Remember how much data can be found from postings made to Facebook and other picture site. The bad guys can find your home, see where your children hang out, and pose a threat you didn’t even know existed. Watch this video clip from ABC News:
Remember to adjust your phones features! Watch your privacy settings! Turn off functions like GPS, unless you are using your map or other features, at the time.

School is starting. Who is asking you for your child’s social security number? How are they protecting that information? Does you school have computerized records? Are they encrypted? Do they do background checks on all new hires? These questions need to be foremost in your mid as you send your little one or even your college bound sons and daughters off to college!

Anyone can be a victim of identity theft. Unfortunately, since young people are less likely to monitor their credit and may make themselves especially vulnerable to identity thieves, students at all levels are a common victim of identity theft.

Whether your child is six years old and is just starting school, or is eighteen and going off to college, he can be a target and victim of identity theft for many reasons. By taking a few simple steps to safeguard his identity, you can help prevent your child from becoming the next victim of identity theft.

A Victim of Identity Theft in Elementary School
There are many actions you can take to reduce the risk of your child becoming a victim of identity theft. The first thing you need to do is setup a system for keeping tabs on your child’s credit. We recommend creating a Credit Calendar to make it easy and free to monitor his credit and be alerted of any suspicious activity all year round.

Here’s how a Credit Calendar works to help prevent your child from being a victim of identity theft: There are three credit bureaus, Equifax, Experian, and Transunion, and each bureau allows you to order your child’s credit report for free once every year. Use your child’s Credit Calendar to record when you can order your child’s credit report from each agency. You’ll request a report from one of the three credit bureaus every four months, on a rotating schedule, to ensure there is no lapse in his credit monitoring each year.

Begin protecting your child from being a victim of identity theft by creating his Credit Calendar today. Here’s the contact information for the three credit bureaus:
• Equifax: 800.685.1111 and www.equifax.com
• Experian: 888.397.3742 and www.experian.com
• Transunion: 800.680.7289 and www.transunion.com

A Clear Sign Your Child Is the Victim of Identity Theft
Your mail carrier may be the one to deliver the news that your child has become a victim of identity theft. If your child begins to receive credit card offers in the mail, it’s very likely that he is a victim of identity theft. A typical scenario is that someone steals a child’s Social Security Number, creates a new identity, and uses that new identity to obtain credit. Of course, this can destroy your child’s credit, not to mention his good name, before he’s even old enough to actually use his own credit!

So, what’s the identity of that “someone” who stole your child’s personal information and made him an unwitting victim of identity theft? Studies show that the most common child identity thief is a close relative, including a parent. Indeed, vigilance is vital to protecting your child from being a victim of identity theft.

A Victim of Identity Theft in College
By the time he’s ready for college, your child may be smarter but, unfortunately, being smart doesn’t necessarily correlate to avoiding becoming the victim of identity theft. There are many actions your college age child can take to prevent identity theft:
• If he hasn’t done so already, it’s time to create that Credit Calendar to regularly keep track of his credit with the three credit bureaus
• Shred every credit card application that arrives in the mail
• Be careful when obtaining school-branded credit cards, which often contain such incentives as free gift cards, tee-shirts, and pizza when he applies

In addition to the damage inflicted by identity thieves on your child’s credit, many employers also review credit reports of job candidates. As competition for the best jobs increases, you don’t want your child’s future to be jeopardized simply because you didn’t take the proper precautions to avoid becoming a victim of identity theft from the time he began his education to the time he began his career. Whether you have a young child just starting first grade or a teenager ready to start college, now is the time to take action to prevent him from being another victim of identity theft.

Need help and more information to learn how you can protect your child from becoming a victim of identity theft? Contact The Identity Advocate today at 310.831.4400 or email info@theidentityadvocate.com. Visit www.theidentityadvocate.com.

Data breaches seem to hit the news every day. If it happens to you be aware that more email “phishing” scams can occur. Your data has been compromised, so never let your guard down!
Here is what the BBB suggests:

* Do not reply to the e-mail or click any links in them.
* NEVER give out personal and/or financial information via e-mail. They may claim to be a representative of your bank, IRS, or police, but these organizations will contact you in a letter.
* Let others know about these scams
* When sending personal information, the transmission should be encrypted. Make sure the the website is secure. One way of doing this is to look for an ‘s’ in the http part of the url. The S stands for secure.
* Grammatical errors and misspelled in these e-mails can be a tip off that it is a scam.
* Never wire money based on any instructions in these e-mails.
* Obtain anti-virus software and run it at regular intervals
* Contact the Federal Trade Commission at their website http://www.FTC.gov or by phone at 1-877-HELP.
Therefore, stay vigilant and mindful that there is always someone ready to take your personal information!

Having heard more about the Electronic Pick Pockets in crowded areas, you must be wary and protect your personal or business credit cards and passport. Check out this Google site to find the best protective sleeve or coverings for your needs: http://www.google.com/#sclient=psy&hl=en&q=rfid+protective+sleeve&aq=2&aqi=g4g-o1&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai=&pbx=1&fp=1&cad=b

Thieves are always looking for an easy way to steal your identity. Credit card monitoring companies are great if someone steals your information and tries to open an account. But what if you already have an account in place. You are receiving your new card in the mail. The thief steals the new card and activates it. Your account exists. She or he can go out and begin charging that day.
Now consider a locking mailbox. Safe, secure, and no one can reach in, to take your mail. Read this special report and rethink about reasons why you should have a locking mail box. http://www.mailcase.com/american-express. Don’t get caught up in the scam for loosing your credit cards.

Five ways you can help prevent your child’s identity from being stolen.

1. Think first before you post. Guide children to share only the information that they wouldn’t mind sharing with strangers and their friends. Make them aware of identity theft – in their language – so they think before sharing nuggets of information that might be useful to an i.d. thief. By the way, how many of us post things about our kids, and family online? Before you go announcing your sister’s new baby on your social networking site, in email, on a blog, etc. consider the information you might be making available for thief. (Remember: place of birth and date of birth is all they need to become a new person.)

2. Don’t use your children’s real names. Wherever possible, enforce the use of code or nick names instead of a child’s real name online, whether for establishing an email address, registering on a kid-friendly website (to use the games, for example), or for setting up a profile on a social networking site.

3. Use privacy settings. For social networking fanatics, make sure only the people you know and trust can see what you’re posting and doing.

4. Use reputable, up-to-date security software. While identity theft can happen through offline sources as well as online, having good, updated security software will help prevent information-stealing software from getting onto your computers or smart phones in the first place. Use security software on any device that you store personal information on.

5. Shred and lock. The ITRC recommends that you shred all documents that contain personal information (whether about yourself or your children) and lock your mailbox if you can.

If you are resident of the U.S. and believe you or your child has become a victim of identity theft, contact the Identity Theft Resource Center for free assistance at:

(888) 400-5530

You can also find additional resources and prevention tips at www.idtheftcenter.org

You have the right to ask that nationwide consumer credit reporting companies place “fraud alerts” in your file to let potential creditors and others know that you may be a victim of identity theft. Per the instructions at www.annualcreditreport.com these are the directions for placing an alert with each of the credit companies.
A fraud alert can make it more difficult for someone to get credit in your name because it tells creditors to follow certain procedures to protect you. Also realize it may delay your own ability to obtain credit. You may place a fraud alert in your file by calling just one of the three nationwide consumer credit reporting companies. As soon as that agency processes your fraud alert, it will notify the other two, which then also must place fraud alerts in your file.

* Equifax: 1-877-576-5734; www.alerts.equifax.com
* Experian: 1-888-397-3742; www.experian.com/fraud
* TransUnion: 1-800-680-7289; www.transunion.com

All the makings of the great money making opportunity, first off, preying on the homeless, then kickbacks, violations of false Claims Act, performing medical unnecessary treatments and taking tax payer money to do so through Medicare and Medi-Cal. Read the article Fierce Healthcare: http://www.fiercehealthcare.com/press-releases/former-los-angeles-medical-center-owners-agree-10-million-consent-judgment-medicare-a?utm_medium=nl&utm_source=internal

The three nationwide consumer reporting companies have set up one central website, toll-free telephone number, and mailing address through which you can order your free annual report. It is not necessary to contact the three nationwide consumer reporting companies individually. They are only providing free annual credit report through
www.Annualcreditreport.com;
or phone 877-322-8228;
or Complete the Annual Credit Report form and mail to:
Annual Credit Report
P.O. Box 105281,
Atlanta, GA 30348-5281

For those of you who have heard me speak on Medical Identity Theft, and how Pharmacies and specialty drugs are a target not only for health care fraud but identity theft, read this article at BaltimoreOnline. What the thieves do with your information you might throw in the trash: http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20100106/NEWS01/1060325/ID-thieves-target-pharmacies-trash