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We're looking forward to using Facebook as an additional way to connect with consumers, entrepreneurs, small business owners, and all who have an interest in consumer credit, business credit, and identity theft prevention.
So, please join us! You can find our Facebook page by clicking here.
Since the indictment of 11 people yesterday in what is being called the largest identity theft case in US history, the story has been ALL over the news!
Unless you're somewhere hiding under a rock, there is no way you can miss the coverage of this story. I mean, it's all over national news channels, local news broadcasts, the radio, front pages of newspapers and the internet.
And as frightening as the story is, I'm relieved it's getting so much coverage.
Not only should consumers be made aware that outrageous things like this could happen, but it also serves as an important reminder to thoroughly check your bank and credit card statements every month, and to thoroughly review your credit reports at least once per year.
By keeping a close eye on your financial records, you stand a better chance of heading fraud off at the pass, and minimizing any financial damage or loss.
This international identity theft scheme targeted the financial information of US consumers, which resulted in over 40 million stolen credit and debit card numbers. The financial information was either used by the hackers themselves for their own personal gain, or sold off to other cyber-criminals all over the world.
The sophisticated fraud ring hijacked the credit card and debit card numbers, PIN numbers, passwords, and whatever else they could, from consumers who shopped at stores with vulnerable security networks: TJ Maxx, Marshalls, BJ's Wholesale Club, Office Max, Boston Market, Barnes & Noble, Sports Authority, Forever 21, DSW, and Dave & Busters.
I, for one, have shopped on numerous occasions at several of these stores, and it's not a good feeling to know that my personal financial information could potentially be out there being bought and sold all over the world.
Truth of the matter is, there's really no telling who's hands the breached information really ended up in, what they'll do with it, or when - if they do anything with it at all. And that's just not a very pleasant thought.
It truly amazes me how cyber criminals with so much intelligence and skill can put forth the effort and time to mastermind such an elaborate, fraudulent scheme, but couldn't do the same for something that was legal with the potential to make them just as much money, if not more.
In case you didn't already get enough of the story, you can check out the press release from the US Department of Justice, CNNMoney.com, the story in the International Herald Tribune, or just Google it!
There was an interesting article in the Wall Street Journal the other day entitled "How to Stop Identity Thieves from Targeting Your Child."
The author of the article didn't necessarily lay out a step-by-step process to follow, but she did detail a personal experience at her son's dentist office, as well as mention a few of the things she does to try to protect and monitor her child's personal information.
It is quite unsettling that identity thieves target young children, but not at all surprising.
As the article points out, most acts of identity theft against minors is committed by a family member (for a number of different reasons).
And unfortunately, it is not until the child becomes a young adult and tries to obtain credit that they discover they've been victimized.
If you have children,
Sadly, the underlying theme of this identity theft story is not all that uncommon these days.
Identity thieves not only steal the identities of living people, but also of the dead.
A 27-year old Detroit man, Dion T. Mann, was just arrested for stealing nearly $200,000 from the estate of a deceased Detroit man, who had planned for $150,000 of that money to go to the American Cancer Society upon his death.
The deceased man's apartment was broken into the day after he died, and subsequently, several clearly unauthorized transactions were made on his accounts. The discovery was made by the attorney for the deceased man's estate.
Mann wrote checks to himself from the deceased man's accounts and also transferred money from the deceased man's accounts into his own bank accounts.
Now he faces 12 felony counts and up to 14 years in prison.
Idiot.
Just this week, several mortgage-related lending operations were shut down by California Attorney General Edmund Brown, Jr. for committing many egregious offenses related to a big predatory lending mortgage scam.
The corporate culprits that were shut down are:
The individual culprits named so far, to be brought up on civil and criminal charges, are:
Their mortgage scam tactics included:
These con-artists purposely sought out vulnerable, unsuspecting borrowers, including the elderly and disabled, with reckless abandon.
And unfortunately, this scam has caused thousands of California residents to either face foreclosure or lose their homes to foreclosure all together.
Attorney General Edmund Brown was quoted as saying, "The illegal sales practices of these companies, run by Eric Pony and his family, included psychological pressure, forgery and outright lies."
AG Brown has taken action to have the companies' bank accounts seized, along with 16 separate private and commercial real estate properties valued at about $6 million, plus personal property - especially luxury cars.
He is currently seeking in excess of $20 million in full restitution and penalties.
You can view the 46-page lawsuit filed by the State of California here.
In the face of the current mortgage foreclosure crisis, where the lending market is under such tight scrutiny and countless Americans are losing their homes because of low-lifes like this, these people have to be some straight-up, bona fied idiots to think they would not get caught!
And what devil ate their souls for them to think it was OK to create a business model based on victimizing innocent, unsuspecting consumers - turning their lives upside down with financial ruin and causing them to lose their homes - all while stacking their pockets with stolen money and buying fancy cars and homes?
They are such scum-bags!
I hope the California Attorney General nails their tails to the wall!
And especially, ESPECIALLY, for messing with elderly and disabled!
Did you see The Morning Show with Mike and Juliet this morning?
They had a really interesting segment on medical identity theft.
One lady they interviewed had her identity stolen by a drug addicted woman who actually went to the hospital and had a drug addicted baby and not only racked up all sorts of medical bills, but also put the innocent woman's name down as the mother on the baby's birth certificate!
This act of identity theft caused all sorts of problems for the woman who had her identity stolen, including almost having her own 4 children taken away from her by child protective services, having her emergency contact information changed and having her blood type and medical information changed in her medical files.
That is some really crazy and scary stuff!
I tell people all the time, identity theft is NOT just limited to the more commonly known acts of credit card theft and fraud. Identity theft can span well beyond a person's finances, and also affect them legally and medically.
Identity thieves can use stolen identity information to receive medical services and rack up medical bills in their victim's names, to conceal their true identity when they run into trouble with the law, and to gain employment if they're hiding from the law or child support issues, or if they can not legally work in the US.
Identity theft can wreak havoc on a person's finances and personal information, and unfortunately, after the damage is done, it can take a long time and lots of energy to straighten out.
I just finished reading about the results of a consumer survey conducted by a company named BitArmor Systems. They help companies manage and protect sensitive data throughout their organizations.
They conducted a survey of 400 consumers over the Black Friday weekend in cooperation with news stations from Louisville, Nashville, Pittsburgh, and Birmingham.
Turns out, lots of folks are concerned about the risk of identity theft over the holiday season when it comes to using their credit cards.
This is what their survey revealed:
This survey comes on the tail end of that big TJ Maxx security breach scandal, where 94 million credit card numbers and customer records were stolen. An event that could've been prevented because TJX, the parent company of TJ Maxx and Marshall's, was using obsolete data encryption measures to protect their customers' information.
When all of the hoopla and investigation was going on about the stolen records, an internal TJX company email surfaced that said "It must be a risk we are willing to take to for the sake of saving money."
Wow!
What about you?
Tell me what you think by clicking on "comments" right below the dotted line at the bottom of this post.
