ScamSafe

Better Business Bureau Warns of Identity Theft on Facebook

The Better Business Bureau is asking local residents to be more careful about placing their age, birthday or other information on Facebook. They warn that users of the popular social networking site could become victims of identity theft.

The Metro Atlanta Better Business Bureau says identity thieves can guess the social security numbers of Facebook users with very little information. Fred Elsberry is president and CEO of the organization.

"The first three digits of your social security number is the zip code of where you live, or a code that says this is your hometown, so if you put your hometown in there they're going to be able to identify the first three digits."

Elsberry says identity thieves can also guess the next two digits, because they are determined by where you applied for your social security number. He says the last four digits are supposed to be random, but they tend to be in sequential order. Elsberry says those born after 1989 are especially at risk.

"The pattern is much more predictable there."

Elsberry says the good news is starting this year social security numbers will be more random. But he says if you already have one, your only option is to protect the one you've been given.

via www.publicbroadcasting.net

Protect Your Credit Card from Being Compromised by These Cons

Credit card con-artists can be extremely crafty, something you know first hand if you've found yourself entangled in one of their scams. It's not just people on the news; many Americans find themselves scammed each year.

On this site below, you can find four examples of some disturbingly compelling credit card fraud.

See www.savings.com

BBB warns of tax-time scams

The Better Business Bureau is warning taxpayers to beware of tax scams during this return-filing season.

If you get an email that claims to be from the IRS, telling you that you need to submit information for your W-2, it is a scam, the BBB advised.

The email tells the taxpayer to click on a link to input the information as part of an identity theft scam.

There are several IRS scams that make their rounds at this time of the year. Sometimes the email comes from the "Treasury Department" stating a refund or tax inheritance is waiting and the taxpayer needs to provide personal information.

Here are tips from the BBB to help you recognize a tax scam:

- If the IRS needs information, it will send a letter. You will not be asked to send information through email.

- Do not click on any links in unknown emails. It could infect your computer with viruses and spyware.

- Do not give out personal information, including Social Security number, home address and birth date to anyone who emails or calls you.

- If the email has a lot of punctuation and spelling errors, that's a "red flag" that it is probably not an official letter.

via www.courierpress.com

FTC Offers Businesses Tips for Dealing with Medical Identity Theft

 The Federal Trade Commission, the nation’s consumer protection agency, has information for health care providers and insurers about how to help patients minimize the risk of medical identity theft and deal with the consequences if they become victims of it.  Here are the highlights of the FTC’s new publication, Medical Identity Theft FAQs for Health Care Providers and Health Plans: 

• How would people know if they’re victims of medical identity theft?  They could be billed for medical services they didn’t receive, contacted by a debt collector about a medical debt they don’t owe, see medical collection notices on their credit report that they don’t recognize, be told by their health plan that they’ve reached their limit on benefits, or be denied insurance because their medical records show a condition they don’t have.
• What should health care providers and insurers do if they learn that a patient may be the victim of medical identity theft?  They should conduct an investigation, understand their obligations under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, review their data security practices, and provide any necessary notifications that a data breach has occurred.
• What should health care providers and insurers tell a patient who is the victim of medical identity theft?  They should:
• advise victims to take advantage of their rights under the HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) Privacy Rule.
•  encourage victims or potential victims to notify their health plans.
• tell victims to file a complaint with the FTC at www.ftccomplaintassistant.gov or by phone at 1-877-ID-THEFT (1-877-438-4338); TTY: 1-866-653-4261; and to check out the information at www.ftc.gov/idtheft. 
• encourage victims to file a report with local police, and send copies of the report to their health plan’s fraud department, their health care provider(s), and the three nationwide credit reporting companies – Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion.  Information on how to file a police report and reach the credit reporting companies is at www.ftc.gov/idtheft/consumers/defend.html.
• encourage patients to look for signs of other misuses of their personal information by reviewing their credit reports.  The law requires each of three major nationwide credit reporting companies to give people a free copy of their credit report each year if they ask for it at www.AnnualCreditReport.com or 1-877-322-8228.  If they find inaccurate or fraudulent information, they can visit www.ftc.gov/idtheft to learn how to get it corrected or removed.

via www.ftc.gov

Students' Personal Data Posted Online

Team 5 Investigates has learned that the personal information of as many as 1,300 current and former students at the Wentworth Institute of Technology was inadvertently put online.

School officials notified all affected students of the data breach, which was reported to WIT on Dec. 22.

The letter said that an "electronic file was accessible on the Institute's website that contained personal information for a group of current and former students, including full name, social security number, and date of birth. The file also included information such as allergies, medications, medical conditions and disabilities."

via www.thebostonchannel.com

Univ. of Iowa Hospital discloses potential data breach

The University of Iowa Hospitals has disclosed a potential data breach involving the EMRs of several University of Iowa football players. The University of Iowa Hospitals issued a statement on Jan. 28.

"Officials at University of Iowa [UI] Hospitals and Clinics in Iowa City [are] conducting an investigation after a proactive screening of the electronic medical records of 13 University of Iowa football players indicated that some of those records may have been accessed inappropriately,” according to the statement.

via www.cmio.net

Breach Hits 2,400 MediCal Beneficiaries

The San Francisco Human Services Agency has notified approximately 2,400 MediCal beneficiaries and the federal government about a breach of protected health information, including Social Security numbers.

via www.healthdatamanagement.com

Viruses on smartphones: security's new frontier

Mobile phones are the new frontier for cyber criminals, according to the latest research from McAfee. That may sound like a scary headline, but as phones have become more sophisticated, so this new development became inevitable.

Traditionally, cyber criminals have concentrated on the biggest targets, too: so for computers Microsoft has always attracted far more attention than Apple, and on mobile phones Nokia’s Symbian OS was hacked most often. Now as Android has finally begun to take Symbian’s place and the iPhone’s dominance is well established, that operating system too is being examined more closely.

via www.telegraph.co.uk

ID Fraud: New Accounts Most at Risk

The latest consumer fraud trends suggest that financial institutions must provide increasing leadership in the fight against identity-related fraud.

According to new findings from Javelin Strategy & Research, consumers and law enforcement alike now turn to banks and credit unions for more sophisticated detection and prevention when it comes to the misuse of stolen identities to open new accounts.

In its annual Identity Fraud Survey report, Javelin finds that losses from new account fraud far exceed those associated with other types of ID fraud. Moreover, new account fraud is harder to detect.

"I think the weight of solving the problem will ultimately fall on the banks, because the criminals go where the money is. Criminals don't make money in identity fraud unless they turn it into cash," says James Van Dyke, president and founder of Javelin. "That's why it's important for banks to keep up-to-date on all of the types of fraud that are out there."

via www.bankinfosecurity.com

Reading the Junk Mail Could Prevent Credit Card Fraud

Don’t throw out that junk mail after your daily trip to the mailbox – a quick check could reveal an identity theft crime committed against you.

One way thieves can hit you is by using credit card confirmations with your card number – but somebody else’s name. ID criminals are counting on the fact that you won’t check your junk mail, which is exactly why you should take a closer look.

One Texas man almost learned that lesson the hard way. Don Sickel, a resident of Grayson County, Tex., told KTEN News recently that he was about to throw away his junk mail when he had second thoughts. Opening his mail, Sickel noticed that a credit card had been opened in another person’s name – but with his credit card number.

via www.credit.com

VA employees go dumpster diving to protect sensitive data

The Veterans Administration will go to extreme lengths to protect patient data, including dumpster diving, Chief Information Officer Roger Baker said in his regular press call on the VA data breach reports sent monthly with Congress

VA tracks patient food trays in its hospitals with meal tickets that include the name and last four digits of the patient's Social Security number, along with dietary information. Department policy calls for shredding the tickets when trays are returned to the kitchen, Baker said.

But the December 2010 data breach report showed that the Tuscaloosa, Ala., VA Medical Center did not follow this policy when its kitchen shredder broke down, Baker said.

via www.nextgov.com

NC says disks containing personal information are missing

Computer disks belonging to the state Division of Services for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing may have been accidentally discarded, and state officials are warning clients that the missing disks may include some of their personal information.

The state Department of Health and Human Services is sending letters to people who applied for services from the Equipment Distribution Service from January 2005 through December 2008.

The disks were likely taken to a landfill during a recent office renovation, state officials say.

via www.newsobserver.com

Criminals Working for Debt Collectors May Be Stealing Your Identity

It is bad enough that many times consumers are illegal threatened and harassed by ruthless debt collectors. It appears that many debt collection companies do not perform criminal background checks on call center employees. Many of these employees have criminal records.

Even worse is the fact that many states do not require licensing or at the least background checks for debt collection employees. These collectors have open access to a consumers credit reports, bank account information and possibly other credit card information.

The state of Minnesota is one of the few states that do require criminal background checks on the collectors they employ. In the past they found that one in twelve collection employees had a criminal record, including: identity theft, rape, check forgery, and assault (source Star Tribune)

The state of Minnesota has put eight large collection companies on notice and is considering pulling their collection licenses because they have consistently failed to perform criminal background checks on employees.

The companies are Allied Interstate Inc, AllianceOne Receivables Management Inc, Bureau of Collection Recovery, I.C. System Inc, Financial Recovery Services Inc., NCO Financial Systems Inc, Receivables Management Solutions Inc, and Van Ru Credit Corp.

 

via www.statesboro.biz

Univ. of Iowa Hospital discloses potential data breach

The University of Iowa Hospitals has disclosed a potential data breach involving the EMRs of several University of Iowa football players. The University of Iowa Hospitals issued a statement on Jan. 28.

"Officials at University of Iowa [UI] Hospitals and Clinics in Iowa City [are] conducting an investigation after a proactive screening of the electronic medical records of 13 University of Iowa football players indicated that some of those records may have been accessed inappropriately,” according to the statement.

UI Hospitals and Clinics routinely screens for possible privacy violations to protect the confidentiality of all patients, including those with high public profiles, the statement read.

via www.cmio.net

ID theft ring targets Apple stores

NEW YORK -- Dozens of people have been charged in New York with forming an identity theft ring that used stolen credit card numbers to shop at Apple stores around the country.

A court document says the group used stolen account numbers to forge credit cards, then used the cards at Apple stores from New York to Wauwatosa, Wis. At least eight defendants were arraigned Tuesday.

via www.forbes.com