Get help, advice and information on all your Finance issues. http://advice-and.info/Finance/theft.htm Mon, 04 Aug 2008 15:35:57 GMT en Thieves can use even the most simple of personal details to help them "verify" that they are someone they are not. A thief intent on committing identity theft will likely use one of the most common ways of obtaining personal details, "Dumpster Diving". This is surprisingly common in upper middle class and upper class neighborhoods and is spreading out cities into more rural areas; with 75 of local authorities now admitting it happens regularly in their area. An exercise carried out with the support of Nottingham City Council and Nottinghamshire Police analyzed the contents of hundreds of household garbage cans to see what people were throwing away. It found that 86 of domestic rubbish contained information helpful to criminal intent on identity theft. Three quarters of the trash cans that were checked contained the full name and address of at least one person from the household, while 20 of trash cans contained a bank account number and sorting code that could be linked to the name and address of a person from the house. So please stop throwing your junk mail, such as credit card solicitations, into the everyday trash. Invest in a good quality shredder NOW!. This is the number one way to protect yourself from identity theft. Shredders can be purchased today for less than fifty dollars. Don't keep all of your bills, receipts and other personal documents in an obvious place, if you can lock it away. If you don't have anywhere to lock it, try and keep it somewhere out of the way, or separate it out into different files and keep them in different cabinets. Another tactic is to cruise thru upscale neighborhoods and look for mailbox flags that are up, waiting for the Mailman to make a pick up. Thieves attempting identity theft will stop and raid your out-going mail, hoping that you slipped a check in one of your envelopes. Now they have your name, address, bank account numbers to the correct bank you use and... your signature. Don't do it. Take a few extra minutes and drop your bills in a US http://advice-and.info/Finance/91475_Protect_Yourself_From_Identity_Theft.html Tue, 22 Jul 2008 13:54:12 GMT This is that time of year when we all start getting those emails that want to purloin our secret codes and passwords. You know the ones that have subject lines like: Your Account Is About To Be Closed, Theres A Block On Your Account, Could You Help Me Claim My Funds, or my all-time favorite Congratulations Youve Won The UK Lottery. This is the time of year when we are all shopping for gifts for family or customers, and the last thing we need is for our bank or credit cards account to be hindered. That is exactly what these cyber grifters are counting on, and unfortunately some of us are tempted to follow the instructions sent to investigate. http://advice-and.info/Finance/85320_Five_Tips_For_Identity_Theft_Protection.html Tue, 22 Apr 2008 10:38:59 GMT With all the buzz about identity theft protection on the computer, many of us forget that the risk doesn't stop there. Everything from credit cards, university IDs, passports, drivers licences and corporate IDs contain Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags. Why does this matter? Well, criminals have learned that they can purchase devices known as Radio Frequency Readers or Remote Frequency Readers for less than 100.00. These devices can skim your personal info from you without your knowledge.<br> In a local report on Miami's WPLG, a rather disturbing report opened many an eye. The WPLG investigative reporter was able to quite easily purchase a Remote Frequency Reader online and then began to see just how easy it would be to steal her co-worker's personal information. To better show the audience how easy it was, she activated her device and armed it with an audible alarm which would allow the viewers (and her targets) hear an audible signal each time the device was successful in skimming date. Her targets wouldn't know until it was too late why the reporter's purse was emitting an annoying beeping noise.<br> The reporter than proceeded to walk by several unsuspecting co-worker's desks, each time a beeping noise was heard from her purse. Setting her purse down on another employees desk, the device beeped again. As she passed each co-worker, another beep was heard. Each been indicated that the device had successfully hacked into an unsuspecting target's private information, all of which the targets believed to be safely stowed away.<br> Now criminals, won't actually be activating their devices with audible alarms that warn us that our information has been stolen...it will all happen without us ever noticing a thing. Something else that the reporter informed her audience was that criminals often work in teams. One person will hack your personal information while the other is taking a picture of you on th http://advice-and.info/Finance/85169_Keeping_Up_With_Technology__Identity_Theft_Prevention.html Sat, 19 Apr 2008 04:55:28 GMT Identity theft is becoming a serious problems in all corners of the globe, and with the advancement of technology like the internet, new ways to steal your identity are coming about every day. It is becoming harder and harder to protect yourself from this crime and ensuring your personal data is safe is becoming a constant struggle. You wouldnt want to give your personal details to a complete stranger, but the reality is, you are doing this every time you sign up to a social networking site. This really occurs mostly with the younger generation that use these social networking sites as a way of meeting new people and communicating with their friends. On signing up to these sites, they are asked to provide names, addresses, contact telephone numbers, dates of birth and schools they attended. This sort of information is being viewed by people that are viewing their profiles, and only a few of the sites have a scheme where your profile cannot be viewed unless you specifically add them as a friend. Many of the users of the sites add other users as friends with no real idea who they are. That is the worst thing about the internet, it allows you to be who you want to be and come up with characters. http://advice-and.info/Finance/82268_Identity_Theft_And_Social_Networking_Sites.html Sat, 22 Mar 2008 19:57:29 GMT If you have been a victim of identity theft, then you can understand how this crime can seriously ruin your life. If you havent, then you either have no idea, or only have a faint clue to what it feels like. The consequences of identity theft are very real and are very distressing. It doesnt matter for what purposes your identity has been stolen, serious damage can be caused. If somebody has found your details, they can use them for a number of things. For example, next time you throw away an old bank statement or credit card receipt, just think of what could happen if somebody were to find those scraps of paper. Not only will they contain your name and address, but they also contain details of your bank, and credit card details. It doesnt take a genius to work out that these sorts of information can be used for. http://advice-and.info/Finance/81097_How_Can_Identity_Theft_Destroy_A_Life.html Sun, 09 Mar 2008 03:43:36 GMT People who become victims of identity theft often have to bear a lot of problems that results from the theft; therefore it is better to avoid theft altogether when possible. And luckily there are several identity theft solutions for families that are very useful for the prevention of these identity thefts among the family members. Identity theft solutions for families start with the family members themselves. Points to consider include: http://advice-and.info/Finance/80204_Identity_Theft_Solutions_For_Families.html Sun, 02 Mar 2008 14:48:44 GMT If you're unfamiliar with medical identity theft, it is essentially what happens when a thief uses your health insurance information or social security number to acquire their own healthcare benefits, such as doctor's office or hospital visits, and even prescriptions. Medical identity theft is comprised of two different factors: one involving healthcare and one involving finances. This type of identity theft can come with long-term detrimental effects to its victims.<br> The more common forms of identity theft are easier to detect and correct than medical identity theft. Medical identity theft victims have often found that their health records have been tainted with false histories and diagnoses. Furthermore, many victims have received bills for surgeries and tests they never had, and even medications they were never prescribed (to their knowledge). The first order of medication identity theft protection is to always keep an eye out for medical services and notations tha t do not apply to you. If you get bills for services you never received or are asked questions regarding a medical history that isn't yours, chances are, you've been victimized. <br> When thieves fail to pay their share of insurance co-pays or medical deductibles, their victims will discover that their credit reports show debts they never incurred. Take medical identity theft prevention measures to ensure you're not one of these unfortunate people. Approximately one in six Americans are without medical insurance coverage; this makes it very tempting for some individuals to commit medical identity fraud, particularly in emergency situations. If someone is using your identity in a hospital emergency room, more than likely they will get away with it as these facilities may not be as scrupulous and cannot refuse care. <br> The U.S. government has not published statistics in regards to the number of medical identity theft cases that occur on an annual basi http://advice-and.info/Finance/80198_Identity_Theft_Prevention_And_Medical_Identity_Theft_Protection.html Sat, 01 Mar 2008 14:44:38 GMT The reality of cheap van insurance being more readily available took a blow when recent research revealed that 17 of small van operating businesses had put in claims for vehicle theft, with over half of these claims being made within the latest 24 months. The research further revealed that 42 of insurance claimants reported the theft of the insured van, with a similar proportion reporting that the contents of their van had been stolen.If verifiable the figures indicate a possible cost to the economy of 1 billion. http://advice-and.info/Finance/79010_Cheap_Van_Insurance_Undermined_By_Theft_Figures.html Fri, 22 Feb 2008 07:13:02 GMT