Identity theft risk: Data breaches at businesses increase
Filed under: Ripoffs and Scams, Fraud
The Identity Theft Resource Center has released its most recent figures on data breaches at businesses, and they're not pretty. 2008 isn't even close to being over, and the number of reported breaches has already surpassed the total for 2007, at 446.A data breach is simply a situation at a business in which unauthorized outside people get access to computerized confidential information. What are they looking for? Usually credit card numbers and personal data that can be used to commit identity theft.
The 446 data breaches reported here are simply a tabulation of each report of a business experiencing a data breach. They say nothing about the number of records or people exposed in each breach, which can be in the millions. The larger the number of records compromised, the more likely you are to hear about it on the news.
What can consumers do to protect themselves? Don't count on businesses to protect your data. Unfortunately, even the best data security can still fail, so your private information is not always safe.
- Check your credit report regularly to make sure that there are no new accounts that you didn't personally open. Follow up on questionable items on your report immediately.
- Carefully look at all bank statements and credit card statements to make sure there aren't transactions you didn't authorize. Remember that you could get an unauthorized charge from a restaurant or store you've been at if someone stole their data, so make sure all charges were really made by you, even if you recognize the merchant's name.
- Reduce your risk of becoming a victim of identity theft by putting a freeze on your credit report. It will make your life harder if you're trying to get credit, but it will also help stop identity thieves.
- Don't waste your money on "credit monitoring" services or "identity theft protection." They offer very little value for your money, and you're better off doing the three simple steps above to protect yourself.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
8-29-2008 @ 1:32AM
Patricia said...
You cannot always get a "freeze" put on your CR. In the State of Virginia where I reside, our information via mortgage app., was stolen by the bank employee and it took us a year after showing the proof that someone had our information and was using it.
You can have a company like LifeLock, for a fee, place an alert on your CR.
As for the credit bureaus, I believe they are useless considering that they hold the "key" to everyone's information and yet they refuse to "freeze" your information. Seems like it is all a big scam-game to me.
Major changes need to be made to our system in order for our ss# to be removed as our only means of identification and more stringent guidelines and levels of security for consumers.
The bottom line is articles, such as yours, simply states to get a freeze on your CR, and that is not always an available option.
Thanks.
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9-01-2008 @ 6:55PM
Dwight said...
While I'm pretty sure that the author of this article means well, they are very much mistaken. According to ID Theft Expert John Gardener, checking your credit report once a year as most people do, is like having a fire alarm that only works one day out of every year. You need daily monitoring to let you know what is going on with your information. With most financial instituions , you only have 48 hrs to report a a problem, So, if you wait until you recieve your statement at the end of 30 days... you're responsible. Check the fine print, it taketh away! Adn, when a problem does occur and you freeze your credit, then what... they can't use it but, neither can you. Is that what you want? Of course not... What is needed is a proper monitoring service and experts in Id Theft to help you restore the situation back to normal. And by theway, freezing your credit does not help you with the other id theft issues. It will not protect you from Medical, Character, Social Security, or Driver's license ID Theft... Financial Id Theft is the most commercialized form we know of, but, it's not the only thing out there. When you do get victimized, what will you do? When you contact the FTC (who, by the way has themselves been breached within the last 2 years) all you get is booklets and papework. They don't help you contact anyone, they just give you the phone numbers. Those offices are mainly open during business hours, but aren't you already working then? Don't most jobs frown on doing personal stuff ontheir time? That is why you need to know about proper monitoring and restoration services. Findingout you've been a victim is just the beginning. Who do you turn to? Where can you get real help from? How do you keep it under control? Don't you think that if it was really so easy to do yourself that it wouldn't be such a problem for so many people now?
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