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| FTC: Identity theft cases up 50% nationally from 07
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| Sean C. McCullen |
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4/14/2009 - Identity theft cases reported to the Federal Trade Commission increased by 50 percent nationally in 2008 from 2007, and all 50 states experienced an increase in such cases from 2007, consumer protection company LifeLock reports.
For many, those are probably some scary figures, especially with the economy in shambles and many struggling to get by with what they have.
Centex Homes Feat Adv Click http://ads.advance.net/RealMedia/ads/click_lx.ads/www.nj.com/////ProxyLink/NJONLINE/CENTEX_NJCLICK/CentexFeatClick.html/ www.nj.com/sites/centex"Identity theft is growing," Tami Nealy, director of corporate communications for LifeLock, a Tempe, Ariz.-based company, said.
In 2000, the FTC received 230,000 identity theft complaints. That number steadily grew over the years, peaking at 1.2 million in 2008.
"I consider that an epidemic," Nealy said.
Identity theft victims often have to spend hundreds of hours working to restore their credit.
The good news is, there are steps you can take to protect yourself.
A number of computer software programs allow consumers to protect their personal information when shopping or paying bills online.
Those programs won't help, however, if someone hacks into a company or government agency's database and steals your Social Security and credit card numbers.
"That Social Security number is the key to your kingdom," Nealy said.
Nealy suggests that anyone filing their taxes electronically save their PDF tax forms to a flash drive rather than saving them onto the computer.
LifeLock, which began business four years ago today, helps consumers protect their personal information on their computers and in other areas by implementing a series of safeguards.
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Nealy recommends consumers check their credit reports every four months and take advantage of free fraud alerts available through the three credit bureaus - Experian, Equifax and TransUnion. She cautioned that the free alerts only last for 90 days, but can be renewed.
LifeLock automatically renews the alerts for its customers.
Consumer advocacy groups are pressuring Congress to stiffen penalties for companies and agencies whose databases are hacked into by identity thieves. The thinking there is that those entities would then move to upgrade their security measures, Nealy said.
There had already been 131 major database breaches in 2009 through April 3, according to LifeLock. Thus far, there have been no penalties levied against any of the universities, agencies, or businesses, including credit-card processing companies, whose databases were compromised, Nealy said.
LifeLock and those groups also obviously would like to see more identity thieves prosecuted. Currently, only about 1 in 700 are prosecuted, Nealy said.
"We need stronger laws to penalize these criminals. And we need more funding and resources to help law enforcement," she said.
If you've already been victimized by an identity thief or find that you have been in the future, you should report your situation to the FTC, according to Nealy. Just because you report the crime to your local police department does not mean the FTC will be notified.
The more the FTC and law enforcement know about identity theft cases, the more they'll be able to pick up on patterns and trends.
With many people preparing to send off their income tax forms on Wednesday, Nealy suggests delivering the forms directly to a U.S. Postal Service office or mailbox.
"Don't put it in the mailbox at the end of your driveway with the flag up," she said.
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