Identity theft occurs when someone uses your personal information such as your name, social security number (SSN), or other identifying information, without your permission, to commit fraud or other crimes. An identity thief may use your SSN to get a job or may file a tax return using your SSN to receive a refund.

To reduce your risk:
• Protect your SSN,
• Ensure your employer is protecting your SSN, and
• Be careful when choosing a tax preparer.

If your tax records are affected by identity theft and you receive a notice from the IRS, respond right away to the name and phone number printed on the IRS notice or letter.

If your tax records are not currently affected by identity theft but you think you are at risk due to a lost or stolen purse or wallet, questionable credit card activity or credit report, contact the IRS Identity Theft Hotline at 1-800-908-4490 or submit Form 14039.

For more information, see Publication 4535, Identity Theft Prevention and Victim Assistance.

Victims of identity theft who are experiencing economic harm or a system problem, or are seeking help in resolving tax problems that have not been resolved through normal channels, may be eligible for Taxpayer Advocate Service (TAS) assistance. You can reach TAS by calling the TAS toll-free case intake line at 1-877-777-4778 or TTY/TDD 1-800-829-4059.

Protect yourself from suspicious emails or phishing schemes. Phishing is the creation and use of email and websites designed to mimic legitimate business emails and websites. The most common act is sending an email to a user falsely claiming to be an established legitimate enterprise in an attempt to scam the user into surrendering private information that will be used for identity theft.

The IRS does not initiate contacts with taxpayers via emails. Also, the IRS does not request personal detailed information through email or ask taxpayers for the PIN numbers, passwords, or similar secret access information for their credit card, bank, or other financial accounts.

If you receive an unsolicited email claiming to be from the IRS, forward this message to phishing@irs.gov. You may also report misuse of the IRS name, logo, or other IRS property to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration at 1-800-366-4484. You can forward suspicious emails to the Federal Trade Commission at: spam@uce.gov or contact them at www.ftc.gov/idtheft or 1-877-IDTHEFT (1-877-438-4338).

Visit IRS.gov to learn more about identity theft and how to reduce your risk.

End of form.

So why is this of interest? Because it shows that even something as mundane as a frequent flier miles account needs to be protected. If a thief has the number for yours, he can use it to redeem your points and possibly get more of your information. All of the purchases will be your responsibility, and you will be responsible for anything that goes wrong, which the identity thief will not be too worried about.

You should protect your frequent flier account information just like you do any other of your personal information. Don’t carry the card with your number on it in your purse or wallet and don’t share it with anyone who doesn’t need to know it. Also, do not autosave it in your computer. Even if you only use your computer on a secure network, this is no guarantee that a thief is not going to be able to hack your account and get information out of your Internet files.

It can be harder to find out if someone is using your frequent flier mile account illegally than it can be to discover fraud on something like your credit card accounts because it will not show up on your credit report. You may need to log in or call the airline to check your balance and usage at least once a month so that you are not blindsided by this crime or at least have them email you your balance on a regular basis.

In the end its like everything else related to identity theft prevention. Its up to you to monitor your information and account records whether you do it all by yourself or have the assistance of an identity theft protection or credit monitoring service.

This case brings to light the fact that you can never be sure who you are really interacting with on a social networking site. While some surely knew that the profile was fake, others must have believed that “he” was who he said he was. Of course, an ex-girlfriend would know a lot about his habits and have some of his personal information.
The best way to determine that someone you “friend” is who they say they are is to either find the page by searching for an email address for them that you know to be legitimate or to ask the person to ad you instead of the other way around. A friend of mine with a common name sometimes gets three requests a day from people he doesn’t know because they don’t bother to find out if they are requesting the right person. This is dangerous.

Crimes done on Facebook and like sites are difficult to prosecute, especially since only the states of California and New York currently have laws on the books preventing someone from impersonating someone else over the Internet. The main reason they even have them is because so many celebrities live in these two states, and people love to try to impersonate them.

Lawmakers are trying to amend New Jersey’s identity theft law to make it easier to prosecute such a crime, but they are running into trouble because crimes such as this are still fairly rare and they lack a legal precedent. However, if it works out, other states will likely follow suit in the near future.

In the meantime, make sure your security settings on your social networking profiles are tight, and perhaps look your name up every once in a while to see if there are any other “yous” out there that they’re shouldn’t be. Don’t be friends with anyone that you don’t trust – and certainly not anyone that you don’t know.

Other than that, some identity theft protection services help you monitor you social pages and may be worth looking into for that purpose but perhaps reputation management services would be better suited if there is no financial risk… but only you could determine that.

This served as a reminder that thieves are constantly trying new tactics to see what will stick in their efforts to dupe consumers. While I could easily tell that the message was a fake one, it has two aspects that will get some people to respond by forking over their money and personal information. First, it contains a scare tactic. Most know that if you fail to pay a speeding ticket it doesn’t simply disappear. Instead, you may end up with a larger fine or with your driver’s license suspended. Second, it provides an easy way to assuage these fears, simply by sending a check to said address.

Fear is a strong motivator; it is simply human nature. However, logic has to prevail in this type of situation. Any email that looks even a little bit suspicious needs to be deleted from your inbox, and your trash folder, as soon as possible to prevent a security risk to your computer. Don’t forget; you can also call the organization the email purports to be from to see if someone there tried to contact you. It’s a good way to report the fraudulent email too. If you want to save the text, take a screenshot. Do not save the message itself especially if it contains links or attachments.

What can you do to put an end to these emails? Sadly, not much, since so many people send them out and many of them are originated in other countries. The most you can do is ensure your spam filters and antivirus software are in full working condition. Besides that, keep your information safe with one of the best identity theft protection services.

Cell Phone Slave
Are you constantly texting your mother to find out that latest sales, or are you using the time while you hit the stores to conference for work or chat with Aunt Agnes over the airwaves. Great. Not only are you a distraction to other shoppers, but you are also distracted, which makes you a prime target for pickpockets. So, keep it in your pocket unless absolutely necessary.

Babysitter
While shopping with young children may seem like fun, you could find yourself chasing them all over the mall – or at least between the toy displays. It’s easy for you to forget your bags, your wallet or even your purse while you perform your rendition of rallying the troops. Sometimes it’s just easier to shop alone, or at least to bring another adult with you.

Power Buyer
You become so laden down with bags that you can barely walk. You’re so anxious to take advantage of every single deal. Too bad you don’t notice when a thief cuts your purse strap or makes off with the canceled check buried in bag number one. If you have a car, take advantage. Drop some of those bags in the trunk and come back. If not, leave items on hold and come back to get them at the end of the day when you know you’re on the way out.

Last Minute Shopper
You can’t even remember when Christmas Eve is, let alone where you left your credit card. Being frantic to get things done can set you up for failure – failure to pay close attention to what you’re doing that is. It’s better to get everyone a gift card than to lose your wallet in the megaplex parking lot. If needed, set reminders so that you can shop online instead. Just don’t forget to look for that lock icon and https in the URL.

All shoppers should consider an identity theft protection service or credit monitoring service. In fact, that can be the best holiday gift you give yourself

This file was, ironically, created as a deterrent to identity theft, the idea likely being that people who worked at financial institutions could search the database if they were iffy about an account and determine if the ‘person opening it’ was actually a thief impersonating the deceased. It has a lot of problems, though. First of all, as of June of this year, the SSA admitted that it accidentally included several thousand living people in the database. Secondly, identity thieves use it as a resource to cull the Social Security numbers of children who have passed on so that they can claim them as dependents on their tax returns.

It seems it would make sense that the SSA should just remove the database from public view, but the Freedom of Information Act prevents it from doing so. Groups have been lobbying for years for changes to be enacted, such as speedy notification if you are alive and accidentally added to the list and using truncated Social Security numbers instead of full ones in the public record. So far, according to the Republic, none of these changes have been enacted. This leaves families whose deceased relatives have had their identities stolen with sadly little recourse.

While you wouldn’t think that you would have to worry about being added to a list of deceased persons if you are alive, it is unfortunately a very real possibility. It makes it important for you to have an identity theft protection plan, since that may be the only way you will find out – before it’s too late – that this information is being used either for fraudulent tax returns or for other purposes that are just as bad or worse.

While people think about how identity theft can affect them personally, fewer stop to consider the effect it can have on business owners. If the owners don’t use due diligence verifying the identity of persons who make purchases, especially large ones, they could be headed for bankruptcy. For example, imagine what could happen if that dealer is unable to recover the BMW, which was financed using fraudulent information. The dealer will be out tens of thousands of dollars. On top of that, if Hasan wins the case, that could add up to thousands more in debt.

This brings me to my point. Although it may be annoying to have to prove that you are who you say you are, you should expect to do so if you’re spending a considerable amount of money. In fact, if you’re not asked to, you probably shouldn’t make the purchase. It seems that the company doesn’t value security all that much. It can save both you and the business a lot of headaches in the future. Keep in mind that before you provide the information, you should be sure that the business is legitimate. A major car dealer is a pretty safe bet. For smaller operations, you may want to confirm with the chamber of commerce or the better business bureau. This is particularly important if the only presence the business has is over the Internet.

Other interesting facts to come out of this study are that younger Americans are more likely to be victimized; more specifically, those under the age of 35. It may come as a surprise that retirees, people 65 years of age and older, are the least likely to be victimized, despite the fact that they tend to be prime targets for telephone scams. Also, households with high incomes are targets of choice, for obvious reasons. Federal Trade Commission data shows that the most common type of identity theft is still credit card fraud.

The study also found that people are still more likely to be victimized by low key methods, like purse theft and mailbox theft, than through complicated online schemes. Some of the best advice you can take to keep your information out of the wrong hands are to keep outgoing mail out of an unsecured mailbox, to check your credit report often and to sign up for an identity theft protection plan.

Actually the last two: credit report monitoring and an identity protection plan, can be rolled into one for extra vigilance and convenience. As far as the unsecured mailbox goes, you should be extra careful if you have an individual mailbox in front of your home. That flag that you put up when you have outgoing mail is like a sign to thieves saying, “Check out what’s in here.” Instead of not putting the flag up and having the mail carrier pile mail on top of your outgoing mail, put those important papers in a blue official government mailbox and leave yours for only the things that don’t really matter. Use the same discretion when deciding which mail will come in to your home address, especially if you’re not there to grab your mail immediately when it shows up.

What is scary is that many of the victims were targeted because their names were on “sucker lists,” which are lists that thieves purchase with the names and contact information of people who are likely to fall for their schemes. According to ABC News, these people were singled out many times because they had sent in sweepstakes mailers filled out in “shaky handwriting – indicating the potential mark was elderly.”

In addition to targeting “suckers,” the thieves made it appear on consumers’ caller ID systems as if the calls were coming from the 202 area code, which indicates Washington, D.C. This was a smart move on their part because it is home to many charities and federal organizations, so it is pretty recognizable.

Because this scam was so widespread, and the victims were so vulnerable to it, the U.S. Postal Service sent out a nationwide mailer on fraud to 129 million households, with the hopes that it would reach every American. The mailer had details about fraud and prevention, as well as directions on what people should do if they believe they have been victimized.

The postal service also has a website, www.deliveringtrust.com, which is designed to help lower the rate of victimization to various types of scams. It is worth paying a visit.

The post office has done their part to help prevent fraud and identity theft, have you? If your answer is no then please take a look through our identity theft blog and acquaint yourself with some credit protection options.

The argument here is that the definition of what makes an organization a “creditor” is too broad and that in some instances “creditors” are in industries where identity theft is not likely to occur. Small businesses, like private legal practices are currently considered creditors because clients don’t have to pay at time of service and can instead elect to be billed, effectively putting their customers on credit.

Going against that ruling, Senator Mark Begich of Alaska said that businesses such as these don’t maintain credit accounts for their customers, which makes the risk of identity theft pretty low. He wants the Red Flag rules to only apply to businesses who report to the credit bureaus or similar agencies or who loan money. This, according to many Senators, will keep small business owners from having to shoulder the financial burden associated with complying with the rules. The vote will now go to the House. If it passes, we may finally have some closure on this legislation, but there is no guarantee we won’t be revisiting it again before the end of 2011.

If you are a small business owner that is currently considered a “creditor,” keep an eye on this vote. It could affect your business activities in the near future. Even if small businesses do become exempt, it’s important that they take steps to protect their customers’ information. That’s one good way to keep them coming back for repeat business.