In a new informal poll/survey published at www.CreditLock.com , the majority of respondents voted Credit Freeze as the most valuable Identity Theft Protection tool. Such vote of confidence coincides with the July 1 expansion of effective Credit Freeze laws into Montana, New Mexico, Wyoming, Washington D.C. and West Virginia.
Respondents were asked which tool they believed is most valuable in fighting Identity Theft. Credit Freeze was selected by 59% of respondents. Credit Monitoring was selected by 14% of respondents. Fraud Alerts was selected by 14% of respondents. Opt-Out from Pre-Screened Credit offers was selected by 14% of respondents. Although the survey/poll is informal, and its sample size is small, the results emphasize the emergence of Credit Freeze as one of the most important Identity Theft Protection tools. More…
Although many Americans are familiar with Identity Theft, and the severe consequences of becoming a victim of such crime, many individuals are not familiar with one of the most effective tools for fighting Identity Theft: Credit Freeze. In a recent informal poll/survey conducted by GammaWealth Strategy & Research, and published at http://www.creditlock.com, visitors were asked what they believe happens when they place a Credit Freeze. 77% answered correctly, by saying that access to their credit report is frozen. Meanwhile 21% answered incorrectly, with 2% saying that access to their Credit Cards is frozen, 11% saying that access to both their credit cards and credit report is frozen, and 8% saying that neither access to their Credit Report, nor access to their Credit Cards is frozen.
Such result implies that if such poll was conducted by phone interviews with a random sample of the general public, substantially less than 77% would have answered correctly due to several factors: More…
In a recent informal poll/survey available at http://www.creditlock.com, visitors were asked where they believe Identity Theft is most likely to occur. As many as 75% of respondents said Identity Theft is most likely to occur either at “Computer and Internet” or due to “Merchants Data Loss”. The actual results were 10% for “Home Robbery”, 6% for “Office Robbery”, 3% for “Street”, 41% for “Computer and Internet”, 34% for “Merchants Data Loss”, and 3% for “Other”.
Such results clearly show that when it comes to the safety of sensitive consumer information, consumer confidence in both online and offline merchants is severely compromised. Merchants need to More…
In a recent informal poll published at www.CreditLock.com, more than 57% of respondents said they know at least one victim of Identity Theft. That means about one in every two individuals has either been a victim of Identity Theft, or knows someone who has been a victim.
Initially, such result may seem surprising and excessive. It is possible that the results are skewed by the fact that visitors to www.creditlock.com are inclined to be those seeking information on Identity Theft for the same fact that they are themselves victims or know victims. However, even if such results may be skewed, the following facts lead us to conclude that they are not too far from the truth…. More….
A recent poll released yesterday by Zogby International revealed that 91% of respondents are concerned about Identity Theft. Yet, the same survey also revealed that 69% of respondents said that they never, rarely, or only sometimes read Company Privacy Policies. Only 7% said they always read such policies, while 24% said they read most of the time. Privacy Policies usually state how a company will use personal information gathered from the customer.
Such results may seem odd and unexpected. You are concerned that your personal information may be compromised. You are concerned this would subject you to the possibility of Identity Theft. You are voluntarily providing merchants with your personal information. Why wouldn’t you want to know how your information will be used?
Philosophically, the answer may be simple. If a merchant is going to misuse personal information, does it really matter what they say in their Privacy Policies? Such skepticism is reflected in the Zogby Poll. Almost half of respondents said they believe companies will share or sell their information despite promising not to do so, while 35% believe that companies will not follow up with promises to protect such information.
We actually believe that reputable institutions and businesses have too much to loose from deliberately misleading the public in the statement of their Privacy Policies. Although skepticism, whether at a subliminal or conscious level, may play part in consumer behavior, human nature for “passiveness” also plays another part. Consider the following additional statistics.
According to a Federal Trade Commission report on Identity Theft, 62% of Identity Theft Victims in 2006 did not notify a Police Department while 57% of Victims did not contact a Credit Reporting Agency. Once again, this may seem unusual. If someone stole your identity, why wouldn’t you contact the Credit Reporting Agencies in order to protect your credit and limit the possibility of financial damage? Is it possible that so many people do not realize that contacting the Police and Credit Reporting Agencies are probably the first things to do when a person becomes a victim of Identity Theft?
Whether it is “Human Passiveness”, “Skepticism”, or another reason, unless consumers take active preventive measures, consumers certainly have reason to continue to be concerned about Identity Theft. There are many resources offering Identity Theft information and services where consumers can learn about preventive measures, such as www.CreditLock.com and www.ftc.gov.
In a recent informal weekly poll conducted by www.CreditLock.com, visitors were asked how often they click on emails from unknown sources. 29% of respondents said they would click only a few times, when topic is interesting. 70% said they would never click on such emails. None of the respondents said they would click “often”, “almost always”, or “always”.
Undoubtedly, some of those ”Clickers” do realize that such emails could contain fraudulent content. This is supported by a previous poll where only 4% of respondents said they believe that less than 15% of emails they receive contain fraudulent content, while 93% of respondents said that more than 15% of emails they receive contain fraudulent content.
Although it has been well publicized that Identity Theft remains a serious threat, it seems some individuals believe that even if they click on unsolicited emails that may contain fraudulent content, they are well equipped to prevent such threat from materializing. Such “Clickers” could be taking confidence from their own ability to recognize fraudulent content, such as Phishing. In such case, they would exit immediately following the first click, and delete such email.
They may also be taking confidence from several tools available to help deter and detect Identity Theft. Such tools include Credit Monitoring and Credit Freeze (also known as Security Freeze / Credit Lock). Unfortunately, although Credit Monitoring is a valuable service, it helps detect Identity Theft once it might have already occurred, but may not necessarily deter it.
As for Credit Freeze, although it is highly effective in deterring Identity Theft, consumers may find it inconvenient to deny credit access to legitimate third parties such as employers, landlords, lenders, etc… However, such inconvenience is partially offset by the ability to temporarily remove a Credit Freeze in order to authorize access to a legitimate third party (although such temporary removal can take a few days).
Furthermore, Credit Freeze is not an easy process. Credit Freeze availability, rules, fees, and requirements vary from state to state. Some companies, such as Trusted Id, and Life Lock offer a comprehensive Identity Theft protection package (which may include Credit Monitoring and Credit Freeze) for a fee that may vary between $7.95 and $10 per month. They may mitigate some of the hassles associated with a Credit Freeze by dealing with the process on your behalf.
Consumers can also resort to free or inexpensive do-it-yourself online tools to initiate and learn about Credit Freeze. One such tool is Credit Lock Down Pro, offered on a complimentary basis to members of www.creditlock.com. Although membership is required, it is rather inexpensive, costing the equivalent of anywhere between $0.29 and $0.39 per month. Consumers can also choose a service offered by Identifreeze, which costs a one time fee of $21.95, and offers a toll free customer service number.
Despite the introduction of several Identity Theft detection and deterrence tools, consumers still need to be very careful about dealing with unsolicited emails from unknown sources. As stated in a previously published article, there could be over 170 billion emails sent each day. Criminals are only counting on a very small percentage of consumers to fall victim to their scam; a very small percentage of such a large number of emails will still yield a very large number of Identity Theft victims.
According to a weekly informal poll published on www.creditlock.com, more than 81% of respondents reported that they believe that more than 45% of emails they receive contain fraudulent claims. Furthermore, 26% of respondents believe that more than 90% of emails they receive contain fraudulent claims. In a previous weekly poll, when asked which Identity Theft threat concerns consumers the most, 33% of respondents chose Phishing, placing such threat concern in the number one spot.
Despite such strong consumer awareness about the threat of Phishing and Email Fraud, the FTC reported that in 2006, in 60% of fraud complaints, the company’s initial method of contact was either email (at 45%) or web (at 15%). Furthermore, “Electronic Funds Transfer-related Identity Theft remained the most frequently reported type of Identity Theft bank fraud”, and 23% of consumers reported wire transfer as the method of payment. When engaging in Identity Theft on the web, in email, and through illicit transfers, criminals often resort to Phishing to retrieve valuable consumer personal information.
Why is it that despite very strong consumer awareness about Phishing and Email Fraud, such venues continue to remain a serious Identity Theft risk? The answer lies in the astronomic number of emails sent each day worldwide. Estimates for the number of emails sent each day worldwide vary widely. Some estimate such figure at over 60 Billion emails per day in 2006, while others, such as the Radicati Group, put such number at 171 Billion emails per day. Furthermore, the Radicati Group estimates Spam at about 71% of all emails, while others, such as Postini (a US Email Security Company), puts such figure at 90%. Postini also estimates that there are about 200 criminal gangs generating 80% of Spam emails.
Given such tremendous volume of emails, if unsuspecting consumers respond to only 1 per Million of such emails, then the number of responses per day can be anywhere between 60,000 and 171,000. If 80% of such emails make fraudulent claims, then you can potentially have between 48,000 and 142,000 responses to fraudulent emails. If we divide such number by 30 to account for emails sent to same person, and other factors, we are still left with about 1,600 to 4,700 potential fraud victims per day. Such number is extremely conservative, given our assumption of a response rate of 1 per million, and the additional division by 30.
Our objective is not necessarily to arrive to an exact figure, but to demonstrate that given the sheer size of emails sent each day, it only takes a micro response rate to generate a substantial number of fraud victims each day.
It is unfortunate that the distinction between fradulent content emails, and “cold-marketing” emails is probably disappearing. If 26% of the respondents to the poll published on www.creditlock.com believe that more than 90% of emails make fraudulent claims, then that certainly does not leave much room for marketing emails that have no fraudulent content. Although it is necessary to try to control and stop emails that have fraudulent content, it is almost impossible to do so without limiting all Spam emails: those with legitimate content, and those with fraudulent content. Some would not mind limiting all such emails. Others, don’t mind receiving a legitimate email about a topic or a product they may be interested in. However, most likely, given the risk of viruses, and fraudulent content, those who don’t mind receiving legitimate marketing emails are willing to sacrifice such preference for the sake of security.
Until such day arrives, where all Spam emails, and fraudulent content websites, are somehow abolished (which is highly unlikely to happen), Phishing will most likely continue to be a serious Identity Theft threat.
Identity Theft is a serious problem, and many of us still do not take it seriously enough.
First, there is a misconception that Identity Theft affects older, “less aware”, individuals than younger ones. In a recent informal weekly survey conducted by GammaWealth Strategy & Research, LLC through www.CreditLock.com, visitors were asked: “Which age group do you think reported most Identity Theft complaints in 2006?” The choices were: A- under 18, B- 18 to 29 C- 30 to 39, D- 40 to 49, E- 50 to 59 F- 60 and over. Ages 60 and over received the most votes at 26%, followed by B,D and E at 17%, then C at 13% and A at 9%
Meanwhile, the Federal Trade Commission recently reported that in 2006, the highest number of actual Identity Theft complaints were reported by consumers aged between 18 and 29, at a staggering 29% of all Identity Theft complaints. As a matter of a fact, those aged over 60 only constituted 10% of all Identity Theft complaints. The second highest age group was those aged between 30 and 39, at 23%, which under the GS&R survey was voted as the second lowest at 13%.
People need to realize that Identity Theft is a very serious problem, affecting mostly those age groups least expected to be affected.
Second, the FTC estimates that in 2006, 62% of all Identity Theft victims did not even notify a police department. Unless such trend is reversed, it is less likely that those committing Identity Theft crimes will be caught. If those committing the crime are not caught, then we will continue to be at risk of becoming victims of Identity Theft.
Third, it is estimated that 60% of Identity Theft complaints where company’s method of initial contact was reported, indicate Internet solicitations (email at 45%, web at 15%). It is our belief that with proper education and preventive measures, such methods can easily be substantially reduced. For example, if individuals took Identity Theft risks very seriously, then they are less likely to respond to a Phishing email (where individuals are enticed to provide personal information such as banking and credit card information, to an entity fraudulently claiming to be a reputable institution). Making an independent phone call, or sending an independent email, to verify the source of a solicitation, can substantially reduce the risks associated with Internet related Identity Theft.
In summary, you can take Identity Theft more seriously, and reduce its associated risks by: 1- being on guard regardless of your age group, 2-reporting the crime in case you are a victim, and 3- using the Internet and emails carefully. There are obviously additional measures that can be taken to reduce the risks of Identity Theft, as posted at www.creditlock.com, or at the FTC’s Identity Theft website.
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