How Do I Avoid Identity Theft

Posts Tagged ‘Financial Institutions’

Police warn of rise in identity thefts locally, across the US …

July 29th, 2010 |

ST. CHARLES, Ill. (STMW) — In light of a recent uptick in identity thefts, police are warning residents to take added care in disposing of waste that may contain personal information.

St. Charles Police Department spokesman Paul McCurtain said several cases of identity theft have been reported over the last two weeks.

Throughout the area and across the country, such crimes have been on the rise as personal information such as bank statements and credit card applications have been seized, while Social Security numbers have been sold to falsify resident and work status. The FBI reports that it is the fastest-growing crime in the United States.

“There is just so much information that you can get on someone without leaving your house,” Kane County Sheriff’s Office Lt. Pat Gengler said. “You can sit on a computer and there is just all kinds of stuff out there where you might get somebody’s Social Security number or an address.”

Despite the prevalence of Internet-related identity thefts, police still suggest that residents not hesitate to report stolen wallets or purses, and notify credit card companies, banks and the Social Security office sooner rather than later to avoid the chance of vital information being used by thieves.

Also, authorities said, don’t respond to e-mails made to look like legitimate requests from financial institutions to verify user names, passwords and other information.

“No legitimate company would conduct business that way,” McCurtain warned.

Another common source for potentially valuable personal information can often be found right outside the doors of most residents, as improper disposal of old mail can have disastrous financial consequences.

Old receipts, billing statements, credit card applications, as well as any medical or financial information sent through the mail, should be shredded to avoid the possibility of vital information getting into the wrong hands, police said.

So far this year, 24 incidents of identity theft have been reported in St. Charles, compared with 25 for the same period in 2009.

In Elgin, city police said they have received 81 reports of identity theft so far in 2010.

Posted in how do i avoid identity theft |

Tags: Bank Statements, Billing Statements, Credit Card Applications, Department Spokesman, Fbi Reports, Financial Consequences, Financial Institutions, Gengler, Improper Disposal, Kane County Sheriff, Legitimate Company, Legitimate Requests, Sent Mail, Social Security Number, Social Security Numbers, Social Security Office, Uptick, User Names, Vital Information, Wrong Hands |

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Protection Against Identity Theft | Wolf Tracking

June 20th, 2010 |

Author: ID Theft PRO

Protection Against Identity Theft

Protection against identity theft ?? ?m??rt?nt ?f ??? want t? keep ???r finances ?n order. Th?r? ?r? ??m? simple steps th?t ??? ??n d? t? h?l? prevent someone fr?m wrongly using ???r information ?? th??r ?wn.

M?k? sure ??? keep ?ll ?f ???r private documents safe. D? n?t carry ???r social security card ?r birth certificate w?th ??? ?n ???r wallet ?r purse. Instead, ?l??? th??? ?nd ?th?r ?m??rt?nt documents ?n a secure ?l??? such ?? a locked filing cabinet ?r a safety deposit box. M?k? sure ??? don’t h??? ?n? identification cards, checks, ?r membership cards w?th ???r social security number ?n th?m. If th?? d?, ??k th? provider f?r a n?w identification number ?nd card.

Shred ?n? documents w?th personal information th?t ??? ?r? throwing away. Whether ?t ?? a pesky credit card solicitation ?r ?ld bank statements, shred th?m ?n order t? protect against identity theft. Th?? w?ll h?l? keep identity thieves fr?m being ?bl? t? open a credit card ?n ???r name ?r access ???r accounts.

Avoid buying fr?m shady Internet sites. M?k? sure th?t wh?n ??? ?r? entering ???r credit card account number ?r ?th?r personal information th?t th? “http” ?n th? URL changes t? “https.” Al?? b? leery ?f telemarketers selling things ?n th? phone, ?nd don’t b? t?? ready t? give th?m account information.

J??t l?k? ??? ?h??ld b? careful ?f telemarketers, b? careful dealing w?th solicitations online ?r through email. Access sites ?f financial institutions b? entering th??r URL yourself r?th?r th?n following a link fr?m another site. Th?? w?ll h?l? prevent “phishing,” a type ?f identity theft.

Wh?n mailing ?n payments ?r ?th?r documents ?n th? mail, take ?n extra second ?nd m?k? sure th?t ???r account number ?? n?t visible through th? envelope, especially wh?n held up t? th? light. If ?t ??, ??? a security envelope ?r add additional paper t? keep someone fr?m a potential thief fr?m stealing ???r account number.

Another type ?f protection against identity theft ?? t? watch wh?n ?nd h?w ??? ??? ???r personal identification number (PIN) ?n ???r debit card. Cover ???r hand t? prevent those around ??? fr?m seeing wh?t numbers ??? press. It ?? a g??d ?d?? t? ?h???? t? sign instead ?f entering ???r PIN ?t th? store wh?n using ???r debit card.

Th?r? ?r? several steps ??? ??n ?l?? d? t? catch identity theft early ?n before ?t h?? a chance t? r??n ???r financial situation. Review credit card ?nd bank accounts ?ft?n f?r ?n? unusual ?r suspicious activity. Y?? ?h??ld ?l?? review ???r credit report each year, wh??h ??n b? done f?r free. If ??? see anything th?t ?? n?t r?ght, ??? ??n g? ?b??t contacting th? credit bureau t? g?t ?t taken care ?f.

Th??? simple steps ??n h?l? protect ??? against identity theft. B? being aware ?f wh?t things th?t ??? d? ?n a regular basis leave ??? vulnerable t? identity theft, ??? ??n d? ???r best t? ?t?? ?t fr?m happening ?nd avoid th? stress ?nd tr??bl?.

Ronnica Rothe ?? a graduate w?th honors fr?m th? University ?f Oklahoma ?nd a current student ?t Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. Sh? works w?th newcreditdebtconsolidation.com t? h?l? individuals g?t out ?f debt ?nd reach th??r financial goals.

H?w T? Protect Y??r Identity In Public Places

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Technorati Tags: Against, Identity, Protection, Theft

Posted in how do i avoid identity theft |

Tags: Bank Statements, Birth Certificate, Filing Cabinet, Financial Institutions, Identity Theft Protection, Mail, Membership Cards, Private Documents, Safety Deposit Box, Security Envelope, Shred, Simple Steps, Social Security Card, Social Security Number, Solicitations, Telemarketers, Th Url, Url Changes, Wh, Wn |

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PIN Debit News Blog: CashEdge's Risk Management Services Prevent …

March 12th, 2010 |

Author: ID Theft PRO

Hundreds of Financial Institutions Benefit from Industry-leading Risk Management Services

NEW YORK, March 12 /PRNewswire/ — CashEdge Inc. (www.cashedge.com), the leader in Intelligent Money Movement™, announced today that the Company successfully prevented more than $139 million in client fraud losses through its comprehensive risk management services in 2009. The fraud losses prevented reflect the dollar value of potentially fraudulent transactions detected and prevented by CashEdge’s risk monitoring services. Last year CashEdge moved almost $50B for partner financial institutions.

CashEdge’s risk management uses proprietary technology and the insights gathered from managing risk for the world’s largest financial institutions, to help its clients mitigate risk and decrease fraud exposure.

“As predicted, in 2009 we clearly saw a rapid evolution in online fraud,” said Amir Sunderji, Senior Vice President and Chief Risk & Payments Officer at CashEdge. “New threats have emerged and fraudsters have become more sophisticated in their approach, making it imperative for financial institutions to have risk management processes and systems in place to monitor and adapt to such threats.”

As adoption of online banking, including online account opening and funding and online funds transfers, has risen, so, too, has the associated fraud risk, especially in light of data breaches, which increased 55 percent from 2006 to 2009, as reported by Identity Theft Resource Center. This translates into increased pressure on financial institutions to act and to improve risk management.

“CashEdge’s clients and their customers have enjoyed better protection than banks that do not have access to our sophisticated risk management tools,” Sunderji added. “With forward deployment of our risk evaluation and mitigation strategy, transactions are stopped even before they are released into the network.”

CashEdge’s approach to risk monitoring, identification, detection, fraud prevention, and mitigation combines human intelligence with automation that focuses on critical points in the life cycle of a customer, account and transaction, individually and collectively. Through this process, CashEdge provides the most sophisticated risk management in the industry.

All of the Company’s Intelligent Money Movement services, including Popmoney™, its new person-to-person payments service, are supported by CashEdge’s risk management capabilities. CashEdge services are currently used at hundreds of financial institutions in the U.S., including seven of the top ten banks.

To learn more about CashEdge’s Intelligent Money Movement Services, visit www.cashedge.com.

About CashEdge

CashEdge is a leading provider of Intelligent Money Movement™ solutions for financial institutions, including mobile and online person-to-person (P2P) payments, account transfers, account opening and funding, small business applications and financial account aggregation. The Company’s clients include hundreds of leading financial institutions, including seven of the ten largest banks in the country, for which they move more than $50B every year. CashEdge’s newest offering, Popmoney™, is a bank-enabled P2P service that is live at leading banks in the U.S.

CashEdge’s industry-leading products include Popmoney™ for person-to-person payments; OpenNow®/FundNow® for new account opening and funding; TransferNow® for Consumers, which includes Me-to-Me and Third Party Transfers; and TransferNow® for Small Businesses, which includes Invoicing, Me-to-Me Transfers, Employee Payments and Vendor Payments. All CashEdge products are supported by industry-leading risk management capabilities that leverage proprietary technology to help financial institutions mitigate risk and decrease fraud exposure.

The above contains statements that are based on subjective views, opinions or beliefs of the management. The data provided herein is based solely on CashEdge’s solutions and does not relate to any specific financial institution or client or the industry.

The Company is headquartered in New York with offices in Silicon Valley and India. For more information, visit www.cashedge.com.

Posted in how do i avoid identity theft |

Tags: Cashedge, Financial Institutions, Forward Deployment, Fraud Losses, Fraud Risk, Fraudulent Transactions, Funds Transfers, Managing Risk, Mitigation Strategy, Money Movement, Monitoring Services, Prnewswire, Proprietary Technology, Rapid Evolution, Risk Evaluation, Risk Management Processes, Risk Management Services, Risk Management Tools, Risk Mitigation, Senior Vice President |

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What Are The Early Indications You May Be An Identity Theft Victim?

May 30th, 2009 |

Author: ID Theft PRO

If you have lost important identity or financial documents, such as your credit card, you are immediately at risk of identity theft. Your passport or driver’s licence, or your social security number details, may enable an identity thief to pass himself off with your identity. Your credit card may enable a thief to undertake financial transactions in your name.

If your mail appears to be getting tampered with that may be an indication an identity thief is active. If your bank or credit card statements are not arriving as normal your alarm bells should certainly start to ring. A common identity theft tactic is to intercept these statements to delay your ability to see what is happening to your financial affairs.

A strong sign of identity theft is when bills begin to arrive for purchases you have not made. Keeping these from your attention is another reason why identity thieves may take a close interest in your mailbox.

Your mail, or part of it may have been redirected to another address, either through a redirection order being lodged in your name with the postal service, or by notifying a change of address to the people sending mail to you, especially your bank. If you suspect something is wrong with your mail deliveries, check whether this has happened.

If bank and credit card statements and bills are being intercepted in this way, there are other subtle signs of a developing problem that may still get through, such as thank you letters, receipts and follow up promotions from companies you have had no contact with.

The first really serious indication you may hear of a growing debt problem is when credit managers, financial institutions, debt collectors or solicitors try to contact you. This may be by telephone if your mail is still being tampered with.

You may encounter unexpected problems with financial services, such a hire purchase, loan, credit card or mortgage application that indicates your credit status has deteriorated. You can order a copy of your credit file from credit reference agencies to see whether it shows dealings with companies and transactions that you have no knowledge of.

You may be turned down for a state benefit of some kind or social security payment on the grounds you are already receiving it – because an identity thief has already claimed it in your name.

You may find that someone has taken out a mobile phone in your name, possibly signing up for an expensive contract.

As soon as you feel there is sufficient evidence of an emerging problem you should initiate a review of your financial affairs, and begin talking to unfamiliar companies that seem to think they are doing business with you. The earlier you can detect identity theft and take action the less damage will be done to your reputation.

Posted in Bank Identity Theft, Computer Identity Theft, Corporate Identity Theft, Criminal Identity Theft, ID Theft Prevention, Online Identity Theft, What Is Identity Theft |

Tags: Alarm Bells, Change Of Address, Credit Card Statements, Credit Managers, Debt Collectors, Debt Problem, Financial Affairs, Financial Documents, Financial Institutions, Financial Transactions, how do i avoid identity theft, how to avoid identity theft, how to prevent identity theft, Loan Credit, Mail Check, Mail Deliveries, Mortgage Application, protect against identity theft, Purchase Loan, Sending Mail, Social Security Number, Subtle Signs, Tampered, Theft Victim, Unexpected Problems |

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