We’ve been around for awhile now, and people send me all kinds of questions, tips,  concerns, and of course…junk mail. But I have had a few people ask for a post like this. So, after a number of requests I decided to finally compile a Protect Identity Resource List.

Credit Agencies:

Remember that you get a free report from each of these every year. A request can be made to receive all of the at the same time. If such is the desired case, you need only to contact one and specify the request. They can me reached online, by phone or via mail.

Equifax
(888) 766-0008
Consumer Fraud Division
P.O. Box 740256
Atlanta, GA 30374
http://www.equifax.com

Experian
(888) 397-3742
Credit Fraud Center
P.O. Box 1017
Allen, TX 75013
http://www.experian.com/

TransUnion
(800) 680-7289
Fraud Victim Assistance Department
P.O. Box 6790
Fullerton, CA 92834
http://www.tuc.com

Government Agencies:

The government takes ID theft and credit scores serious too. If they did not, their own information, and ultimately the structure of the American financial system falls to failure. Here are a few government agencies advocating the protection of your identity.

U.S. Department of Justice
This site provides a wide range of basic information about identity fraud.
http://www.usdoj.gov/criminal/fraud/idtheft.html

Financial Fraud Task Force
Established by President Obama in November 2009, this organization holds accountable those who helped bring about the last financial crisis as well as those who would attempt to take advantage of the efforts at economic recovery.
http://www.stopfraud.gov/about.html

Federal Trade Commission
This is the main U.S. government site for identity theft information. You can also file an online report of identity theft.
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/microsites/idtheft/

Social Security Administration
This electronic fact sheet describes identity theft and links to other useful publications.
http://www.ssa.gov/pubs/idtheft.htm
Fraud hotline: (800) 269-0271
This automated hotline provides answers to questions about identity theft in both English and Spanish, and you may speak to a representative in person.

U.S. Department of Education
(800) 872-5327
Students can learn how to protect themselves against identity theft at this site for the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Inspector General.
http://www.ed.gov/about/offices/list/oig/misused/idtheft.html

Nonprofits:

As the name often implies, these organizations are acting to further awareness, cease the crimes spread, and assist those who have become victims.

Identity Theft Resource Center
(858) 693-7935
This nonprofit organization provides consumer alerts, scam warnings and instructions for victims of identity theft.
http://www.idtheftcenter.org/

Privacy Rights Clearing House
(619) 298-3396
This nonprofit consumer information and advocacy organization offers fact sheets about privacy issues and identity theft.
http://www.privacyrights.org/identity.htm

National Organization for Victims Assistance
(800)-879-6682
This is a private, non-profit organization of: victim and witness assistance programs and practitioners, criminal justice agencies and professionals, mental health professionals, researchers, former victims and survivors, and others, all committed to the recognition and implementation of victim rights and services.
http://www.trynova.org/

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I have done a number of posts on the growing threat of medical identity theft (Surgical Identity Theft & Yeah It’s Funny).  Well here is your follow up. Solutions have been found. I guess it was a grossly understated fact that this was a growing issue. The people over at PatientSecure decided to delve into some scifi tech and roll out the Biometric Patient Identification Management System. This scanner links the biometric palm vein pattern of the patient to their medical record in any HIS registration, EMPI or EMR system.

The healthcare technology company, HT Systems, has made PatientSecure available for medical institutions everywhere. No crystal balls here. The PatientSecure won’t foretell your future, but it does insure that your continue to get healthcare without having to worry about fraudsters doing the same under your identity. By taking a digital scan of your palm with a biometric reader that uses an infrared light to see the veins in your palm, the product will give many peace of mind.

For those of you that are thinking, why not just scan fingerprints, well, vein patterns are actually about 100 times more unique than a finger or thumb print.

Aside from this, diminishing the threat of ID theft that is, the device can  reducing errors caused by duplication of names in a healthcare database. This will also help with trauma patients who may be unable to answer the list of questions before being admitted or treated. Even if someone is not conscious, a palm can be read, instantly giving caregivers access to medical history.

Still, the best part: no SSN needed.

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State and federal aid is more limited than ever. The post-secondary educational system has been hit hard by the continued economic strife. Students are not being given the same amounts, or even opportunities to receive, financial aid.

*In this bloggers opinion, this is ironic, given that a larger educated, skilled, and experienced workforce would assists in turning things around. A hefty group of those unemployed are nothing more than those who refuse to keep up with the times by re-educating themselves in a more marketable skill set.

In any case, alarms and eyebrows were eventually raised when Solomon Hobbs Junior, age 48, developed a scheme to obtain $37,395 through fraudulent financial aid applications.

Here is the breakdown:

• $4,885-University of Texas at Tyler
• $5,905-UT El Paso
• $5,305-UT Arlington
• $8,112-Midwestern State University in Wichita Falls
• $6,615-Texas State University in San Marcos

These amounts were spread out over a period of 4 years. According to the indictment, Hobbes used the information (SSN included) of another man to be awarded another $6,615 to attend UT El Paso.

Hobbes was not investigated until the man whose information complained to UTEP, after finding out about the financial aid he never applied for when applying for a mortgage. Hobbes is now facing federal charges of wire fraud, student assistance program fraud, and identity theft for allegedly taking tens of thousands of dollars in federal student aid.

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Okay gamers, so in the wake of the PSN network hack, Sony is finally offering something to PlayStation Network and Qriocity account holders that makes sense.

The company promised to offer free identity theft protection, which would include a $1 million insurance policy. They promised this in a blog post a few weeks back. The good will gesture will probably not put a bunch of minds at ease, forgetting about the month-long repercussions of the PSN hack. Still, it’s much more appropriate and well-received than the lackluster apology package they were trying to quell the whole thing with.

“AllClear ID PLUS is a premium identity protection service that uses advanced technology to deliver alerts to help keep you safe. The service also provides identity theft insurance coverage and hands-on help from expert fraud investigators. Sony has arranged, at no charge to eligible PlayStationNetwork and Qriocity account holders, for twelve months of this service to be provided by Debix to those who choose to enroll.”

They say the service will offer monitoring of the internet to detect exposure of any AllClear ID Plus customer’s personal information. This couldn’t be any more counter-reactive since the private user data (including credit card numbers and account passwords) were stolen from The PSN’s systems.

It will remain to be seen whether this will gesture will be enough to repair Sony’s reputation with gamers.

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As many of my readers will know by now, the PlayStation Network has been rocked the past few weeks by a huge hack. Approximately 77 million users have been affected. The hack left the credit card information of the users open and at risk. More aptly they said “hackers now have access to customers’ vital information, including names, birthdates, physical and e-mail addresses, and PlayStation Network/Qriocity passwords, logins, handles and online IDs.”

So they shut the network down for a while. Thanks guys. Now In a letter to Sony, Sen. Richard Blumenthal called for the company to provide users of the networks with free financial data-security services, including two years of credit-reporting services.

Instead, the people of Sony are giving out apology packages. It is probably a identity protection system or a lump sum reimbursement promise or intricate financial recovery system right?

Nope.

It includes two free PS3 games from a choice of five Little Big Planet, Infamous, Wipeout HD/Fury, Ratchet and Clank: Quest for Booty and Dead Nation), and a month’s free membership to premium services. That is what trust in the PSN is worth these days. The obvious response has been mixed (Most of these games are old and have been long since beaten by the most loyal users).

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Not all of us have had the privilege of experiencing a ebay deal gone bad or have been taken for a “iPhone 4”. I’ve been often asked to write a bit about making sure you all don’t get stuck with a counterfeit item from shopping the web. Here are some tips for avoid getting taken advantage of on the web:

It’s a good idea not to ever buy an item that you learn about by way of a bulk/junk email, otherwise known as “spam” (aka “the devil’s courier”, “electronic toilet paper”, or “that thing that wastes the first 20 minutes of your day”). If you do hear about it from there, you can still go pop it into the search engine and see what rises to the top. You’ll probably be met with “Do Not ORDER”s and “SCAM ALERT”s. You probably won’t get the deal promised and a good portion of the time you won’t even get the item. The skinny? If it’s spam, it’s scam.

Moving along… It’s also a good idea to always use a credit cards to purchase online. NOT DEBIT CARDS! This protects you. There are already enough credit card scams to worry about. No need to get your debit account involved too. Your maximum exposure is $50 using a credit card. Low risk all things considered.

When buying from reputable online auction site (ebay, Amazon, etc.), always check out the references on the particular seller. Buy only from sellers who have good references. And take advantage of online auction guarantees, such as those offered by Amazon.

Anonymous: picture a guy in an alley with a hoodie covering his face and his merch is spread out on a cardboard box. You wouldn’t conduct business with them in real life. Don’t do it online either. Get the person’s real name, business name (if applicable), address, and phone number. Verify this before buying. And don’t send your payment to a PO box. Ever.

Be more cautious if the seller uses a free email service, like as hotmail, yahoo, etc. Of course, most people who use these free services are honest. However, problems can occur when a free service is used. It’s easier to keep to the shadows with one of these email hosts as well.

Save copies of everything. Paper evidence is your best friend when dealing with the 3^rd party company. It will document any issues or problems and illuminates the he-said-she-said. If the merchant host site has a messaging feature, this is preferable, since all correspondence will be on their own server.

Above all, use common sense and trust your intuition. If you don’t feel right about a situation, don’t buy it. You’re very likely right that it is counterfeit.

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Smartphones know more about you than you realize. They transmit information with third party sources for your check-ins, your social networking achievements, and your status updates. The most recent controversy over the great smartphone privacy debate is tracking your traveling. Researchers in the UK have found that your iOS4 enabled iPhone sports a new feature that has gone undocumented.

The iPhone records your location continuously and even goes so far as to timestamp it, and record it for other versions of the iOS. The hidden file which holds this data, is fairly easy to access and read. Additional digging from the UK researchers showed that the behavior has been going on AND has been known about for some time. “Additionally, restoring a backup or migrating to a new device keeps the data logging going, which the researchers point to as evidence that what’s happening isn’t accidental. See a couple of visualizations of the extracted results on video after the break.”

Original article: http://www.engadget.com/2011/04/20/researchers-find-ios-4-records-your-location-in-system-file-syn/

UPDATE:

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Apple-QA-on-Location-bw-3919607983.html?x=0

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These days crooks are doing anything and everything to get your info, your money, and ultimately, your identity. Many people have opted for changing their lifestyles to crack down on the possibility of their becoming a victim. They carry cash, they order online under secure and trusted pretenses, and they ask questions as to why certain information is being requested. Some have even subscribed to ID protection services like LifeLock.

Some kinds of hacks and malware can still get at even the most cautious computer user. The program actually records your keystrokes, logging them on a third-party server. It is aptly named, a “keylogger“. To avoid this, you can use the on-screen keyboard provided by your OS or via internet download. If you are a PC, the steps are as follows:

->START -> Accessories->Accessibility->On-Screen Keyboard

Be sure to use this any time sensitive information needs to be entered into your machine ( i.e. banking, account numbers, social security numbers, PayPal, etc.).

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This is the world we live in. It sucks, but it happens. A story broken at Patch.com which brings the crime to a whole new level of disdain. Back on March 14^th, the police in Narragansett, RI got a report about a 45-year-old woman’s identity theft.

The punk actually robbed the woman and then sent a “Thank You” note after the deed was done.

According to the actual report, the woman’s Bank Of America account was curiously cancelled because of suspicious activity. $2,400 had been charged to the account fraudulently. The thief then arranged a bouquet of flowers and had then delivered to the woman’s residence. The flowers contained a card which read: “thnx for ur money.”

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“Basically what the app does is scans all the applications you have installed. It identifies what data the apps are requesting about your phone and sending. It then will “fix” the privacy issue by replacing that data inside the app with hard coded (bogus) data. So if an app is sending your phone number back to a server, Privacy Blocker will hard code your number as “55544433333″. You also have the option to override the default values and make it anything you want.

What it’s doing is pretty damn impressive to be honest. The app is very processor intensive when it’s “fixing” an app because it’s having to decompile, parse the source and then recompile the app on the phone. It’s especially processor intensive on large apps like games. The author is a custom ROM developer and a regular on droidforums.net. I’m not a member of droidforums.net and don’t know him. However I tracked this thread down when I was trying to validate the app and author for myself. All in all a pretty damn cool app. As a user who is sensitive to privacy this app has me extremely excited, damn near giddy.”

-Brook Jordan

The actual app can be found here.

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