November 4, 2009 by Terry.

See how legal issues for business may be fought today compared to years ago, especially when “IDentity Theft in the workplace” happens.

http://cp.blastoffnetwork.com/index.php/prepaid/113863864

For business - click on the Blue Arrow Box just above the ‘talking lady in black’ and the “Legal Service Business Plan” to learn more.

For IDentity Theft education on many areas [not just financial] - click on the IDentity Theft areas to learn more.

Posted in IDT - Solutions, IDT - Businesses, IDentity Theft Victims, IDentity Theft | Print | No Comments »

August 1, 2009 by Terry.

Found this interesting - someone posted this on “you tube dot com” - author unknown to me

- something He ‘borrowed’?
- because he plans on giving it back?
- Committed  –  or  –  “Victim of”

 —————————————————————————————————————————————————

Who might the Victim be in this case — maybe the United States of America and Her Legal Citizens

When is your Good Name considered part of IDentity Theft?  If you personal information is attained by others, with the intent to use it, is it “borrowed”?  until they:

• actually commit crimes using your good name
• get medical treatment in your good name
• make purchases using your good name
• work a job using your good name
• get loans in your good name
• sell your good name

Another words, is it “borrowed”, until it turns into “theft” once they use your good name?

Posted in IDentity Theft Victims | Print | No Comments »

May 25, 2009 by Terry.

Did you see this article on the New York Times back in January - or hear about it since then?

From that article the authors stated:

“Heartland, based in Princeton, N.J., works with about 175,000 small merchants and processes about 100 million transactions a month. It has created a Web site, 2008breach.com, to provide information about the incident. Cardholders are not responsible for unauthorized fraudulent charges.”

Not according to the Federal Trade Commission and legislation:

Page 19 of the free booklet IDTheft Victims receive when they file a complaint with the FTC “Take Charge: Fighting Back Against Identity Theft” [available at http://ftc.gov/idtheft] indicates you are responsible in this way - that can be very costly:

“…If an identity thief changed the address on your account and you didn’t receive the bill, your dispute letter still must reach the creditor within 60 days of when the creditor would have mailed the bill. This is one reason it’s essential to keep track of your billing statements, and follow up quickly if your bills don’t arrive on time.”

Terry Kohler
Certified IDentity Theft Risk Management Specialist
Talk Solutions Today

Posted in IDT - Businesses, IDT - SSAN, IDT - Financial, News Alerts, IDentity Theft Victims | Print | No Comments »

March 4, 2009 by Terry.

WATCH OUT - help get this warning out to everyone you know!

Web sites, like presidentobamagrants.com or officialstimulusgrants.com, may advertise that they can help you get money from the stimulus fund.  Many sites, like these, use deceptive names or images of President Obama and Vice President Biden to suggest they are legitimate.  They’re not!

The FTC has indicated that there are web sites which suggest that for a small sum of money - even as low as $1.99 in some cases - consumers can get a list of economic stimulus grants they can apply for.  Two things could happen: the number of the credit card the consumer uses to pay the fee can fall into the hands of IDentity Theives and scam artists, or the $1.99 might become the down payment on a “negative option” agreement that may cost hundreds or thousands of dollars if the consumer does not cancel the agreement [which they should have their attorneys review before signing - always involve your top-rated nationwide network of law firms before signing any contract or agreement]. 

Eileen Harrison, acting director, of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, noted that many illegitimate sites use photos, of Obama and Vice President Joe Biden, to give the appearance of authenticity. Sites also copy and use logos from ABC, CBS, CNBC, CNN, FOX, NBC, MSNBC, and other major media outlets to make them appear to be a legitimate web site or email.

The FTC last week reported that, for the ninth year in a row, IDentity Theft — especially in Arizona and California — was the number one consumer complaint filed with the Federal Trade Commission in 2008.  Of 1,223,370 complaints received in 2008, 313,982 - or 26%- were related to IDentity Theft.

Further, the FTC ‘s list in the  “Consumer Sentinel Network (CSN) Data Book for January-December 2008,” states that credit card fraud was the most common form of reported identity theft at 20%, followed by government documents/benefits fraud at 15%, employment fraud at 15%, phone or utilities fraud at 13%, bank fraud at 11 %and loan fraud at 4%. The CSN received over 1.2 million complaints during calendar year 2008.

Did you see that?  20% — What about the other 80%+/- of IDentity Theft cases?  From that, might I suggest, the other approximately 80% of IDentity Theft falls into DMV - Medical - SSAN - Character/Criminal areas.

Check out this 4-minute video, and see what happened to some of these folks.

Then, be careful out there.

Posted in IDTheft Stats, News Alerts, IDentity Theft Victims, IDentity Theft | Print | No Comments »