Hello, again! Greg from Arlington, VA. This is a follow up to my Hub on Identity Theft and How It Affects You.

Concern and Extent of the Problem

I conducted a keyword search at Google today and discovered that there were 550,000 searches in the month of July, 2008 for identity theft. If you "google" identity theft, there are 21,800,000 results.

In the course of a busy day, you may use your debit card or write a check at the grocery store, charge tickets to a ball game, rent a car, mail your tax returns, change service providers for your cell phone, apply for a credit card or visit your doctor. Chances are you don't give these everyday transactions a second thought. But an identity thief does. Identity theft is a serious crime.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) states that, "People whose identities have been stolen can spend months or years and thousands of dollars cleaning up the mess the thieves have made of a good name and credit record."

This statement is important to remember for reasons I will reveal later.

In the meantime, victims of identity theft may lose job opportunities, be refused loans for education, housing, or cars, and even get arrested for crimes they didn't commit (Examples which were provided in my previous hub). Anger, humiliation, and frustration are among the feelings victims experience as they go through the process of restoring their identity.

Just a Few Examples of How Identity Thieves Get Your Personal Information

They get information from businesses or other institutions by:

• hacking into records (example at end of story)
• stealing records or information while they're on the job (My agency was just informed that one of our health care provider's employees was arrested for stealing personal information of our agency employees)
• bribing an employee who has access to these records

They may:

- steal your mail, including bank and credit card statements, credit card offers, new checks, and tax information.

- rummage through your trash, the trash of businesses, or public trash dumps in a practice known as "dumpster diving."

- steal your credit or debit card numbers by capturing the information in a data storage device in a practice known as "skimming." This is commonly done by wait staff at a restaurant.

- swipe your card for an actual purchase, or attach the device to an ATM machine where you may enter or swipe your card.

One local bar had a machine next to an ATM that said "Clean Your Debit/Credit Card Here." When those who may have had too much to drink "cleaned" their card, their information was downloaded to another database.

- steal your wallet or purse.

- complete a "change of address form" to divert your mail to another location. They usually do this for a short time - say two weeks - then return your first class mail back to your address. If you are not alert, you might never notice the difference. (The US Postal Service is working on ways to notify patrons when a request is made).

- steal personal information they find in your home.

- steal personal information from you through email or phone by posing as legitimate companies and claiming that you have a problem with your account. This practice is known as "phishing" online, or pretexting by phone. I personally have received emails from individuals posing as PayPal and Suntrust Bank.

See a scam alert that has been re-issued recently by the FBI.

The ways to succeed at identity theft are only limited by the criminal's imagination.

How To Minimize the Threat of Identity Theft

It is important to state at the outset that there is no way to completely protect oneself from identity theft! However, there are things that you can do to minimize the risk.

Be a smart consumer:

Place passwords on your credit card, bank, and phone accounts. Avoid using easily available information like your mother's maiden name, your birth date, the last four digits of your SSN or your phone number, or a series of consecutive numbers. .

Secure personal information in your home, especially if you have roommates, employ outside help, or are having work done in your home.

Ask about information security procedures in your workplace or at businesses, doctor's offices or other institutions that collect your personally identifying information. Find out who has access to your personal information and verify that it is handled securely. Ask about the disposal procedures for those records as well. Find out if your information will be shared with anyone else. If so, ask how your information can be kept confidential.

Maintaining Vigilance

Don't give out personal information on the phone, through the mail, or on the Internet unless you've initiated the contact or are sure you know who you're dealing with.

As mentioned above, Identity thieves are clever, and have posed as representatives of banks, Internet service providers (ISPs), and even government agencies to get people to reveal their SSN, mother's maiden name, account numbers, and other identifying information.

Before you share any personal information, confirm that you are dealing with a legitimate organization. Check an organization's website by typing its URL in the address line, rather than cutting and pasting it. Many companies post scam alerts when their name is used improperly. Or call customer service using the number listed on your account statement or in the telephone book.

Treat your mail and trash carefully.

Deposit your outgoing mail in post office collection boxes or at your local post office, rather than in your unsecured mailbox. Use a locking mailbox or door mail slot so thieves can't go through your mail. Promptly remove mail from your mailbox. If you're planning to be away from home and can't pick up your mail, contact the U.S. Postal Service to request a vacation hold. The Postal Service will hold your mail at your local post office until you can pick it up or are home to receive it.

Better solution: Have a good friend or neighbor you trust pick up and hold your mail.

Shred, Shred, Shred. To thwart an identity thief who may pick through your trash or recycling bins to capture your personal information, shred your charge receipts, copies of credit applications, insurance forms, physician statements, checks and bank statements, expired charge cards that you're discarding, and credit offers you get in the mail.

Opt out of receiving offers of credit in the mail, call: 1-888-5-OPTOUT (1-888-567-8688). The three nationwide consumer reporting companies use the same toll-free number to let consumers choose not to receive credit offers based on their lists. Note: You will be asked to provide your SSN which the consumer reporting companies need to match you with your file.

Don't carry your SSN card. Store it in a secure place.

Give out your SSN only when absolutely necessary, and ask to use other types of identifiers. If your state uses your SSN as your driver's license number, ask to substitute another number. Do the same if your health insurance company uses your SSN as your policy number or university uses it as a student number.

Carry only the identification information and the credit and debit cards that you'll actually need when you go out.

Keep your purse or wallet in a safe place at work; do the same with copies of administrative forms that have your sensitive personal information.

Other than your employer, health care provider and bank, ask others why they need your SSN. The decision to share your SSN is yours exclusively.

Do not open files sent to you by strangers, or click on hyperlinks or download programs from people you don't know. Be careful about using file-sharing programs. Opening a file could expose your system to a computer virus or a program known as "spyware," which could capture your passwords or any other information as you type it into your keyboard.

Use a firewall program, especially if you use a high-speed Internet connection like cable, fiber optics, DSL or T-1 that leaves your computer connected to the Internet, 24 hours a day. The firewall program will help you to stop uninvited access to your computer.

Use a secure browser - software that encrypts or scrambles information you send over the Internet - Firefox is an example of a more secure browser. Check regularly for security updates.

Use one credit card soley for Internet transactions to reduce vulnerability

Make sure your wireless connection has a security code. Cable employees tell me that they regularly ride around neighborhoods and connect to the Internet using residential customers wireless access.

Before you dispose of a computer, delete all the personal information stored on the hard drive. Don't rely on the Control Panel function to delete files. Use a "wipe" utility program to overwrite the entire hard drive.

The Frustrating News

No matter how careful you are, you cannot eliminate becoming a victim of identity theft!

And, as the FTC has stated: "People whose identities have been stolen can spend months or years and thousands of dollars cleaning up the mess the thieves have made of a good name and credit record."

What can you do about identity theft? In addition to the steps above, there are three basic steps to take to confront identity theft.

1. Make sure access to legal counsel is readily available.

There are high quality, pre-paid legal memberships available that provide affordable access to an attorney when you are most vulnerable - especially when you are on the side of the road being accused of a crime, or if you become victim of medical identity theft.

2. Monitor credit activity on a regular basis.

You can do this yourself by requesting a free credit report from the three credit reporting agencies annually (or every four months if you request one report at a time). The disadvantage to this strategy is you only learn of a breach far after the fact.

There are products available that provide continuous credit monitoring such as those by Kroll Background America, the world's leading risk-consulting company.

3. Have a plan for identity restoration.

There are experts available to restore your personal information if identity theft strikes. A much better solution than "spending months or years and thousands of dollars cleaning up the mess the thieves have made of a good name and credit record."

In closing, identity theft is a world-wide problem that is here to stay. Be vigilant and investigate the commercial options that are available to protect you and your good name.

Epilogue

On August 25, 2008, it was reported that the largest identity breach in the WORLD occurred when 8 million records were stolen from Best Western Hotels (Europe).