LifeLock Blog

Ever since 1984 October has been known as National Crime Prevention Month. The purpose of which is to encourage awareness of crimes and how consumers can arm themselves to prevent these crimes from happening to them. When the general public is aware of a particular crime and understands how to prevent it you usually see a decline in that particular crime.

LifeLock, the leader in identity theft protection, is teaming up with the FBI Law Enforcement Executive Development Association to hold special identity theft summits for local and statewide law enforcement. The Summits are scheduled between October 19 and 28 in the following cities: Montgomery, Alabama, St. Louis, Missouri, and New Orleans, Louisiana. The purpose of the special summits is to educate law enforcement about the latest in identity theft statistics, how to fight the crime better, and new techniques criminals are using.

In addition to the identity theft summits LifeLock will also be holding several free educational presentations around the country designed for the general public. The presentations will educate and help the general public understand the risk of identity theft, common ways identity theft can happen, and current identity theft trends. Here are four quick tips that can help protect you, and will give you a taste as to the information given in the LifeLock identity theft presentations.

• ID your caller ID – Thieves are implementing a new technology to trick a phone’s caller identification system by giving a false name and number. The safest way to avoid being fooled is to crosscheck the phone number. If the caller ID gives the name of a bank, check the number that bank has listed to be sure it’s legitimate.
• Don’t let thieves RENT your identity – Even if you’re a homeowner, it’s a smart idea to request your rental history in case someone is using your PII to secure an apartment or other rental property in your name.
• As if going to the doctor wasn’t bad enough – Believe it or not, thieves these days even go to the lengths of using your identity or health insurance information to get their hands on pills and other drugs. You can contact companies, such as Intelliscript, to request your full 5-year history of prescriptions.
• Debt that (seriously) isn’t yours – It’s simple, really. If a so-called “debt collector” is hounding you and you don’t believe you owe anything, tell them to stop contacting you. According to federal law, a debt collector cannot continue to contact you if you tell them to stop. After you confirm you don’t owe the debt the person says you do, you may then discontinue all contact from the debt collection company by sending a letter to the collector. Be sure to keep a copy of the letter and the return receipt for verification purposes. If the “debt collector” still contacts you, other than to let you know there will be no further contact or to inform you that the agency is filing legal action, it is a violation, most likely by an identity thief.

The U.S. Department on Thursday charged 53 people in New Jersey for their connection to a identity theft ring. The identity theft ring operated acted as broker for identity documents, such as Social Security cards, which were used to commit credit card, tax and bank fraud.

Members of the identity theft ring some how obtained Social Security cards that were issued to Asian immigrants working in the American territories like American Samoa, Guam and Saipan, The identities were then sold to people of which a majority were of Korean descent. The identity theft ring would then help the purchasers of the information use the cards to obtain driver’s licenses and other identity documents from their home state. The ring also produced counterfeit driver’s licenses as well as other identity documents. Some of the defendants in this case also opened bank accounts as well as lines of credit using the fraudulent information.

The identity theft ring has caused millions of dollars of damage to U.S. banks, credit card companies, lenders and others. The identity theft ring is basically a one stop shop for identity theft. What ever you needed they could provide it for you and help use use it successfully.

It’s scary to see identity theft rings of this size functioning so well with such a large reach and clientele. According to U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman “The sheer scope of the fraud – and the organization that allegedly committed it – is remarkable,” he goes on later to say in a press conference that “This type of crime puts all of us at risk, not just because of the cost to our financial institutions, but also because of the threat posed by fake identification documents.”

LifeLock, the leader in identity theft protection, has just added a new service to it’s already robust set of services. LifeLock has providing the one of the best identity theft protection service for several years now. LifeLock has listened to what their customers have been requesting and they are adding a new feature, LifeLock’s Credit Score Manager.

The new feature can be added either to your regular membership or a command center membership. It provides a tri-bureau credit management system that allows LifeLock members to monitor their credit daily as well as send alerts when charges are made to your credit files. Members can receive monthly credit scores from TransUnion as well as annual scores from all three major credit bureaus.

Todd David, LifeLock CEO, has this to say about LifeLock’s new Credit Score Manager, “We have heard from consumers across the country that not only is it important that they protect their personal information from identity thieves, but that more and more life events are occurring where their credit scores and reports matter.”

The new LifeLock Credit Score Manger comes with the following set of features.

• Daily Tri-Bureau Credit Monitoring (TransUnion, Equifax, Experian)
• Monthly Credit Score Updates
• Annual Tri-Bureau Credit Reports
• Annual Tri-Bureau Credit Scores
• 24/7 Credit Dispute Assistance

Yesterday afternoon a virus known as “Here you Have” hit email accounts all over the world. This virus seems to be hitting corporations more than the public sector, corporations like ABC/Disney, Google, Coca-Cola and NASA. The email comes to you from a co-worker with the subject “here you have”. The email has a link to a PDF that when clicked installs a trojan virus that sends out similar emails to everyone in your address book.

Other variations of the same virus hide under the subject lines of ‘This is The Free Dowload Sex Movies,you can find it Here,’ and ‘Just For You.’ They all have links in them that download the virus. No word yet on what exactly the virus does other than sending out emails to your entire address book.

Even the Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Computer Emergency Readiness Team is getting in on the excitement. They are expected to make a announcement concerning the virus later on today.

Taxpayers should always be careful with their personal information. Not only because someone could steal your identity and open credit cards, but because they can also file a tax return in your name getting whatever refund you are entitled to. This happens more often than you think and is popular among illegal aliens as well as identity thieves. Illegal aliens us it to get work and to appear legal, while identity thieves just want your money. In fact billionaire Donald Bren had his tax refund check stolen from him worth 1.4 Million dollars just a month ago. So believe if it can happen to someone like Donald Bren it can happen to you.

Here are some simple things you can do to prevent a tax related identity theft.

- Know that the IRS doesn’t contact people through email. If you get an email claiming to be from the IRS you can forward it to phishing@irs.gov.

- Know that identity thieves obtain your information through several means including but not limited to stealing your wallet or purse off your person, car or home, spam email messages, going through your trash, and accessing information left from insecure websites.

- If you visit a site that is claiming to be an official IRS website and it doesn’t start with www.irs.gov, you should forward that link to the IRS at phishing@irs.gov.

- To learn how to identify a secure website you can visit the Federal Trade Commission at www.onguardonline.gov/tools/recognize-secure-site-using-ssl.aspx . Also know that even information sent to secure websites can be read and breached with the right tools. Always make sure your network is secure and that your computer is free of viruses.

- Never carry your Social Security card with you unless absolutely necessary, and make sure to store it in a safe place.

- If someone is using your Social Security number to obtain a job it will seem as if you are not reporting all your income.

- If you receive a notice that more than one tax return has been filed in your name you may have had your identity stolen. Don’t delay in contacting the IRS to begin the process of resolving the matter. You will need to prove your identity by submitting a copy of your valid government-issued identification – such as a Social Security card, driver’s license, or passport – along with a copy of a police report and/or a completed Form 14039, Identity Theft Affidavit. The IRS has a special department called the Identity Protection Specialized Unit which can be contacted toll-free at 800-908-4490. If you would like to learn more about the FTC guidance for reporting identity theft visit  www.ftc.gov/idtheft.

College is a great time for young adults as they break free from parental control and begin to learn their own way through life. Even though they may be ready to leave home they are not always ready to take on the world and the surprises and heartaches it can provide. Identity theft has got to be the last thing on the mind of a college student, perhaps the next test, party, or road trip to Panama City for spring break, but definitely not identity theft. This is why they are prime targets for identity theft and this is why with a couple precautions you can protect your college student from the heartache of identity theft.

1. Computer Protection
Every college student needs a computer for writing papers and doing research, but keeping it secure and free from viruses is important to preventing an identity theft. Viruses can steal important information from you so obtaining anti-virus software is paramount to preventing this type of breach.

2. Securing Documents
Many college students are not very organized and this can provide the opportunity for identity thieves to get their hands on their sensitive information. It’s important to secure your sensitive documents. This means locking up you Social Security card, Passport and other identifying information. A filing cabinet that locks is a good start but a safe is even better. Shredding documents is something college students should definitely do. Anything sensitive should be shredded before discarding it.

3. Mail Security
Mail at a college is usually less secure than you would have hoped. Many times it can be accessed by too many people or arrive to the wrong person due to students moving around a lot. This can cause sensitive mail to be compromised something you don’t want. Sensitive mail should always be sent to permanent address or PO Boxes to prevent your mail from falling into the wrong hands. When sending sensitive mail make sure to deliver it to the post office yourself to prevent it from being intercepted before reaching the post office.

4. Monitor Credit and Bank Statements
College students should always check their bank statements on a regular bases to prevent any fraudulent charges from clearing their accounts. Checking credit card statements, credit reports, and bank statements is critical to preventing a breach from effecting you long term.

These are just some of the things you can do to prevent an identity theft while at College. For even better protection try the leader in identity theft protection LifeLock. You can get a discount on a LifeLock membership with promo code “DEFENSE“.