FACTA IS GOOD BUSINESS Introduction: Hello, Im John St. John Director of Training and Education for the California Employers Association, a California Human Resource Consulting firm thats been serving businesses since 1937. I am here to help you make sense of the Fair and Accurate Credit Transaction Act or FACTA Law, and how you can comply before August 1, 2009. The Situation: If you run a business and it uses peoples sensitive/personal information, such as Medical, Personal, Financial, it is reasonable that you should protect it. The Problem: Identity Theft costs us about – Billion dollars per year, in the United States. We to plug this economic drain on good peoples hard earned credit and money. According to a 2006 FTC Identity Theft Report (Of people surveyed): •56% dont know how it happened •16% were victimized by people they knew personally •48% reported collector harassment •30% had loans rejected •Damages range from hundreds to thousands •Resolution can take up to 9 months The Law: With Your Senior Managements oversight, you must have a written identity theft plan that ensures your business people and contacts touching any of your business personal/sensitive information are trained to identify, prevent, and report identity theft in your business. The Federal deadline for compliance is August 1, 2009. Compliance means A Properly managed, written plan in place with people trained in identifying, preventing, and reporting identity theft in your business. The …
Posted on 12 May '12 by admin, under Uncategorized. 1 Comment.
Would you publish your Social Security # on the internet? LifeLock CEO Todd Davis does. Watch the video and contact us to find out why. www.lifelockprotects.com/info
Posted on 28 January '12 by admin, under Uncategorized. 2 Comments.
lifelock.wedids.com Identity theft can happen anywhere to anyone. In line at the store, online at home or when you’re buying your morning coffee. If your identity is stolen, you can spend hundreds of hours cleaning up your credit and struggling to get back your good name. That’s because stolen identities are used up to 30 times, with most victims only discovering the theft after they’ve been turned down for a loan or contacted by a collection agency. You may already be a victim, many times over, and not even know it. But not with LifeLock.
Posted on 17 January '12 by admin, under Uncategorized. No Comments.
Michelle Dennedy of The Identity Project interviews Lydia Parnes, a partner with Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati about child identity theft, what parents need to know and what they can do to keep their kids safe.
Posted on 3 January '12 by admin, under Uncategorized. No Comments.
Shows steps for using CyberShield-OS, an innovative solution that delivers unparalleled security and protection for online banking and access to confidential Internet-based information. Includes multilayer security, exact-copy-protection, advanced firewall security plus additonal features that protect one’s online identity and financial accounts. CyberShield-OS is available from CyberShield Solutions LLC as a free ISO download and as a premium USB product. Everyone with a bank account should have CyberShield-OS. To learn more see www.cybershieldsolutions.com.
Posted on 14 November '11 by admin, under Uncategorized. No Comments.
Shows steps for using CyberShield-OS, an innovative solution that delivers unparalleled security and protection for online banking and access to confidential Internet-based information. Includes multilayer security, exact-copy-protection, advanced firewall security plus additonal features that protect one’s online identity and financial accounts. CyberShield-OS is available from CyberShield Solutions LLC as a free ISO download and as a premium USB product. Everyone with a bank account should have CyberShield-OS. To learn more see www.cybershieldsolutions.com.
Posted on 11 August '11 by admin, under Uncategorized. No Comments.
Shows steps for using CyberShield-OS, an innovative solution that delivers unparalleled security and protection for online banking and access to confidential Internet-based information. Includes multilayer security, exact-copy-protection, advanced firewall security plus additonal features that protect one’s online identity and financial accounts. CyberShield-OS is available from CyberShield Solutions LLC as a free ISO download and as a premium USB product. Everyone with a bank account should have CyberShield-OS. To learn more see www.cybershieldsolutions.com.
Posted on 24 June '11 by admin, under Uncategorized. No Comments.
Protect your kids from the risks associated with identity theft. Children often fall prey to identity fraud, and the numbers of young victims grows every year, according to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). There are several simple tips you can use to protect kids from identity theft.
Why Kids Are Targeted by Identity Thieves
Kids are easy targets for identity thieves. By law, children can’t apply for credit cards, loans or other lines of credit until they are 18. That gives identity thieves many opportunities to steal a child’s identity and use it freely to open lines of credit. In addition to random strangers stealing a child’s identity, unfortunately, unscrupulous family members also often target them.
Children Feel Effects of Identity Theft When They Venture Out in the World
Children who are identity theft victims feel the pain inflicted by the crime when they try to establish a credit history. Applying for a loan or a credit card, children and their families are often shocked to learn that their child has a poor credit history, even though they’ve never had a line of credit. A poor credit score can prevent kids from getting the jobs they want, obtaining credit cards, loans and more. Although justice is on their side, it can take years to clean up a lifetime of identity theft.
Protect Your Kids from Becoming a Victim of Identity Theft
Adults can protect kids from identity theft by taking a few safety precautions. Shredding paperwork from doctors and other entities that list a child’s Social Security number or date of birth can help protect children from identity fraud. Credit card and loan offers that arrive in the mail addressed to children should be addressed with the company sending the offer, so they know that they are sending items to minor children. Social Security cards and other personal information about children should be safely stored to avoid the risk of identity fraud.
Children Identity Fraud Repair: What to Do if the Worst Should Happen
If a child becomes a victim of identity fraud, there are a few things you can do to help them repair their credit history and regain their identity. Their Social Security number should be changed and a police report should be filed immediately. Credit card companies, lenders and collections agencies associated with the phony identity should be notified immediately about the identity theft.
Reduce the risk of identity theft with credit monitoring . Credit monitoring provides an added layer of protection against identity fraud with up to date information about credit scores and details of unusual activities on a credit report.
By: Lisa Nichols
About the Author:
Whether you’re looking to apply for a credit card online, or simply looking for financial guidance, ExpertsonCredit is the ultimate one-stop credit stop.
If your identity is stolen, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recommends that you take three immediately actions.
With the protections of the Identity Theft Shield you would not have to worry about the following:
First, you must contact the fraud departments of each of the three major credit bureaus.(See below) Tell them to flag you file with a fraud alert including a statement that creditors should get your permission before opening any new accounts in your name. At the same time, ask the credit bureaus for copies of your credit reports. Credit bureaus must give you a free copy of your report if it is inaccurate because of fraud. Check your reports carefully to make sure no additional fraudulent accounts have been opened in your name or unauthorized changes made to your existing accounts. For the next several months, order new copies of your reports to verify your corrections and changes and to make sure no new fraudulent activity has occurred.
CREDIT BUREAUS
Equifax www.equifax.com
Experian www.experian.com
Trans Union www.tuc.com
Second, you must contact the creditors for any accounts that have been tampered with or opened fraudulently. Ask to speak with someone in the fraud/security department and follow up in writing. Following up with a letter is very important. It is part of the record.
Third, you must file a report with your local police or the police in the community where the identity theft took place. Keep a copy in case your creditors need proof of the crime.
People whose identities have been stolen can spend months or even years and thousands of dollars to clean up the mess the thieves have made of their good name and credit record.
If you think that identity theft can never happen to you, think again. Just take a look at statistics concerning identity theft, and you can see that the crime of identity theft is closer to you than you may realize.
According to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), identity theft affects as many as 10 million Americans each year. Nearly 5% of the people living in the US will become an identity theft victim and the numbers are increasing each year. The FTC even reported that they currently received nearly 40% more identity theft complaints than the previous year. What is more alarming is that identity theft costs businesses and financial institutions nearly $53 billion annually.
The most common types of identity theft are credit card frauds, communications service fraud, bank fraud and loan fraud. Credit card fraud is when someone else uses your credit or uses your personal data to apply for a credit card. Meanwhile, communications service fraud deals with someone opening a cell phone or utility services account using your information without your knowledge. For bank fraud, a common scam is the thief opens up a checking account using your identity and then proceeds to write bogus checks.
For years, identity thieves get valuable personal information through stealing mail, snatching purses, or searching garbage for discarded bank statements or credit card receipts. With rapid technological advancement, most identity thieves now employ phishing. Statistics reveal phishing to be the most dangerous of all identity thefts as it uses both social engineering and technical subterfuge.
Phishing is when the victim receives an email that appears to be from a bank or other financial institution. The victim is then told to click a link and verify his/her account information or supply personal identity data. The victim believes the link to be a legitimate site when in fact the identity thief now uses the victim’s data to gain access to account information and empty the bank account. Phishers can also take out credit cards in the victim’s name, and steal ISP account information.
According to the latest findings of the research group Gartner, close to 60 million Americans reported receiving a phishing email, and about 1.7 million people have been victims, costing banks and credit card companies approximately $1.2 billion in losses.
All these figures and information about identity theft are definitely alarming. To avoid being the next identity theft statistic, it’s better to take measures to protect yourself against identity theft like keeping your personal information private, subscribing to an identity theft service, and many more. These are just simple steps that take only a few moments of your time. These few moments are indeed worth the while considering you can either spend countless hours trying to manage the damage done by identity theft.
By: Bernard Pragides
About the Author:
Author and internet entrepreneur Bernard Pragides offers expert advice and tips regarding identity theft. Learn more about identity theft and fraud by visiting his blog at http://www.LifeLockblog.com
