Identity Theft Blog

Don’t like to read? Are you a visual learner? If so, then we have some awesome news for you that will make your life much easier!

The great information contained in our Free Identity Theft Ebook is now available in a Video Series. So don’t let your aversion to reading keep you from getting the information you need to prevent identity theft from happening to you.

Check out the Videos and you can still download the Free Identity Theft Ebook, print it out, and take notes along with the Video Series!

Free Identity Theft Prevention Videos

Free Identity Theft Ebook

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Spyware, adware, trojans, keyloggers, dialers…the list goes on and on. There are so many threats to your identity online that it is hard to keep up with what threats are out there and how they can put you at risk for identity theft.

While you want to remove all offending and malicious programs on your computer system, some spyware programs put your identity at risk more than others. It is critical that you understand the difference and are able to recognize which spyware software is more likely to leave your identity vulnerable to theft.

All spyware should be removed from your PC but it is imperative that you take steps to immediately remove the most dangerous threats to your identity, especially since you can have these programs installed and be completely unaware that they are running on your system silently collecting all your personal information.

We have recently written an article that explains in detail the threats you are most likely to encounter while surfing the net and which ones target you for identity theft. You can view this article on our web site in our article directory

Identity Theft Protection from Spyware, Adware, Keyloggers and other Nasties of the Net

Technorati Tags: Spyware, adware, trojans, keyloggers, dialers, identity, identity theft, malicious programs, spyware programs, spyware software, spyware, dangerous threats, Identity Theft Protection

Even with the new credit freeze options offered by Transunion, Equifax and Experian, many people are still on the lookout for identity theft insurance. While we feel the new credit free option, couple with the advice offered in our Free Identity Theft Ebook, should be sufficient for most people, many people still want that additional security.

We have decided to do an identity theft insurance comparison of some of the more popular id theft insurance programs on the market today. We want to give you as much information as possible to help you choose the right identity theft insurance program for you and your family.

Technorati Tags: credit freeze, Transunion, Equifax, Experian, identity theft insurance, credit free option, Free Identity Theft Ebook, identity theft insurance comparison, id theft insurance, identity theft insurance program

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Technorati Tags: Identity Theft Statistics, Identity Theft Statistics for 2006

Looks like all the credit bureaus are finally jumping on the bandwagon and committing to a time-frame to start offering credit freeze services

• Experian’s credit freeze service is reported to go into effect on November 1st.
• Equifax is said to start offering services in early November.
• TransUnion’s credit freeze service went into effect on October 15th.

TranUnions fees are $10 to start the credit freeze and another $10 to remove the credit freeze. Experian and Equifax haven’t listed pricing yet but it is assumed their prices will be comparable with TransUnion’s fees. We will keep you updated when pricing information is released.

If you haven’t already received your Free Identity Theft Ebook, then now is the best time to grab it to find out how to use the new credit freeze services to your best advantage.

Technorati Tags: credit freeze, credit freeze service, Free Identity Theft Ebook

TransUnion, Equifax and Experian have finally seen the light. After fighting against legislation for years, all three major credit companies are now offering consumers the option to put a credit freeze on their credit reports. Previously, a credit freeze was only available in certain states and for those who had already been victims of identity theft.

TransUnion was the first to comply with Equifax following suit the next day. TransUnion will allow customers to block their credit reports starting October 15th. Equifax hasn’t released the details on their program yet but said they should have something solidified by next month. Experian is reported to have a plan in the works as well.

A credit freeze will allow consumers to prevent new accounts being opened in their names since most companies require a credit check before giving consumers an account on credit. Of course if a person applies for credit and the company at which they are applying does not do a credit check then the credit freeze will not be beneficial. But very few companies are willing to offer consumers accounts without doing a credit check. Once a company checks a customers credit and sees that there is a block on it, they will not be able to open an account until the block is removed. Therefore, if an identity thief obtains your information they will not be able to open new accounts in your name.

TransUnion will charge consumers $10.00 to put a freeze on their credit and the service will be free for Identity Theft Victims. There will also be a $10.00 charge to unblock the freeze in the event you need to apply for credit. Experian and Equifax have not listed their fees at this time but it is assumed their fees will coincide with TranUnions fees.

This is a major victory for consumers. It is nice to see that the major credit bureaus have finally stepped up to the plate and are offering a solution that we have always advocated.

Our Free Identity Theft Ebook outlines in detail how you can successfully protect your identity using a credit freeze. You can get your free copy here.

On Friday the Online brokerage TD Ameritrade Holding Corp. said that one of its databases had been hacked and more than 6.3 million customers had their contact information stolen. The database also contained customer’s Social Security numbers and account numbers. Ameritrade has reported that only the contact information was taken and not the Social Security numbers and account information, which makes me wonder why a hacker would only take customer’s contact information when presented with so much more worthy information. A list of emails verses a list of Social Security numbers? Spamming verses Identity Theft? Which list do you think would be more lucrative to obtain?

Apparently Ameritrade has known about the hacking incident since at least May and the data on the servers may have been vulnerable since October. Ameritrade claims that the problem has been recently fixed, which is great, but it does not help those customers whose information has already been compromised.
The hacking incident was discovered when customers reported receiving unwanted e-mails on accounts used only for Ameritrade. Two of the customers ended up suing Ameritrade in federal court. The two clients who sued Ameritrade wanted the court to order the online brokerage company to tell customers about the problem but Ameritrade beat them to the punch and issued a press release before the hearing could be held.

Ameritrade is looking into the theft and cooperating with investigators from the FBI, Securities and Exchange Commission, Financial Industry Regulatory Authority and local authorities. They also hired ID Analytics Inc. to help with the investigation and Ameritrade plans to continue using them to monitor their servers for potential identity theft.

Mike Cook, who is the chief operating officer for ID Analytics, stated that they will keep checking customer’s information against other databases to watch for identity theft since it could occur later.

“Just because a breached file is not misused today, it doesn’t mean that it won’t be misused in the future,” Cook said.

The Ameritrade hacking incident is small when compared to the data breach that occurred earlier this year at TJX Cos. which was the biggest known data breach at a company. The TJX incident consisted of the theft of at least 45 million credit card numbers (yep, I was one of those customers). But the Ameritrade incident is still larger than most data breaches.

This just goes to show you how vulnerable our information really is and that even though we do all we can to keep our information safe, nothing is 100% full-proof.

For those of you who are clients of Ameritrade, I would suggest:

• Opening a new Ameritrade account.
• I would also suggest getting our Free Identity Theft Ebook to prevent Identity Theft.
• If you have been a victim, I would suggest you follow the steps outlined in this list.

Here are a few recent articles I have written on Identity Theft. Both articles will show you how vulnerable our information really is and how easily people can get a hold of and have access to our personal information.

Identity Theft at the Gas Pumps?

Purse Snatching and Identity Theft: New Opportunities for an Old Fashioned Crime

This is the first post in the Identity Theft Blog. We look forward to bringing you identity theft protection news, tips tools and resources to prevent identity theft from happening to you. Stay tuned…