Identity Theft
Watch out! Bosses are saving money by firing employees over Facebook posts
Filed under: Extracurriculars, Technology, Career, Identity Theft
Click at your peril. In the past few weeks, more companies have been snooping through the online universe in an effort to bring their workers in line. Virgin Atlantic airline fired 13 employees for what they said on Facebook. The charge: The employees "brought the company into disrepute." The evidence: a discussion that said its airplanes (their workplace) harbored cockroaches and that its customers were "chavs," the British slang equivalent of "white trash."As the economy sours, companies have an incentive to expunge workers from their payrolls, and evidence of insubordination makes for some solid ammunition for a quick firing. Which is probably why more axe men are poring through the social networking sites. British Airways workers at London's Gatwick airport are also under investigation for spouting off on Facebook. The transgressions there happened in a closed group where posts complained about "smelly" passengers, American accents, and people who briefly hold boarding passes with their teeth while going through departure checkpoints.
Naturally, companies don't want to look bad. And it's also lousy judgment for opinionated employees to bite the hand that feeds them by complaining about their bosses in a place where they can easily be caught and identified. Let Miss Manners address morality, though. I'm more skeptical about whether employers have the right to dump you merely for having a negative opinion of where you work. I'm also wary of any boss who chases down the details of a worker's personal life.
Rich Fields, come on down! Identity theft hits a demi-celebrity
Filed under: Fraud, Identity Theft
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According to a recent report on TMZ, Rich Fields, the voice of television's The Price Is Right, was recently the victim of identity theft. He has, apparently, lost $71,000 and his accounts are frozen. When I heard this, I was struck with a few major questions: "So that announcer guy is named Rich Fields?"
"Since when does TMZ cover sub-celebrities?"
Teenagers and identity theft
Filed under: Identity Theft
So I was reading about a teenager who is being charged with first-degree identity theft, second-degree possession of a forged instrument and third-degree grand larceny, and I started wondering if this is a trend. Instead of shoplifting, perhaps teenagers who are drawn to crime are finding it easier to rip off someone's identity.Based on my limited research, I'd give a cautious, "probably not." Not yet.
In the last month, there have been some interesting arrests involving identity theft in the United States, but I only found three, and it's a big country:
Three more types of identity theft you should know about
Filed under: Identity Theft
When we think of ID theft, what usually comes to mind is some computer hacker gaining access to your credit card or bank account information online and then spending all your money. That's certainly something to look out for, but there are several other ways that creative crooks are stealing identities, and the more you know, the better you can protect yourself.- Medical Identity Theft: This is when someone, usually a medical insider, uses your information for the purpose of acquiring medical goods and services, like drugs or treatment, covered by your insurance. A social security number isn't necessary in this type of fraud -- you should protect your insurance number like you protect your social security information. You can also protect yourself by requesting a copy of your medical file each time you visit the doctor. Though it won't prevent the ID theft, it will make the recovery process easier for you if you have these records.
- Synthetic Identity Theft: Synthetic ID theft is when a fraudster creates a false identity using a real or realistic social security number. Businesses more than individuals tend to be the victims of this type of crime, but if someone is using your SSN to open accounts and rack up debt, that could potentially get into your credit history; though in most cases, the criminal is using your number but not your address or even name, so it should not affect your files. You may never realize if part of your identity is stolen this way, as the "person" whose credit is being ruined by this fraud doesn't actually exist. However, businesses can protect themselves from fraudulent customers by better authenticating someone's identity before extending credit.
- Criminal Identity Theft: When someone is busted for breaking the law and they provide false identity information, this is known as criminal identity theft. If they use your identity, you may find yourself arrested, fined, or denied employment because of something fishy in a background check. Following the same steps you would to protect your financial identity is helpful in preventing criminal identity theft. In addition to regularly checking your credit history, you can review your driving record for traffic violations you didn't commit.
Stupid criminals steal old credit card information from Forever21
Filed under: Fraud, Identity Theft
- March 25, 2004
- March 26, 2004
- June 23, 2004
- July 2, 2004
- July 3, 2004
- August 4, 2007
- August 5, 2007
- August 13, 2007
- August 14, 2007
Also: The Fresno Cali store between November 26, 2003 and October 24, 2005.
I'm already questioning the intelligence of the hackers. They had the smarts to get around the security measures and get into the system. Yet they steal data that is several years old? Sounds like an awfully stupid criminal move to me.
One positive bit of news related to this data theft is that three people have been indicted based upon this scam, which included 11 other retailers. Forever 21 says that after having forensic consultants examine their records, they determined that over half of the compromised card numbers are no longer active or the cards have expired.
Credit card shaving scam
Filed under: Ripoffs and Scams, Identity Theft
For those of you who think of credit card theft as a high-tech crime performed online by e-savvy thieves, credit card shaving may sound SO 20th century. But it works -- depending, as usual, on the inattentiveness of store clerks.
Credit card shaving depends on glue and razor blades as much as stealth and the Internet. First, the shaver either finds an valid credit card number by entering various number combinations in an online store until one clicks, or buys lists of valid card numbers from the black market. The crook then carefully shaves embossed numbers from the surface of gift cards, as well from a defunct Visa, MasterCard or the like credit card. He then glues the number of the valid card onto the credit card blank, effectively creating for himself a duplicate of the valid credit card.
Then, the shaver need only scratch the mag strip so that the clerk will be required to enter the number manually, and he's ready to go shopping.
You are probably thinking, "Wouldn't you be able to tell that the card had been altered?" The answer is, yes, you probably could, but the clerk who has a line of impatient customers glaring at him and faces no penalty for accepting the card has little incentive to act as a fraud detector.
This is yet another argument for signing up for online access to your credit card account, so that you can check expenditures more frequently than once a month. The whole world has access to glue and razor blades.
Watching Your Plastic
Kira Limer pays cash for a book at Barnes & Noble, Tuesday, Sept. 9, 2008 in New York. The idea of cutting out credit cards is gaining more exposure at a time when Americans hold more than $850 billion in credit card debt, four times as much as in 1990. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)
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Kira Limer pays cash for a book at Barnes & Noble, Tuesday, Sept. 9, 2008 in New York. The idea of cutting out credit cards is gaining more exposure at a time when Americans hold more than $850 billion in credit card debt, four times as much as in 1990. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)
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In this image released by the Brown County Sheriff's Office, Wendy Brown is shown in a booking mug after her arrest on Sept. 4, 2008, in Green Bay, Wis. Brown, 33, is charged with felony identity theft after enrolling in Ashwaubenon High School as her daughter, who lives in Nevada with Brown's mother. (AP Photo/ Brown County Sheriff's Office)
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Defense attorneys Ann Marie Fitz, left, and Ryan Beasley, speak to reporters outside the Clement F. Haynsworth Federal Building and U.S. Court House after Esther Reed pleaded guilty to identity theft in Greenville, S.C., Tuesday, August 19, 2008. (AP Photo/Patrick Collard)
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United States Attorney W. Walter Wilkins speaks to reporters outside the Clement F. Haynsworth Federal Building and U.S. Court House after Esther Reed pleaded guilty to identity theft in Greenville, S.C., Tuesday, August 19, 2008. Reed pleaded guilty Tuesday to stealing the identity of a missing South Carolina woman to attend an Ivy League school in what her lawyer called a bid to escape a painful past. (AP Photo/Patrick Collard)
AP
This handout photo courtesy of the Boston Police Department shows suspect Clark Rockefeller. FBI agents on August 2, 2008 arrested a man accused of abducting his seven-year-old daughter, who was visiting from London, sparking a national manhunt and fevered speculation over the flamboyant fugitive's identity.The Federal Bureau of Investigation in Boston, where Clark Rockefeller allegedly abducted his daughter Reigh Storrow Boss from his ex-wife a week ago, said the fugitive was arrested in Baltimore, Maryland, and the girl freed. Rockefeller is now likely to face charges including kidnapping, assault, and possibly identity theft. However, police are no closer to resolving who the man they have in custody really is. He has reportedly used a number of aliases, including J.P. Clark Rockefeller, Clark Mill Rockefeller, as well as plain Michael Brown. Police at first thought he was about to flee to Bermuda or Peru on a yacht docked in Long Island, near New York. Some reports had him already in the Caribbean. AFP PHOTO/BOSTON POLICE DEPARTMENT/HANDOUT=RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE =GETTY OUT= (Photo credit should read HO/AFP/Getty Images)
AFP/Getty Images
LA CANADA, CA - AUGUST 05: Customers shop at a TJ Maxx store on August 5, 2008 in La Canada, California. The Justice Department has charged 11 people with stealing more than 40 million credit and debit card numbers of customers shopping at TJX Companies, which owns the Marshall's and TJ Maxx chains, and other major retailers by hacking into their computers. The information was then allegedly sold to people who used it to steal tens of thousands of dollars at a time from accounts through automated teller machines in the US and Europe. It is one of the biggest identity-theft cases on record. Charges against the suspects, who are from the US, China, Ukraine, Belarus, and Estonia, include computer fraud, wire fraud, access-device fraud, aggravated identity theft and conspiracy. The suspects also accused of hacking into the computers of Barnes & Noble, Forever 21, Sports Authority, OfficeMax, Boston Market, DSW Inc., and BJ's Wholesale Club to steal information. (Photo by David McNew/Getty Images)
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LA CANADA, CA - AUGUST 05: Customers shop at a TJ Maxx store on August 5, 2008 in La Canada, California. The Justice Department has charged 11 people with stealing more than 40 million credit and debit card numbers of customers shopping at TJX Companies, which owns the Marshall's and TJ Maxx chains, and other major retailers by hacking into their computers. The information was then allegedly sold to people who used it to steal tens of thousands of dollars at a time from accounts through automated teller machines in the US and Europe. It is one of the biggest identity-theft cases on record. Charges against the suspects, who are from the US, China, Ukraine, Belarus, and Estonia, include computer fraud, wire fraud, access-device fraud, aggravated identity theft and conspiracy. The suspects also accused of hacking into the computers of Barnes & Noble, Forever 21, Sports Authority, OfficeMax, Boston Market, DSW Inc., and BJ's Wholesale Club to steal information. (Photo by David McNew/Getty Images)
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LA CANADA, CA - AUGUST 05: Customers shop at a TJ Maxx store on August 5, 2008 in La Canada, California. The Justice Department has charged 11 people with stealing more than 40 million credit and debit card numbers of customers shopping at TJX Companies, which owns the Marshall's and TJ Maxx chains, and other major retailers by hacking into their computers. The information was then allegedly sold to people who used it to steal tens of thousands of dollars at a time from accounts through automated teller machines in the US and Europe. It is one of the biggest identity-theft cases on record. Charges against the suspects, who are from the US, China, Ukraine, Belarus, and Estonia, include computer fraud, wire fraud, access-device fraud, aggravated identity theft and conspiracy. The suspects also accused of hacking into the computers of Barnes & Noble, Forever 21, Sports Authority, OfficeMax, Boston Market, DSW Inc., and BJ's Wholesale Club to steal information. (Photo by David McNew/Getty Images)
Getty Images
LA CANADA, CA - AUGUST 05: Customers shop at a TJ Maxx store on August 5, 2008 in La Canada, California. The Justice Department has charged 11 people with stealing more than 40 million credit and debit card numbers of customers shopping at TJX Companies, which owns the Marshall's and TJ Maxx chains, and other major retailers by hacking into their computers. The information was then allegedly sold to people who used it to steal tens of thousands of dollars at a time from accounts through automated teller machines in the US and Europe. It is one of the biggest identity-theft cases on record. Charges against the suspects, who are from the US, China, Ukraine, Belarus, and Estonia, include computer fraud, wire fraud, access-device fraud, aggravated identity theft and conspiracy. The suspects also accused of hacking into the computers of Barnes & Noble, Forever 21, Sports Authority, OfficeMax, Boston Market, DSW Inc., and BJ's Wholesale Club to steal information. (Photo by David McNew/Getty Images)
Getty Images
Entrepreneurs and identity thieves: Beware the Ides of November 1
Filed under: Entrepreneurship, Technology, Identity Theft
There is a lot of hand-wringing going on about November 1.Oh, sure, most of the country is focused on a different November date, that of November 4, Election Day. But there are a group of people, representing two million organizations and businesses, that surely are a bit anxious.
Last year, Congress passed Section 214 of the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACTA), which stated that any businesses making credit decisions have to look for "red flags" that would indicate that the person they're about to extend credit to is actually the person they're extending credit to.
This is a good thing for the public. It means that it may get a little harder for someone to steal your identity and then, say, buy a house in your name, or have you paying some other guy's utility bill.
New from Uncle Sam: a passport that fits in your wallet
Filed under: Extracurriculars, Simplification, Technology, Transportation, Travel, Identity Theft
For Americans who travel a lot across borders by land or sea, say to Canada, Mexico, or on Caribbean cruises, the State Department is now issuing zippy little Passport Cards, which are sized for wallets and contain the mandated (and controversial) RFID chip that makes crossing borders much breezier.
Makes sense to me. Booklet-size passports are vestiges of an earlier age, back when we traveled with steamer trunks and dollar notes were as big as hankies. Passports are also easy to lose, partly because they don't fit in wallets and partly because crooks can easily spot them. Having a high-level federal I.D. in your wallet at all times can also be mighty handy. Bouncers and postal clerks may quibble over accepting that gym membership card, but it's hard to argue with a passport.
According to the U.S. Department of State, you use the same supporting I.D. documentation for apply for a passport card as you do for a traditional passport, which means once you've got one, you're vetted, and you can use it to apply for a booklet passport later on if you want. You can even apply for both the booklet and the card at the same time without having to pay an extra execution fee or send more photos (just two will do the trick for both).
Entrepreneur snapshot: one company's quest to stop identity theft
Filed under: Entrepreneurship, Identity Theft
It's not exactly news that identity theft is a problem, but it is reassuring to know that at least some entrepreneurs are working on combating it, and in a way that doesn't require Joe Public to spend extra money. (I wonder if there is a guy out there named Joe Public, who gets ticked off every time someone uses his name to symbolize common everyday folk. I should look into that one day. But I digress.)There are a growing number of services people can purchase to keep their identities safe. Yet the idea that I have to pay another monthly fee for this protection makes me kind of resentful. So I have to admit, as a consumer, I'm rooting for a guy like Ludwik Zon, 54, of Miri Systems, to succeed. He is the CEO of a startup, which is based on a technology that two of his business partners have developed. It's not on the market yet, but it's difficult to imagine how it won't be, if it really works the way he says it does.
Put me at risk for identity theft, and I'll do the same for you
Filed under: Identity Theft
Consumers in Virginia were upset that their government was posting public real estate records online without redacting Social Security numbers. The records posted online also had other sensitive information: bank account numbers, dates of birth, mother's maiden name, and more. There is an obvious identity theft risk in having that information posted online, but the consumers were unsuccessful in getting government officials to change the way they were doing business.In steps Betty Ostergren, who has published the Social Security numbers of public officials on a website of her own. What a clever way to protest a risky policy -- turn things around on the politicians who refuse to protect consumers!
The government tried to fight back by passing a law that attempted to restrict non-government entities from posting Social Security numbers, but that has failed. Last week a federal judge ruled that Ostergren has a First Amendment right to post the Social Security numbers on her website if she chooses to do so.
I just love this story because it is an example of consumers fighting for their rights. No one in their right mind can believe that it made sense for the government to post all these records online without some minimal precautions to protect consumers. I think giving those officials a little taste of their own medicine was a brilliant act of consumerism, and I hope that officials in Virginia rethink their policies about posting sensitive information about consumers online.
Tracy L. Coenen, CPA, MBA, CFE performs fraud examinations and financial investigations for her company Sequence Inc. Forensic Accounting, and is the author of Essentials of Corporate Fraud.
