Experts: Small Risk of Identity Theft in Ohio ‘s Stolen Computer Tape Case

June 27, 2007

  • June 27, 2007 at 11:49 am
    STOP I.D. THEFT says:
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    This problem WILL NOT go away until the legislators in Ohio (and the rest of the country) pass NATIONWIDE CREDIT FREEZE PROTECTION LAWS.

    How much are your personal details worth?
    Does the widespread availability of your personal information hurt or help you? … How much are the details of your life worth on the open market? …
    http://www.bankrate.com/brm/news/pf/20060221b1.asp

    Outsourcing Contributes To Risk Of Identity Theft

    Expert: ‘If You Haven’t Been A Victim Yet, You Are Going To Be’

    July 27, 2005

    MIAMI — At a time when theft of confidential consumer information is one of the fastest-growing crimes in the U.S., many financial institutions with poor security are outsourcing this sensitive data to companies in other nations with no guarantees is can be protected from thieves.

    Identity theft expert Paul Henry said he is shocked how much confidential consumer information is stolen from financial institutions.

    “I can account for at least 50 million breaches of personal information in the last four months alone,” Henry said.

    Now, to make matters worse, companies are outsourcing millions of private consumer records to foreign companies, with even worse security, in order to save money.

    State Sen. Walter Campbell introduced a bill into the Florida legislature to change that.

    “If you don’t have a penalty, we are going to have the problems we have been seeing,” Campbell said. “The credit card companies and the banks and all these big institutions that use these outsourcing companies fought the bill.”

    Last month, an employee of an outsourcing firm in India that processes millions of foreign credit card transactions sold confidential information to a British newspaper reporter for $7.

    The University of San Francisco medical school outsourced patient information to a Florida company.

    “The company here in Florida subcontracted to a company in Texas. The company in Texas subcontracted that to a woman in Pakistan,” Henry said. “She sent an e-mail to the university in San Francisco explaining to them that if she wasn’t paid immediately, she was going to post the medical records on the Internet.”

    “There are millions of victims every year in this country. If you haven’t been a victim yet, you are going to be,” privacy expert Rob Douglas said.

    Efforts are under way to not only pass a tough identity theft law in Florida, but at the national level as well.

    Copyright 2005 by NBC6.net. All rights reserved.
    This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

    http://www.nbc6.net/news/4777366/detail.html?rss=ami&psp=news

  • June 27, 2007 at 11:57 am
    CREDIT FREEZES for all says:
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    Subject: Make the credit reporting bureaus responsible….

    and we will cut I.D. theft in half. For years, the credit bureaus and other data brokers have been allowed to sell our personal information with impunity. They sell this to strangers and then sell US credit monitoring services that allow us to see who has compromised OUR GOOD NAMES.

    There is a name for this. It is called RACKETEERING.

    For their part, the major credit-reporting bureaus–Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion–don’t seem to care much about the accuracy of their credit reports. In fact, they actually have a positive incentive to let ID theft flourish. Like mobsters offering “protection” to frightened store owners, credit-reporting agencies have recently begun taking advantage of the identity-theft boom to offer information age protection to frightened consumers. For $9.95 a month, Equifax offers “Credit Watch Gold,” a service that alerts you whenever changes are made to your credit report. Experian and TransUnion offer similar services. In effect, customers are being asked to pay credit agencies to protect them from the negligence of those same agencies.

    Contact your elected officials and DEMAND Credit Freeze protection NOW. Don’t wait to become a victim.

  • June 27, 2007 at 4:03 am
    DWT says:
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    It is easy to point fingers at who is to blame for Identity Theft. News covering breaches of security or stolen laptops gain national attention, however these represent a very low risk to the public. Most Identity Theft occurs because of actions we (the general public) take.

    We throw out our garbage that is loaded with personal information… date of birth, ssn, etc. We regularly go out online and pay for things using our credit card numbers – this is especially dangerous using wireless connections. And don’t forget all of the pre-approved credit card offers that hit the trash.

    Anyone with half a brain can steal our identity because of things “WE” do.

  • June 29, 2007 at 10:00 am
    MAKE THE DATA BROKERS ACCOUNTA says:
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    “It is easy to point fingers at who is to blame for Identity Theft. Most Identity Theft occurs because of actions we (the general public) take. We throw out our garbage that is loaded with personal information… date of birth, ssn, etc. Anyone with half a brain can steal our identity because of things “WE” do.”

    Stop blaming consumers for not being able to defend themselves when they aren’t allowed to be in charge of their OWN information to begin with. The finger needs to be pointed directly at the “emperor” (data brokers), who have NOT been wearing clothes for a VERY long time.

    Identity theft doesn’t happen because someone “stole mail from our mailbox or hacked our computers”. It happens AFTER the DATA BROKERS have released OUR information to strangers WITHOUT our permission.

    We have no choice about using our date of birth, ssn, etc. as identifiers in order to open bank accounts, get medical care, etc. Many legitimate parties need to have access to this.

    However, legitimate business’s will ONLY grant credit after FIRST checking one’s credit file to ascertain credit worthiness. WHO do you think should be allowed to see these files? EVERYBODY ON THE PLANET? No wonder Identity thieves are having a field day at OUR EXPENSE. They are holding hands with the data brokers.

    The data brokers profit from the sale of other people’s information. The identity thieves profit when the data brokers give them OUR information. We suffer trying to clean up the mess that these criminals exposed us to.

    If strangers CAN’T see our files (without our permission), then Identity thieves WON’T BE ABLE TO GET CREDIT and open accounts in OUR name.

    MAKE THE DATA BROKERS ACCOUNTABLE or stop allowing them to PROFIT from the sale of OTHER people’s information.

    A credit freeze gives the consumer control of their information.

    Security freezes stop identity thieves cold
    http://www.coshoctontribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070628/OPINION02/706280330



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