As of November 1, 2007, the three National Credit Bureaus, Equifax, Transunion and Experian, enabled U.S. residents in all 50 U.S. states, Washington D.C. and Puerto Rico to place a Credit Freeze / Credit Lock on their Credit Reports. Prior to such date, State Laws in 39 states made such Identity Theft protection tool available to those residents. Now, the three National Credit Bureaus have gone one step further, instituting a Voluntary Program to make such tool available to all, even in those States where no Credit Freeze laws are effective. Equifax has also followed Transunion’s lead, integrating such tool into its various Credit Monitoring products. Equifax’s new feature is now called Equifax Credit Report Control TM. More…
According to several studies and surveys, anywhere between 7 Million and 15 Million American residents fall victim to Identity Theft annually. Such annual figures represent anywhere between 2.3% and 5% of the total population of the United States. Such large annual percentages imply that over a span of 40 years, or during one’s lifetime, it is almost a certainty that one would fall a victim of Identity Theft. Given such risk, and the disruptive and detrimental effects of becoming an Identity Theft victim, it is no wonder that 39 States, and the District of Columbia, have all passed Credit Freeze / Credit Lock laws More…
Despite substantial efforts to reduce Identity Theft, headlines continue to indicate that no major breakthrough has been achieved. Depending on the source, it is estimated that as many as 9 Million to 15 Million victims are affected annually. Such lack of progress is illustrated in the recent headline, “Identity Theft is increasing in Illinois, Montana, North Dakota” (link available at end of this article), Teya Jacobs, Associated Content, August 1, 2007. Given such lack of progress, those concerned about Identity Theft must be wondering: “are current Identity Theft Protection measures inadequate? ”
It is important to note that if Identity Theft Protection measures are not implemented, it is virtually impossible to test their effectiveness. It is also important to distinguish between preventive measures and detection measures. One of the most valuable preventive measures is the ability to lock down access to your Credit Report by placing a Credit Freeze. Many states have passed such Credit Freeze laws, including Illinois, Montana and North Dakota. Unfortunately, such states waited too long to pass such laws. Credit Freeze laws became effective in North Dakota and Montana on July 1, 2007. As for Illinois, such laws became effective on January 1, 2007. It is not possible to test the effectiveness of such newly enacted laws until additional time has elapsed.
In addition, residents need to take advantage of Credit Freeze laws in order to reduce Identity Theft. The Boston Globe reported on May 22, 2007 that according to Consumer Data Industry Association, only 50,000 people had ordered Credit Freezes ( “Group Says ID Theft Victims Seldom Freeze Credit Reports”, Ross Kerber - link available at end of this article). At that time, that represented only 0.03% of the population where such laws were effective, or 3 people for every 10,000 residents. Despite such low penetration rate, there is no question that the ability to lock down access to your credit report holds the key to Identity Theft Protection for the following reasons: More…
Identity Theft is the number one crime, affecting about 9 Million victims annually, and resulting in about $50 Billion in annual losses. The I-Phone is the number one consumer product, estimated to have registered over 500,000 unit sales in its opening weekend launch, and expected by some analysts, such as PiperFaffray, to record as many as 45 Million annual unit sales by 2009.
Identity Theft occurrences increased dramatically following the proliferation of the new technology of the internet, accompanied by Computer Viruses, Malware, Phishing, Skimming and more. The I-Phone is termed as a technological breakthrough, supported by over 200 I-Phone related patent filings. Will such technological breakthrough lead to another explosion to the upside in the number of occurrences of Identity Theft?
If there is a risk of Identity Theft associated with the I-Phone, such risk would stem from More…
Identity Theft, resulting in about 9 Million victims annually, has become America’s number one crime. As consumers expressed their concerns, most States introduced Credit Freeze laws allowing consumers to lock down access to their Credit Report. Although such laws are now available to more than 67% of the total U.S. population, they still lag in the Deep South.
In the Deep South region, consisting of South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia and Louisiana, only Florida and Louisiana have effective Credit Freeze laws available to both Identity Theft victims, as well as non-victims. Alabama, Georgia and South Carolina, with a total population of 18.2 Million residents (consisting of 6% of the total U.S. population) still have no Credit Freeze laws. Meanwhile, Mississippi has only recently made such law effective, but only available to Identity Theft victims. More…
The Associated Press recently reported that according to a government report obtained Tuesday July 10, the FBI’s search for terrorists includes searching records about Identity Theft. Such information, along with other information, is being mined, creating “a new database to assess the risk posed by people identified as potential or suspected terrorists.”
It should not be surprising that an integral part of the fight against terrorism should be the scrutiny and investigation of cases of Identity Theft. The second largest terrorist attack in U.S. history, the bombing of Alfred P. Murray Federal building in downtown Oklahoma City in 1995, which resulted in 168 deaths, was committed by Timothy McVeigh. Although at his time of arrest, Timothy McVeigh presented his real name, he had previously used an alias in preparation for committing his crime. He had rented the Van used in the explosion under the name of Robert Kling.
Similarly, it was reported by the BBC and other media that the identities of some of the September 11 World Trade Center bombing More…
The Government Accountability Office, GAO, released on Thursday July 5 a comprehensive 50 page report titled: “Data Breaches are Frequent, but Evidence of Resulting Identity Theft Is Limited; However The Full Extent is Unknown.” Unfortunately, most headlines covering the content of the report gave the wrong impression that Data Breaches do not result in increased risk of Identity Theft. Many such headlines totally ignored the last part of the report title: “…However The Full Extent is Unknown.” Many seem to have forgotten to ask themselves: if a criminal is not interested in using the data acquired through a data breach, then why commit such illegal activity in the first place?
The fact that the GAO itself admitted in the title that “The Full Extent is Unknown,” means that the report is inconclusive. If the report is inconclusive, then More…
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…
There have been several articles written warning parents about the risk of Identity Theft to their children. Furthermore, some companies have also offered services to protect children against Identity Theft. One such company charges as much as $25 per year for such service, as long as one adult in the same home is a regular annual paying client (paying $110 per year). The service essentially places Fraud Alerts on the client’s credit report, and renews such alerts on behalf of the customer once every 3 months. What many parents may not know is that many children do not even have a Credit Report. Furthermore, Fraud Alerts is a service that any consumer is entitled to place himself for free with the Credit Reporting companies. Even if your child does have a Credit Report, does he/she really need one? 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…
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