ScamSafe

Georgia boy accused of complex identity theft scam

Authorities say teen charged thousands, equipped own police car

HAPEVILLE, Ga. – A 15-year-old boy racked up thousands of dollars in charges and built his own police car through an elaborate identity theft scam that took credit card numbers from at least a dozen people, authorities said.

from DallasNews.com

Identity-theft threat linked to a virus

Students' private information not likely stolen, university officials say, because network access was brief

CAL POLY - A computer virus has put 652 Cal Poly students in jeopardy of becoming victims of identity theft.

from San Luis Obispo Tribune

Credit Bureaus Shun Identity Theft Weapon

NEW YORK - Little by little, a weapon against identity theft is gaining currency - but few people in the United States know about it.
It's called the security freeze, and it lets individuals block access to their credit reports until they personally unlock the files by contacting the credit bureaus and providing a PIN code.

from AP Wire

Consumers still make ID theft mistakes

Consumers are doing better of guarding against identity thieves, yet most still give out too many personal details, making themselves vulnerable to becoming one of the millions of victims each year, according to a survey released Wednesday.

The national survey was commissioned by Electronic Data Systems and the International Association of Privacy Professionals.

Bill Gates Victim Of Balkan Identity Theft Ring

Bulgaria's Interior Chief Secretary General-lieutenant Boyko Borissov announced that a 22-year old student from the Balkan nation "issued" a fake credit card on the name of the Microsoft chairman.

from Forbes.com

Banks Implement Check 21 Starting Thursday

NEW YORK - New federal regulations designed to speed up the processing of checks went into effect on Thursday, and consumer advocates advised Americans to be more vigilant about monitoring their accounts.

from Yahoo!

Identities Stolen in Seconds

PAUSING in the foyer of a comfortable suburban home two days before Halloween in 2002, Kevin Barrows, a special agent with the F.B.I., could not bring himself to open the front door. He and a team of agents had just spent several hours searching every room in the house, in New Rochelle, N.Y., but they were leaving empty-handed. Months of investigating had led Mr. Barrows to believe that someone was orchestrating a huge fraud from the house, yet he had not found a single scrap of evidence.

from the Ocala Star-Banner

3 measures aim to curb spyware

RELIEF LIKELY, BUT DON'T EXPECT A QUICK FIX

Last year Congress took on spam. This year it's spyware.
Congress is considering three bills attempting to slow the spread of spyware, the unwanted and often harmful software creeping onto millions of personal computers. Spyware covers a broad array of software that's surreptitiously downloaded and can open the door to identity theft, scams or computer glitches.

from MercuryNews.com

Victory for Consumers in Do-Not-Call case

WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court turned away a challenge Monday to the federal do-not-call registry, ending telemarketers' bid to invoke free-speech arguments to get the popular ban on unwanted phone solicitations thrown out.

from Yahoo! News