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Blog / January 2007
Security freeze laws in 8 more states
Jan 1, 2007 by Tom Fragala
Eight states see credit freeze laws go into effect starting January 1, 2007: Hawaii. Victims of ID theft only, with a police, investigative report or complaint filed with a law enforcement agency. No fees permitted. Illinois. After January 1, 2007,...
Congressman wants hearings on correcting credit report errors
Jan 1, 2007 by Tom Fragala
The Boston Globe reports. US Representative Barney Frank said he plans to hold hearings early in 2007 about procedures at consumer credit bureaus, following a Globe Spotlight report last week on how difficult those firms often make it for people...
Businessweek Story on Medical Identity Theft
Jan 2, 2007 by Tom Fragala
BusinessWeek has a story on medical identity theft that is worth a read. Here’s one key point that is raised. While the Fair Credit Reporting Act gives victims of financial identity theft the right to see and try to correct...
Federal Identity Theft Task Force Seeks Public Comment
Jan 2, 2007 by Tom Fragala
On May 10, 2006 President Bush signed an Executive Order creating the nation's first ever Identity Theft Task Force. The goals of the Task Force are to develop a strategic plan to better prevent identity theft, coordinate prosecution, and ensure...
Five questions to ask to protect your Social Security number
Jan 3, 2007 by Tom Fragala
Your Social Security number is important, confidential information. You should avoid giving it out unnecessarily. The trick is knowing, as best you can, when it is necessary. Keep your Social Security card and number in a safe place. Never carry your...
Free temporary email addresses from Guerilla Mail
Jan 4, 2007 by Tom Fragala
Do you hate having to give your an email address when signing up at web sites--but you have to because they send a confirmation email? You might want to try this service. Guerrilla Mail provides you with disposable e-mail addresses...
Wisconsin Prints Social Security Numbers on Tax Booklets
Jan 6, 2007 by Tom Fragala
The Wisconsin Department of Revenue really screwed up. They transferred taxpayer SSN’s to a printer (idiotic, illegal move #1) and the printer dutifully put the SSN’s on 170,000 tax booklets (idiotic, illegal move #2). And no one along the way stopped to...
Laptops Stolen from Towers Perrin Contain Retirement Data
Jan 8, 2007 by Tom Fragala
A message from Truston. Do you want relief from the concerns about identity theft because of the laptop theft? But are you also worried when services like credit monitoring or so-called "fraud alerts" require your confidential personal information? Well, try...
Happy Birthday Elvis Presley (And a Surprise)
Jan 8, 2007 by Tom Fragala
ELVIS PRESLEY, Born 08 Jan 1935, Died Aug 1977, SSN 409-52-2002. That isn't a typo. That's Elvis' real social security number and a clue as to how serious our privacy and identity theft problems still are in 2007. And, no,...
Another free anti-spam temporary email service
Jan 10, 2007 by Tom Fragala
Recently I posted about Guerilla mail. Here's another one I found called spambox.us. It is more flexible, as it allows you to choose an expiration from 30 minutes to 1 year. I haven't used it so I can't vouch for...
Shredders On Sale At Staples.com
Jan 11, 2007 by Tom Fragala
Staples.com is having a "Security and Privacy Event" with shredders and other products on sale for up to 60% off (thorugh January 13, 2007)....
New article: 3 Tips to Stop Identity Thieves From Exploiting Your Mail
Jan 12, 2007 by Tom Fragala
I wrote a new article entitled 3 Tips to Stop Identity Thieves From Exploiting Your Mail. Your personal and business mail can be a gold mine to thieves looking to hijack their next victim's identity. This article has 3 tips...
Is Mass. Finally Going to Get Serious About Identity Theft?
Jan 12, 2007 by Tom Fragala
According to Eric Bourassa of MassPIRG in this Somerville Journal story, Massachusettes is the only state in New England that has neither a credit freeze law or data breach law. 26 states have laws allowing individuals to freeze access to credit...
Using Identity Theft to Get G'd Up
Jan 12, 2007 by Tom Fragala
A gang of Dairy Queen identity thieves nabbed. Serves the thieves right—they used the stolen credit and debit card numbers to buy crap from thugfashion.com. This website says “Those who look for true bling bling, find it only here.” You can’t make this...
Two New Data Breach Bills in 2007
Jan 13, 2007 by Tom Fragala
Consumer Affairs has a good article about the first two updated data security bills bubbling up from the new Democrat-controlled Congress. They are the Social Security Number Misuse Prevention Act and the Notification of Risk to Personal Data Act. I have...
Who's Watching the Watchers? Federal Official Steals Identities.
Jan 14, 2007 by Tom Fragala
WOODTV.com reports A former federal official (in Grand Rapids, MI) is charged with using her access to password-protected accounts to steal hundreds of thousands of dollars and various identities....
Data breach at University of Idaho
Jan 14, 2007 by Tom Fragala
70,000 people are at risk after a data theft at the University of Idaho. The breach was announced nearly two months after it happened. Spokesman Review reports The names, addresses and Social Security numbers of about 70,000 students, faculty members...
New Article: 8 Warning Signs That You’re Headed for Financial Trouble
Jan 15, 2007 by Tom Fragala
We just posted a new article by Michelle called 8 Warning Signs That You’re Headed for Financial Trouble....
RationalFX: A Stunning New Work-at-home Scam (REVISED)
Jan 16, 2007 by Tom Fragala
Update 1/23/07: It appears a real company called RationalFX was the target itself of corporate ID theft and was incorrectly shown here to be the scammers themselves. RationalFX (at www.rationalFX.com) is a legitimate business and a victim of phishing attacks....
Moneygram Data Breach Disaster
Jan 16, 2007 by Tom Fragala
What a security horrow show. Bank account numbers, SSN’s and driver’s licenses for 79,000 people were breached. It doesn’t get much worse than that. Reuters reports: MoneyGram International Inc. the second-largest U.S. money transfer company, on Friday said someone illegally...
TJX and its Customers Suffer Enormous Data Breach
Jan 20, 2007 by Tom Fragala
This could be the big kahuna, the largest most serious data breach of all time. TJX is the parent company of Marshalls and T.J. Maxx. This security breach happened eight months ago. The full extent of it is unknown or...
Checking if your child is an ID theft victim can be stressful
Jan 22, 2007 by Michelle Pastor
Knowing what I do about ID theft and that children are easy and often valuable targets for ID thieves, I was compelled to check my youngster's credit file...just to make sure his identity hasn't been hijacked. I know that unless...
Debunking The Myth Behind Fraud Alerts
Jan 24, 2007 by Tom Fragala
Don't get fooled into thinking that fraud alerts provide you much protection from identity theft. THEY DO NOT. Here's a question I got from someone today and my response. This might be a dumb question, but why not just post...
Blog home page now shows complete text
Jan 30, 2007 by Tom Fragala
We revised the format of the blog home page to show the complete text of the post. It makes the page busier but it is easier to read since it requires less clicks. I know that's how I prefer to...
Truston on the Radio
Jan 30, 2007 by Tom Fragala
I was interviewed on the Business and Technology show on KZSB radio January 22 2007. You can listen or download an MP3 podcast of the radio show. I am on Segments 3, 4 and 5. Wayne Norris (the host) and...
Beware of Class-Action Lawsuits Offering Rewards, Especially Baby Products
Jan 31, 2007 by Michelle Pastor
If you get information of a class-action lawsuit against a baby product manufacturer, beware!! It may be a scam designed to find out your child’s vital information including social security number and name – all the information an identity thief...