Social media is teeming with opportunities for identity thieves, and most people are unaware they’re even at risk. Consider this: 54 percent of social media profiles have been targeted for identity theft, 15 percent of people have had their account accessed without their permission, and 70 percent have been asked to visit a scam website via private message. What are you doing to prevent identity theft on social media websites?

A study shows that 93 percent of Facebook users share their full name on their social media profile, 60 percent share the full names of family members, and 33 percent share their employer information. Although you are prompted to provide your full name, the city in which you live, your date of birth, and other personal identifying information when you sign-up with a social networking site like Facebook, you don’t have to supply it. However, publishing this information for all the world to see makes it easy for an identity thief to get to work.

How Social Media Increases Your Chances of Identity Theft

It’s no secret that social media plays an important part in many of our lives. We share status updates, stay in touch with old friends, share family photos, share links to interesting content, in addition to a wide variety of other uses. While this is a great way to stay connected and has made the world a lot smaller, social media profiles and the tidbits of information people share—such as saying when they’re out of town—make them prime targets for identity thieves.

Online games are breeding grounds for social media identity theft as well. These games often offer incentives to players to fill out forms with their personal information. Some have even been known to ask users to fill out a loan application, which requires supplying their Social Security number. With users sharing games among friends, hundreds—if not thousands—of gamers can become victims before they’ve even signed off for the night.

Protecting Yourself From Social Media Identity Theft

Luckily, there are many things you can do (and not do) to prevent identity theft on social media websites. Here are a few easy ways to protect yourself from identity theft while still using social media to stay connected and have fun online:

• Omit personal information: Your personal information is not required to start a social media profile. In fact, you don’t even need your real name. Instead of using your full name, use a nickname or other alias. You also don’t want to provide additional information that help identity thieves, including your date of birth, birthplace or hometown, address, and employer information.
• Use privacy settings: Most social media profiles allow you to select who can see your profile and how much they can see. Set all personal information to “private” and only allow friends to access the information.
• Don’t be friends with everyone: There are a lot of social media users who accept friend requests from anyone who sends them one. For all you know, one of those new “friends” is an identity thief trying to steal your information. Instead, just like in “the real world” you only want to share private information with people you know.
• Don’t tag locations: If you’re out of town or away from home, don’t tag yourself in a location. This tells identity thieves where you are and can increase the chances of your home being broken into while you’re away.

Unfortunately, identity thieves are waiting to pounce around every online corner. Providing even the most basic information makes you vulnerable to social media identity theft, which can result in huge financial losses that can take years from which to recover.

Get Identity Theft Protection

When it comes to social media identity theft, becoming a victim is a “when” not “if” situation. In addition to taking the precautions discussed above for your social media profile, the best way to prevent identity theft is to sign up with a protection service such as ID Theft Solutions so your identity will be monitored and even recovered when it’s stolen.

The Identity Advocate is another great resource for getting tips to prevent identity theft. From social media identity theft to medical identity theft, The Identity Advocate is dedicated to helping consumers and businesses keep their identities safe. Visit www.TheIdentityAdvocate.com or call 310.831.4400 to learn more about protecting your identity—including your social media profile—from becoming a target.

What do you do with your empty prescription bottles? What about all of the medical information you receive, such as your explanation of benefits? Being careless with your personal medical information can be dangerous, and the theft of this priceless data can be deadly.

Approximately 1.5 million Americans are victims of medical identity theft each year, a crime that costs the nation $41.3 billion annually. Prescription fraud is a growing form of medical identity theft that is not only extremely costly and time-consuming; it can also put your health at risk and even be life-threatening. Unfortunately, medical identity theft isn’t commonly known by many Americans, and often isn’t detected until it’s too late. When we don’t take precautions to prevent prescription fraud and other forms of medical identity theft, we put ourselves in jeopardy of becoming another victim.

What is Prescription Fraud?
Prescription fraud occurs when identity thieves use your personal information to fill prescriptions in your name. They use your medical identity to receive medical treatment at hospitals and doctors’ offices, obtain medications, and access other healthcare services.

Prescription fraud doesn’t just leave you with a huge bill—it can potentially put your health at risk as well. You may find that false information has been added to your personal health record, such as a change in blood type or supposed allergies. Every medical procedure received and prescription filled by the identity thief becomes part of your medical history, which means you may not be able to obtain the life-saving treatment you need in an emergency medical situation.

Detecting and resolving medical identity theft can be difficult as well. You may not discover that you’re a victim until a pharmacy refuses to fill a prescription because it conflicts with another medication you appear to be taking. To make matters worse, fixing errors in your record can be very challenging due to medical privacy laws. Ironically, the same laws that were implemented to protect your privacy and health information are now protecting the medical identity thief. This restricted access to medical records prolongs the duration of the theft, costing you countless time, money, and frustration.

How to Prevent Prescription Fraud

One of the easiest ways to avoid this type of medical identity theft is simply to be aware of what you throw in the trash. Prescription medication labels carry such sensitive information as your full name and address, the prescribing physician, the type of medication, prescription number, and the pharmacy’s contact information—all of the things a thief needs to perform prescription fraud. Instead of throwing empty prescription bottles in the trash, including the drug information forms, remove the labels and shred them. Other ways to prevent prescription fraud:

• Review every explanation of benefits (EOB). Examine the charges for medical visits or prescriptions you didn’t receive, and report any suspicious activity immediately.
• Never simply toss medical information in the trash. Dumpster divers can easily access your personal information if you fail to shred the documents.
• Secure medical records. Keep your medical records in a safe place inside your home or in a safe deposit box, away from the prying eyes of visitors. Believe it or not, friends and relatives who have easy access to your personal information are often the culprits.
• Safeguard prescription bottles. Hide or lock-up your medication rather than leaving it in plain sight or in a medicine cabinet. This will prevent anyone from walking off with your prescription medication and, later, your identity.
• Manage written prescription slips. Don’t throw them away or leave them out where they can be stolen. These slips are all an identity thief needs to fill a prescription in your name, leave you without your medication, steal your medical identity, and even put your life in danger.
• Enlist the help of an identity theft protection service such as ID Theft Solutions, which can proactively help prevent medical identity theft and even restore your identity when it’s stolen.

Protecting your identity is an ongoing process that takes vigilance. By taking some common sense precautions, you can avoid the exorbitant costs and health risks of medical identity theft. Get more tips for preventing prescription fraud and other types of medical identity theft by visiting The Identity Advocate at www.TheIdentityAdvocate.com or calling 310.831.4400.

Identity theft is at an all-time high for consumers, but this insidious crime is not just a consumer problem. Companies of all types and sizes are vulnerable as well. After all, when you run a business, you’re no longer just looking out for yourself. You’re responsible for protecting the confidential data of your company, your employees, and your customers as well.

As a business you store all kinds of personal information. From Social Security numbers to credit card data to birthdates, the information you collect, store, and discard can wind up in the hands of identity thieves if you don’t take the proper precautions to shred it.

Secure document shredding is one of the most overlooked aspects of running a business. Simply tossing a sensitive document in the trash or recycling bin puts a customer at risk for identity theft—and your business at risk for costly fines and lawsuits. The public damage to your reputation from exposing customer information can be devastating as well, all of which can result in your business having to close its doors.

The Importance of Secure Document Shredding For Your Business

Although electronic identity theft is on the rise, stealing paper documents is the easiest way for an identity thief to steal the information needed to open new credit card accounts, get loans, write bad checks, and generally live the high life using your good name and credit.

Businesses who have consumer information on paper documents need to utilize a secure document shredding system that protects private data after it is no longer needed. Here are a few tips to help prevent identity theft in your business:

• Implement a document destruction policy within the company. Know which documents you need to save versus which you can throw away, and the specific steps you need to take to safely destroy information.
• Don’t recycle anything unless you shred it first. Leaving confidential documents in an open recycling bin is a sure-fire way to put your business at risk.
• Be proactive. It’s always the best way to safeguard your business from identity theft. Develop a culture of identity theft prevention and security as opposed to just being reactive when something goes wrong.
• Use a professional document shredding service. This is the best way to ensure there are no gaps in your plan to prevent document shredding fraud and identity theft.

Hiring a Document Destruction Company

Even smart businesses that hire a secure document shredding company often disregard investigating the team behind the service. These companies can hire non-bonded employees—even those with criminal backgrounds—who can gain instant access to thousands of documents containing personal information.

To protect and secure the identity of your business, employees, and customers, your organization should consider hiring a secure document shredding service that:

• Conducts background checks and inspections on each employee
• Employs a rigorous training procedure that ensures employees understand the reasons behind protecting your customer information
• Is certified as a document shredding specialist
• Has a secure document shredding chain-of-custody procedure
• Issues a Certificate of Destruction that confirms the secure shredding of your sensitive documents

In addition to hiring a reputable document shredding service, it’s important to take precautions with your own staff. Teach your employees to shred all documents before recycling them. They should also be regularly trained on privacy policies and secure document shredding procedures to reduce the risks of identity theft. 

Protecting Your Identity at Home

Don’t forget that you also have your own personal information to protect at home. Buy and use a cross-cut shredder to shred anything that has private data, such as your name, phone number, address, bank account information, Social Security number, credit card offers, and any other documents that contain personal information.

In addition to always shredding personal data, one of the best ways for you and your business to prevent identity theft is to hire a service such as ID Theft Solutions—the only identity theft protection company that also recovers your identity. ID Theft Solutions is managed by law enforcement and focuses on returning your identity back to pre-theft status.

Get assistance developing a secure document shredding policy to help prevent identity theft in your business by visiting www.TheIdentityAdvocate.com or calling 310.831.4400.

Mobile identity theft is one of the fastest growing types of identity theft due to the prevalence of mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets. With over one billion smartphones being used globally and research predicting this number will double by 2015, the soaring sales of mobile devices come at a time when identity theft is at an all-time high.

There was one victim of identity theft every three seconds in the U.S. in 2012, totaling 12.6 million consumers—an increase of over one million victims compared to the previous year and accounting for more than $21 billion, according to Javelin Strategy & Research’s 2013 Identity Fraud Report. These numbers are expected to rise, especially as our use of mobile devices continues to increase.

Preventing Mobile Identity Theft

Whether it’s for email, instant messaging, surfing the web, shopping online, paying bills, or even banking, we store and share an immense amount of personal data on our mobile devices. Unless steps are taken to protect it, this data is vulnerable to identity thieves who want to use it to create fake identities and steal money.

Other than being convenient to use everywhere we go, it’s important to remember that smartphones are no different than desktops or laptop computers when it comes to hackers, viruses, malware, and spyware. Their apps and mobile browsers enable us to store personal information such as passwords, credit card numbers, and bank account data in addition to our contacts and other sensitive information. When this data is breached, however, the resulting identity theft can have severe and long-lasting consequences.

Fortunately, there are many actions you can take to secure your hand-held devices and avoid mobile identity theft. Here are a few tips:

• Create a strong password that is required to unlock your phone and access data. Make sure to set up the phone to automatically lock when it has not been used for a specified period of time.
• Never share sensitive data such as passwords or credit card numbers over an unsecured Wi-Fi connection. Even something as simple as purchasing movie tickets on an iPhone using a public Wi-Fi network can give a nearby hacker the opportunity to steal your data and use it to create a fake identity.
• Carefully review your phone bills for sudden increases in data usage. You also want to be on the lookout for charges from third-party content providers for services and apps you haven’t authorized. These can be signs that your phone has been hacked and puts you at risk for mobile identity theft.
• Keep your operating system and apps up-to-date. These updates are important for keeping your smartphone or tablet current with all of the latest security enhancements.
• Make sure you are shopping on secure websites by verifying that the “s” is in the “https://” in the address bar. Websites using “http://” at the beginning of the website address are unsecure.

Professional Offices and Mobile Identity Theft

When trusted professionals or businesses use mobile devices to share information with clients, the same types of mobile identity theft are possible. Take, for example, healthcare professionals. Over 80 percent of physicians polled in an ABA Health survey revealed that they have used personal mobile devices to access the protected health information of their patients. This puts their patients at risk for mobile medical identity theft even when patients haven’t done anything to put their own identity in jeopardy.

Healthcare professionals can help secure medical records on mobile devices by creating passwords to authenticate access to patient information, and never sharing data over an unsecured Wi-Fi connection.

Mobile Identity Theft Protection Services

In spite of all the safeguards you put in place, hackers will always try to stay one step ahead of you and the available technology. Unfortunately, it’s not a matter of “if” but “when” your identity will be compromised. When it happens to you, don’t be caught without a mobile identity theft prevention plan.

There are a number of free mobile identity theft services, such as AVG, that offer anti-virus plans for mobile devices. Phones can be locked and located remotely, suspicious calls or text messages can be blocked, and widgets can detect questionable website activity.

The best identity theft protection service on the market is ID Theft Solutions. Managed by law enforcement professionals, ID Theft Solutions is the most comprehensive way to ensure your identity is recovered when it is stolen.

You can always count on The Identity Advocate to stay current on all of the latest mobile identity theft threats and solutions to help keep you and your mobile devices safe. Learn more about preventing mobile identity theft by visiting www.TheIdentityAdvocate.com or calling 310.831.4400.

This article was originally published on PInow.com.

Forty Defendants Charged in Separate Schemes that Resulted in Thousands of Identities Stolen and Millions of Dollars in Identity Theft Tax Filings
U.S. Attorney’s Office October 10, 2012

Southern District of Florida (313) 226-9100

MIAMI—Federal charges were filed today against 40 defendants in 20 separate cases, dealing with thousands of stolen identities and millions of dollars of fraudulent identity theft tax filings. Today’s cases reaffirm the joint federal and local commitment to crack-down on stolen identity tax refund (SITR) fraud perpetrators.

The charges were announced by Wifredo A. Ferrer, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida; Richard Weber, Chief, Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation Division (IRS-CI); Paula Reid, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Secret Service (USSS); Michael B. Steinbach, Acting Special Agent in Charge, FBI, Miami Field Office; Antonio J. Gomez, Acting Inspector in Charge; U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPS), Miami Division; Guy Fallen, Special Agent in Charge, Social Security Administration, Office of Inspector General (SSA-OIG); Kelly R. Jackson, Special Agent in Charge, IRS-CI, St. Paul Field Office; Steven Steinberg, Chief, Aventura, Fla., Police Department; Larry Gomer, Interim Chief, North Miami Beach Police Department; and Juan Santana, Chief, Miami-Dade Police Department.

According to the Federal Trade Commission, Florida had the highest rate of identity theft in the United States in 2011. While identity theft in Florida ranks highest in the United States, the identity theft rate in Miami has reached near epidemic proportions. Florida’s rate of 178 complaints per 100,000 residents—the highest in the United States—is dwarfed by the Miami rate of 324.1 complaints per 100,000 residents.

Moreover, a September 2012 report by the U.S. Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA) determined that Florida has the highest rate of stolen identity tax refund fraud in the United States. The report identified 74,496 potentially fraudulent returns filed in Miami resulting in more than $280 million in bogus refunds. Miami’s per capita number of false returns based on identity theft was 46 times the national average, and its per capita SITR fraud dollar value was more than 70 times the national average. This problem is projected to grow: the TIGTA report estimates that the IRS could issue as much as $21 billion in fraudulent tax refunds over the next five years.

In an attempt to combat the rising wave of stolen identity refund scams, and armed with newly enhanced investigative and prosecutorial tools under the Department of Justice’s Tax Directive 144, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida established the South Florida Identity Theft Tax Fraud Strike Force. The members of the strike force include IRS-CI, U.S. Secret Service, FBI, USPS, City of Aventura Police Department, Miami-Dade Police Department, North Miami Beach Police Department and the SSA-OIG. The focus of the strike force is to investigate and prosecute SITR fraud in the Southern District of Florida. Today, U.S. Attorney Ferrer, joined by members of the Identity Theft Tax Fraud Strike Force, announced the most recent results of their investigative efforts.

U.S. Attorney Ferrer said, “So far this year, we have charged a total of 79 individuals responsible for almost $40 million in fraudulent tax refunds obtained through identity theft. The cases being investigated and prosecuted include victims from all walks of life, including police officers, potential U.S. Marine recruits, members of the Armed Forces, holocaust survivors, school children, hospital patients, the elderly and infirm, incarcerated prisoners, and even the dead. In addition, our cases show a troubling change in the nature of these cases, away from traditional white collar criminals to more violent criminals, like gang members and narco-traffickers, who are using stolen identity refund scams to fuel their other, violent, criminal activities. We will continue to crack down on identity thieves who are lining their pockets with our tax dollars and using violence to obtain the personal identification information of others.”

“Today’s announcement should reassure American taxpayers that IRS Criminal Investigation has put into action our pledge to make investigating identify theft and refund fraud a top priority,” said IRS-CI Chief Weber. “Be assured that we are serious about investigating these crimes and, as we capitalize on the collective strength of the Identity Theft Tax Fraud Strike Force, we will succeed in vigorously pursuing the criminals who steal from the American taxpayer.”

“The U.S. Secret Service is glad to be an integral part of the Strike Force coordinated between the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the Internal Revenue Service to combat this fraud scheme that is plaguing South Florida,” said USSS Special Agent in Charge Reid.

“Identity theft tax fraud has reached an epidemic level and these cases demonstrate that the FBI and its law enforcement partners will devote considerable resources to address the issue,” said FBI Acting Special Agent in Charge Steinbach. “Prevention by way of educating the public is also key to reducing the amount of this type fraud. Consequently, we urge the public to visit www.ftc.gov or www.ic3.gov, as it provides detailed information on how to help deter, detect, and defend against identity theft.”

Acting Inspector in Charge of the Miami Division of the USPS Gomez said, “As a member of the Identity Theft Tax Fraud Strike Force, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service will work diligently with the U.S. Attorney’s Office and with law enforcement at the federal, state and local level to protect American citizens from suspects who prey on their identification for financial gain. Our commitment to the South Florida community is to continue to pursue these cases under Mr. Ferrer’s leadership and guidance so that the U.S. Mails are never used as a conduit to defraud unknowing victims of this type of crime.”

Special Agent in Charge of the SSA-OIG Fallen said, “Assuming the identity of another to commit fraud, unfortunately, is a common occurrence. SSA-OIG special agents are well-trained to detect, investigate, and locate identity thieves, and SSA/OIG, in concert with the U.S. Attorney’s Office, will investigate and prosecute those who commit identity theft and defraud Social Security trust funds.”

“It is through the collaborative efforts of our agencies that we have been successful in investigating and prosecuting tax fraud in Miami-Dade County. We are pleased with the outcome and will continue to work together with our partner agencies in order to make positive impacts on our community,” said Miami-Dade Police Department Chief Santana.

An indictment is only an accusation, and a defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

The cases announced today include:

United States v. Serge St-Vil, et al., Case No. 12-20768-CR-Scola
United States v. Rodney Saint Fleur, Case No. 12-20772-CR-Scola
United States v. Lineten Belizaire, et al., Case No. 12-20763-CR-Altonaga
United States v. Frantz Pierre, et al., Case No. 12-20696-CR-Cooke
United States v. Jean Noel, et al., Case No. 12-20740-CR-Dimitrouleas
United States v. Douglas Michael Young, et al., Case No. 12-20767-CR-Dimitrouleas
United States v. Bridgette Piedra and Jane Piedra, Case No. 12-20761-CR-Ungaro
United States v. Rose Mary Steed and Demetrice Nicole Steed, Case No. 12-20773-CR-Huck
United States v. Michael Wilson, Case No.12- 60253-CR-Cohn
United States v. Johnny Alexander Melo, Case No. 12-20762-CR-Graham
United States v. Arthy Icart and Charlton Escarmant, Case No. 12-20764-CR-Lenard
United States v. Michlson LaRochelle, Case No. 12-14074-CR-Graham
United States v. Alexander Louis, Case No. 12-60250-CR-Williams
United States v. Vildeon Sajouse, Case No. 12-3364-MJ-Palermo
United States v. Frantz Auguste, Case No. 12-3363-MJ-Palermo
United States v. Cesar Coureaux, Case No. 12-20708-CR-Altonaga
United States v. Math Benjamin, Case No. 12-20707-CR-Cooke
United States v. Thierry Audren, Case No. 12-20738-CR-Williams
United States v. Natoya Mashea Handy, Case No. 12-20771-CR-Rosenbaum
United States v. Luis Enrique Ledee Bernard a/k/a Luis L. Bernard, Case No. 12-20776- CR-Moreno

Are You a Target for Social Networking Identity Theft?

Social networking. Most of us do it. For some of us it’s an addiction. But it can be dangerous. Social networking identity theft is on the rise as more and more identity thieves adapt to this increasingly easy way to steal your identity. Once they have your identity, the sky’s the limit. They can drain your bank account, run up your credit, and virtually destroy you financially. And it all starts with some “innocent” communication online.

Social Networking Identity Theft Statistics

The statistics are in, and they aren’t pretty. According to PC World, one third of members of social networking sites like Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and MySpace have at least three pieces of personal information posted on their profile that can make stealing their identity easy for identity thieves. These include full names, birth dates, addresses, phone numbers, names of parents, and names of children. When pieced together, this information makes stealing your identity on social networking Web sites as easy as creating a fake profile on one of these sites.

Although nearly 80% of people in the PC World poll said they were concerned about their privacy on social networking sites, about 60% said they had no idea what their privacy settings were and who could see their personal information on those sites.

Scary statistics? Yes. A playground for social networking identity theft? You bet.

Prevention Tips

Follow these tips to avoid becoming a victim:

Personal Information: How much do you want the world to know about you? Remember: Your friends aren’t just finding you on Facebook. Scammers may be seeking you out as well. Keep your personal information safe by not posting your full name, birthday, address, phone number, and other private information that could be used to find you. Don’t even think about posting seemingly harmless information like when you’ll be out of town or when you’re at the gym. A growing identity theft tactic is to identify when you’re gone and then pounce to break-in and rob your home. Sound crazy? It happens all the time. Think before you tweet “Going on vacation for a week.”
Learn the Rules: All social networking sites are different and they all have their own rules. Identity thieves take advantage of this vulnerability and prey on you before you even know what happened. They know the faster they get to you, the faster they can rob you. Before you register with a site, read the privacy policy and terms of use to avoid becoming another victim.
Restrict Access: You’re in control. Always remember that. You don’t have to share everything to the world. Most social networking sites allow you to restrict access to your page so only “real friends” can keep up with you. Steer clear of social networking identity theft by only allowing people you actually know (not even friends of friends who could be posing as identity thieves) to be friends and follow you.
Google Alerts: This is free and easy. Just setup a free Google Alerts notification for your full name. You’ll get an email every time your name shows up in a search online. This helps prevent identity theft because you can see where, how, and why your name is being searched for online. If it looks suspicious, such as someone pretending to be you, you can take immediate action.
Post for Posterity: Everything you post online “lives” forever. Even if you think you’ve deleted information from a site it exists on people’s computers that they can then use to steal your identity-even years after you posted it!

Protect Yourself!

The moral of the story? Have fun on social networks, but be cautious. You never know who may want to be your “friend.” If you want to learn more about fool-proof ways to prevent social networking identity theft, contact The IdentityAdvocate at 310.831.4400 or email info@theidentityadvocate.com.

Check out how and wherefores of an International Scams online ~
From: Background Check Guide

Read this great article posted at Fierce EMR ( http://www.fierceemr.com/story/ehrs-major-cause-patient-info-breaches/2012-04-12?utm_medium=nl&utm_source=internal ) and continue to worry about who has access to your person health information. Identity Theft is coming at everyone from so many sources, whether it is from a stolen laptop, thumb-drive, Identity Theft rings or cyber-hacking, we can never be sure who can access our information. And what do you do to protect it or more importantly who quickly can you recover your information if it has been compromised? See my website protection page information at: http://www.theidentityadvocate.com/identity-theft-protection.php.
Call or connect with me for questions!

Did you know that the IRS works on a first come first serve basis, so if someone has stolen your identity and filed, you will not be the one receiving your tax return! Watch the NBC video clip here:
Maybe it is time to consider Identity Theft Protection Services as endorsed by the Identity Advocate. Review here: https://www.entrustamerica.com/signup1.aspx?sp=theidentityadvocate