run."

I'm sorry to be rude, but what the heck is this guy talking about?

According to this article, 470,000 people's information was compromised.

I've NEVER seen a study which says that large databases of information become less valuable over time, or that criminals use the information right away. And I COMPLETELY disagree with this expert's assessment.

- - - - - - - LegalZoom's Less than Adequate Identity Theft Advice

As far as I know, LegalZoom is a legal service which offers help with document preparation, reviews, and general advice. Here's a cut from their web site...

- - - - - - - Identity Theft Presentation in Colorado Springs

On December 9, I presented at the Colorado Springs Auditorium for a group of independent business people who all market the services offered by a particular company.

I actually "stole" someone's Identity from the front of the room.

To watch the video of the event, simply click play below.

- - - - - - - Identity Theft Prevention Feature of Internet Explorer 7

One of the nice features of Internet Explorer Seven is that it has a phishing alert build right into the software. What this means is that when you're using Internet Explorer 7, if someone has reported a site as a phishing site, that you can know about it as you're visiting the site. It's a nice security and social networking feature built right into the browser, and is a great deterrent, although not foolproof, way to let people help each other provide some sense of security about surfing the Internet.

Watch the video below to see an example of Internet Explorer 7's Phishing site alert in action.

- - - - - - - McDonald's Spreads Malware

It's really interesting when as many as 10,000 computers get infected with Malware on behalf of one of the largest food distributors in the world. It's an example of a high tech scheme using a very low-tech distribution method.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/10/16/mcd_spyware_mp3_recall/

McDonalds Japan has launched a recall after discovering that MP3 players it offered as a prize were loaded with a particularly nasty strain of malware. Up to 10,000 people might have been exposed to the problem after claiming a Flash MP3 player pre-loaded with ten tunes and a variant of the QQpass spyware Trojan...(People were) exposed to spyware code programmed to transmit their web passwords and other sensitive information to hackers.

If Identity Thieves can get into the inner workings of a McDonald's promotion (in Japan or anywhere else), don't you think it's time you take some steps to keep them out of your personal information, and create a plan, just in case your information gets stolen?

- - - - - - - Reporter who covers Identity Theft becomes victim herself

So here's something interesting to note.

A reporter for the Longmont Times Call (in Colorado), recently became a victim of credit fraud herself.

"As a crime reporter, I had written dozens of stories about identity theft and credit card fraud. I knew what to do. I called credit reporting agencies and told them about my stolen account number to protect my credit rating. I called the police. Then I got antsy. I started investigating the businesses where my money was spent. I soon found out it was going to be harder than making some phone calls and dressing down some careless store managers. The four businesses — Shoe Depot, Tina Fashion, Frank Collection and Photo Creation — where money from my account was spent are in Fontana, Calif., according to my bank statement. So I called the Fontana Police Department. I called the city’s chamber of commerce. I went on the Better Business Bureau Web site. But no one had ever heard of the stores, and the police couldn’t find an address for them. I even left messages for people whose names are connected to two of the “businesses,” which I found on a public information Web site. No one called back. Luckily, my bank sorted out the mess and had money back in my account by 2:30 p.m."

The article is written under the title of Identity Theft a bitter pill. Fortunately for the reporter, she was only a victim of credit fraud.

- - - - - - - Number one in Identity Theft?

How do you become known as the #1 bank in America for helping protect people from Identity Theft?

Well, it's quite simple actually.

The Javelin Strategy and Research firm, which evaluated 24 major banks, awarded the top three banks similar marks for their ability to help protect customer data. Here's some of the strong points, from the last year or so, that you should consider if you wish to be among the top three.

First, it would be a good idea to lose 2.6 million customer records belonging to Circuit City credit card holders. Accidentally take the records to a landfill and bury them.

Next, you could find yourself among the best by allowing several data breaches to take place. Accidently leave digital doors open, or even physical doors, so that your customers' information can leave with a criminal. Make sure that when you're shipping information, you use a company that will lose data tapes for 145,000 government and military cardholders.

After that, make sure that your executives have limitless access to sell customer information for personal and corporate gain, and while you're at it, incentivize employees to open new accounts in the name of your customers.

- - - - - - - New York Times Data Breaches article

The New York Times pubished an article yesterday which has a kind of tongue-in-cheek approach to the data theft which has been taking place at companies around the United States and Canada.

A survey of 484 United States-based information technology departments within business or governmental organizations...found, among other things, that more than half of corporate laptops contained unprotected sensitive data, that one in 10 laptops is stolen and that 97 percent of those are never recovered. The study also found that 81 percent of firms reported that an “electronic storage device such as a laptop” specifically containing sensitive or confidential information had been lost or stolen in the past year.

If nothing else, the Commerce Department can be comforted by the fact that its loss of 1,137 laptops over the last five years is hardly unusual.

This kind of toungue-in-cheek comment is sort of the way I approach identity theft. The problem is so big, and the misinformation in the marketplace so prevalent, that, as the NYT states; "the volume of lost consumer data remains almost comically epidemic."

The biggest problem is that our social security numbers are so valuable, and so universally used.

But that's not going to change any time too soon. The lobbies for insurance, credit, and the banking industry as a whole are simply too large, and too powerful, for any smaller initiative to achieve any really valuable change in the way our social security numbers are used. (I will be talking about an interesting patent tomorrow though.)

- - - - - - - Companies marketing under guise of Identity Theft

So there are some companies out there that are marketing their products under the guise that their services will help you prevent Identity Theft.

Actually, there are HUNDREDS of companies marketing their "solutions" as things that will help you with Identity Theft.

Though there are many, we are going to pick on just two today.

Product #1
Data Safe Wallets:

From the Press Release:
"Its new line of DataSafe Wallets(TM) for men and women (are) designed to protect the new 'smart card' credit cards from wireless identity theft."

Well, yah, I guess you could say that you would be protecting your already encrypted smart card by having a wallet shielded with some sort of RF-blocking material. While this is a good idea in concept, it doesn't really address Identity Theft. All it does is protect the cards in your wallet. Since the vast majority of Identity Theft doesn't occur by someone grabbing your information wirelessly from an encrypted data stream, these wallets aren't really helping people with the problem of identity theft.

Overall impact on helping people with Identity Theft? Minimal

- - - - - - - Southern California Students Lose Information to Identity Theft

The daily Trojan, which is the Student Newspaper for the University of Southern California, today is reporting that the Los Angeles Police Department is investigating 16 USC Identity Theft crimes.

What’s interesting is that between August 4th and September 5th, someone used student, faculty, and staff account, to make unauthorized ATM Withdrawls, purchase things fraudulently on the Internet, and open unauthorized credit card accounts. Peter Tom, the vice president of member services for the USC Credit Union, says that he didn’t know about the LAPD investigation, and doesn’t really know why this could be taking place.

- - - - - - - Identity Theft Is Okay When used for a job? New York Times Article

The New York Times ran a large article spread today covering something we have been talking about for a long time: Identity theft isn't just about financial gain.

Oh really? You mean that those cute Citibank ads aren't really explaining the whole problem of Identity Theft to me?

- - - - - - - Student Loan Theft

Just yesterday I posted about how buying a shredder really doesn't make college students any more or less likely to become a victim of Identity Theft, and today, I find myself reading an article which proves exactly what I was saying.

Personal data may have been inadvertently mixed up if different users logged on at roughly the same time and performed the same Web site function, such as updating a home address. The department determined that less than one-half of 1 percent of the 6.4 million total borrowers -- or roughly 21,000 -- had logged on to the Web site between Sunday and Tuesday.

- - - - - - - Identity Theft - It's all in the Family

How hard must it be to turn your own daughter over to the police? Well I, for one, want to salute this mother. Pamela Blais turned in her own daughter for Identity Theft.

Her daughter, Ryanne Blais, took out not one, not two, but THREE credit cards in her mother's name, racking up a total bill of over $15,000 in credit card debt.

The daughter's response when she was caught, according to this article, was that she thought the whole situation would "just take care of itself".

- - - - - - - Good News about Identity Theft from Community Dispatch

Here is a direct quote from a little web site (Sponsored by the IRS?) called Community Dispatch.

You Can Help Shut Down Phishing Schemes

The good news is that you can help shut down these schemes and prevent others from being victimized. If you receive a suspicious e-mail that claims to come from the IRS, you can relay that e-mail to a new IRS mailbox, phishing@irs.gov. Follow instructions in the link below for sending the bogus e-mail to ensure that it retains critical elements found in the original e-mail. The IRS can use the information, URLs and links in the suspicious e-mails you send to trace the hosting Web site and alert authorities to help shut down the fraudulent sites. Unfortunately, due to the expected volume, the IRS will not be able to acknowledge receipt or respond to you.

- - - - - - - Good Identity Theft Angel

Tell your friends and family - If you get an email from Identity Angel, DO NOT DELETE IT! It's a GOOD THING!

Here at IdentityTheftSecrets, it's my job to rat on, and root out scammers, thieves, and crooks. Many of them are very intelligent, and they use their intelligence to destroy other people's lives through the awful crime of Identity Theft.

So, it's a refreshing change when I get to talk about someone who is making a difference, and is using their powers for good.

Meet Dr. Latanya Sweeney, Ph.D. This brilliant woman, a professor at Carnegie Mellon University, has invented something called Identity Angel. This benevolent program will search through documents on the internet (I assume including PDF's, Word Docs, and other harder to reach file types), to find your information.

If it finds your information, it attempts to email you to let you know.

What's the advantage of this, you say?

I know none of the SuperSleuths would do this, but let's say that you, or someone you know, is going to apply for a job, and unthinkingly posts a name, address, AND social security number on a resume'. If these three pieces of information all exist in one place, then the Identity Angel will attempt to send an email to let you know that posting this information opens you up to Identity theft. (At the very least, you should remove your Social Security number from this document, because with these pieces of information, an Identity Thief can assume the role of YOU, for whatever type(s) of Identity Theft and crimes they would like to commit on behalf of you - meaning, AS YOU.)

I don't know what servers are being used to power this technology, but IdentityTheftSecrets would love to see Google or another company with large server capability take on this philanthropic and empowering software, and put it to work in a large scale environment.

Testifying before the Department of Homeland Security's Privacy and Integrity Advisory Committee in June 2005, Sweeney advocated the belief that tools like Identity Angel would enable people to secure their identities while not sacrificing their privacy rights. "Following the events of September 11, there is a common false belief that in order for America to be safe, the public must give up its privacy. This is not necessary, "Sweeney said.

Dr. Latanya Sweeney, Ph.D., a patriot and brilliant philanthropist, is a powerful person because she's using technology and her mindpower to further the development and protection of humankind. (What do you want to bet she doesn't spend a lot of time watching television?)

Tell your friends and family: If you get an email from Identity Angel, DON'T DELETE it! It's a GOOD THING!
Click here to listen to the interview on NPR

Read more here.

- - - - - - - Using Internet Theft as a Defense

The RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) has taken to recouping losses (due to the millions of people now downloading music online) by filing small to medium sized lawsuits against every day people. Have most of these people downloaded music online? Probably. The cases rarely go to trial and are usually settled out of court, because most people realize, at some point in the process, that it would generally cost more to fight the RIAA than it would cost just to pay them (Unless you have a legal plan)

But here's something interesting. As stated on OUT-LAW,

Tammie Marson of Palm Desert, California refused to pay the initial $3,500 demanded by a group of record labels and opted to fight the case in court. Marson and her lawyer Seyamack Kouretchian of Coast Law Group argued that the fact that Marson's computer contained illegal music files downloaded over her internet connection was not proof that she had committed a crime.

The court didn't have to rule in her favor, because the record labels backed away from this lawsuit, presumably as a result of hearing the defense and realizing that Ms. Marson and her attorney would be willing to go the distance to take the case through trial.

The Identity Theft SuperSleuth isn't going to make a statement about downloading music. However, this is interesting from an

- - - - - - - A step in the right direction

While IdentityTheftSecrets.com hasn't been able to ascertain the exact topics that these police officers were being trained on, offering any type of class to law enforcement on identity theft, even if it's just awareness training, is definitely a step in the right direction.

"A new identity theft investigation training course has helped to better prepare 476 Michigan law enforcement officers to investigate identity theft, credit fraud and counterfeiting complaints. The free training course was offered from July 10 through Aug. 3 by the Identity Theft Teams of the Michigan State Police (MSP), in conjunction with the Michigan Association of Chiefs of Police (MACP) and the Michigan Sheriff's Association (MSA)."