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The following true story regarding identity theft points out an example why it is so important to get a copy of your credit report at least once a year. I know it’s all real, because it’s someone else’s credit that is being destroyed, right in front of my face. I’ve carried out everything possible to help, all to no avail.

Here’s how it started. About 3 months ago, I started receiving credit card offers for a person that lived at my address 8 years ago. I thought it strange and had some questions regarding how this had just started up, but I just threw the credit card offers away.

Then two months ago, I started to receive paperwork from a welfare type of health agency. Pondering what it was all about, I opened the letters to see if I could fix the problem and get that info to the right person. It turns out a letter stated that “they were trying to get more information regarding the insurance benefits that were recently applied for.” Right away, I knew it was someone trying to cheat the system that our taxes pay for.

I notified the police and an officer showed up quickly. I gave him some of the credit card offers and one of the insurance letters. He gave me a case number and his name, in case anyone needed to call him. I also went to the FTC website and filled out the form and I went to the Direct Marketing Association and filled out their form to stop any mail offers to this other person at my address. I haven’t heard a word back, but I continue to get the letters about insurance and a delinquent loan.

So I called the department that handles this “free” insurance (the insurance that all the rest of us pay for). I was predicting that after I told them it was a case of “identity theft,” they’d do something right away, but they merely didn’t care. Their response was, “well we will just get in touch with them at this other address we have.” I was expecting that the government office would immediately cut off benefits to this phony person, but instead they just wanted to find a way to continue the benefits flowing no matter what. So someone that is using a different person’s name (and that other person’s actual social security number) is receiving benefits free and clear from the government, all benefits that the rest of us pay for.

And yesterday, I got a notice from a bill collector in New York. They were collecting on an unpaid debt from Bank One, and of course it was in the name of the identity theft victim. I knew for sure that when I called and told them it was an identity theft scam, that they’d want the police case number and then they’d go after the “fake” person. Instead, they did not want any information about the identity theft, but said they would find the “right” person with the social security number and get their money from them that way. Imagine the surprise of the person who is having someone else use their social security number. I have a feeling that many more of those types of collection letters will be coming to my address.

My frustration stems from the fact that I’ve done everything I could think of to help someone else who hadn’t even lived at my address for 8 years. I have no way of getting a hold of this person or I would have told him as soon as I discovered the identity theft matter. This person is not aware that someone else is using their name, their previous address and their social secuity number. When the victim applies for credit or for a job, he’s going to be in for a “shock” when he gets declined because of several bad debts that were never his.

That’s why each of us should check our credit report and look for any suspicious activity. We all have past addresses and if someone gets our past address and social security number, we may not ever hear anything about it, until it’s too late. With credit, if you catch a problem early, the credit report can be corrected and the identity thief will just move on to someone else. If not caught early, there could be several items of someone else’s derogatory credit to fix on our report, and it can be costly in terms of time and money.

It is my hope that by providing this information, that someone else may benefit and not have to go through extensive identity theft correction. I also want to improve awareness that all those welfare programs we pay for are being used by people who are not who they say they are (and the welfare office here doesn’t seem to be concerned).

Copyright (c) 2006

Jessica Deets writes about information of interest to help people. There’s more news and information about identity theft at the website at http://www.BestIDTheftNews.com

We have heard a lot about consumers’ personal information getting into the hands of identity thieves. More and more people are taking steps to minimize their exposure to such theft by reducing information on personal checks, refusing to share social security numbers with just anyone who asks, being prudent in their use of credit cards, and shredding “junk” mail that might allow another person to pose as them. However, we can do little to protect ourselves against lackadaisical security methods or unscrupulous business practices.

Because recent reports confirm that personal information continues to fall into the wrong hands, consumers have become increasingly concerned about how companies handle their personal information. But consumers can only do so much; then it’s up to businesses to provide their customers with privacy policies that will ensure their information is handled appropriately and secured from the hands of would-be opportunists, as well as outright crooks.

How can this be accomplished? As business owners, managers, or supervisors, we need to establish and enforce effective company privacy policies. These polices should outline the handling, reviewing, storage, and destruction of customers’ personal information, as well as that of employees. Once privacy polices are drawn up, they must be carried out. All employees should be trained in the handling of sensitive information.
When employees obtain personal information from customers, several questions need to be asked. Who is allowed to handle it? How long will the information be unsecured? Can information viewed on computer screens be seen by others? How will the information be secured? Who will have access to it? How long will it be kept, and when will it be destroyed?

Establishing strict information handling procedures may be cumbersome. However, they are necessary if we are to gain and keep the confidence of our customers and our employees. Review the following privacy policies that should be established and practiced by every business.

• Adjust computer screens so customer information is not visible by anyone standing in close proximity. If the screen cannot be moved, place something in the line of sight to block unwanted viewers. Hanging plants, room dividers or frosted glass can block the view.

• Computers should be password protected. When an employee leaves his/her computer, it should always be secured and protected by a password. Even if you leave your computer for just a few minutes, unsecured information could be accessed by anyone passing by.

• Customer files should never remain unattended on a desk that can be accessed by customers or unauthorized employees (including cleaning or maintenance staff). Files left unattended can be quickly viewed and documents stolen or copied. Files should always be in a secured drawer or locked room when not in use.

• Customer information should be secured as quickly as possible. Once information is obtained from a customer, the document or program should not be left unattended. Secure all information before servicing another customer.

• When customer information is secured, assign specific employees who will have access to the information. The more employees who have access to the information, the more chances exist for misappropriation. Don’t tempt employees with the access if they don’t really need it.

• Don’t discuss customer information when other customers or employees are able to hear. When requesting information from the customer, have the customers write it down for you. Once you are finished with the written information, it is very important that you hand it back to the customer. This way the customer can dispose of it, and there are no concerns that the written information is intentionally or inadvertently passed on to someone else.

• Don’t leave outgoing mail out over night or over the weekend. Mail or any other documents that are waiting in an “out box” can be easily access by cleaning, maintenance, or service staff, as well as by children or friends of employees. Keep outgoing items secured until pick up time. A central location should be designated for such items during the week. Often items placed with other out going mail or documents are quickly forgotten, that is, until the recipient notifies you that the document has not been received. The more time that has lapsed between sending and receiving the mail or documents, the less likely you will be to locate them.

• Documents waiting to be shredded should be in a secure place. Many offices use a box under each desk, where documents are thrown until the end of the week. This system provides easy access to documents that are seldom noticed if they go missing. Shred bins should be locked or kept in a locked room. Larger bins are often used to store documents until a document disposal company takes them. These bins should also be locked or kept in a secured area.

As employers, we often obtain information from Consumer Reporting Agencies (CRAs), to help with our hiring decisions. The Fair and Accurate Credit Transaction Act (FACTA) places emphasis on the accuracy of information, and under new FACTA provisions, any business that uses consumer reporting agencies must adopt proper disposal procedures for the information obtained.

Consumer Reporting Agencies are not just “credit” reports issued by one of the three major credit bureaus. Consumer reports include medical records or payments, insurance claims, employment history, check writing history, and residential or tenant rental history. There are several companies that specialize in providing reports for specific purposes. FACTA defines companies that issue non-credit reports as “nationwide specialty consumer reporting agencies.” Consumers may request a free annual report from any of the specialty CRAs.

FACTA also says that receipts for credit and debit card transactions can include no more than the last five digits of the credit card number and expiration date. If you are using a merchant processing machine check to make sure the program is not printing the entire number. If it is, call your provider and request the program be updated to comply with FACTA. Noncompliance could result in fines.

Take steps now to ensure that your merchant processing program will not print the entire credit/debit card number. This does not apply to merchants who only accept handwritten or imprinted card information. This method creates its own problem of securing the consumers card information at all times.

What all this boils down to is that we, as employers, business owners, managers, and supervisors need to make a greater effort to provide our customers with the peace of mind that their identities and their information are safe with us. All of our employees need to handle customer information with care and respect that is apparent to all customers. Without our help in the secure handling of the personal information of our customers and employees, the fight to stop identity theft and fraud will continue to rage. We need to be smarter than the crooks by eliminating their means of obtaining information.

Who knows, the next customer to have information stolen might just be you.

Cindy Schroeter Graham
Identity Theft Prevention Coach
WhoElseIsYou@easyas123.biz
http://www.WhoElseIsYou.com

Cindy is the author of the book, “Who Else is You?” In it, she outlines strategies on how to reduce the risk of becoming an identity theft victim. An expert who has studied current identity theft trends and has been presenting Identity Theft Prevention seminars since 2002, Cindy understands the risks of business owners and consumers when it comes to the exposure of personal information. For more information on her speaking, consulting or book, please visit: http://www.whoelseisyou.com or call 970-285-1581 or email Cindy@easyas123.biz.

Contrary to popular opinion, RSS is not only good for delivering content from your blog, although blogs are what made RSS so popular.

In fact, RSS can be used to deliver a great variety of content and content types. If you can break down your content in to individual stories or individual pieces, you can deliver it via RSS.

Just to give you an impression of the power of RSS, here are some examples of content you can publish using it …

–> MarketingVOX is using RSS to deliver internet marketing news to their readers as it becomes available. Instead of having to wait to receive all the news in a single e-mail newsletter, RSS users get them as soon as they are ready.

–> Amazon.com is using RSS to announce their bestsellers and to help their users keep track of releases they are most interested in.

–> Some affiliate managers already communicate with their affiliates using RSS. You can of course use it to communicate with any other target audience as well, such as your employees or team-members, and even your company owners.

–> FindSavings.com uses RSS to deliver savings coupons and related information.

–> Lockergnome uses RSS to provide visitors with the latest downloads and relevant software. Yet again other companies are using RSS to deliver product updates and patches directly to their customers, just as they become available.

–> A few hundred content publishers are using RSS to deliver audio content, such as .mp3 interviews and even “radio” shows.

–> Textamerica.com allows people to post pictures, videos & text from their mobile phones and then make this content available via RSS feeds.

–> Other companies are using RSS to deliver whitepapers and other educational content.

–> One company uses RSS as a consulting billing awareness tool. The consultants create activity reports and the RSS feeds from the activity channels carry the billable information to the accounting staff for invoice preparation.

–> Many internet publishers are using RSS to deliver their newsletters, as a supplement to their e-mail delivery. Since many people no longer want to give their e-mail address away to publishers, this is a great way to keep your e-zine readership growing.

–> Publish living digital catalogues of your products and provide your customers with your latest product releases, broken down by the categories they’re interested in, and make it easy for them to order.

–> Provide your affiliates and marketing partners with RSS feeds they can promote to their visitors to better promote your products and still make a commission. Amazon.com is already doing it. When are you starting?

–> Create RSS autoresponders with scheduled messages, to keep in constant “marketing” contact with your prospects and slowly get them to the point of purchase.

–> Provide limited-access content to your customers, employees, team members and even investors, without fearing other unwanted eyes. Use RSS for internal communications, teamworking and other needs.

–> Provide your customers with easy access to software updates, delivered to them exactly as they become available, without the fuss of having to visit your web site or deal with huge e-mail attachments, which would get blocked by spam filters anyway.

–> Newsreporters are constantly bombarded with e-mail, so why not instead deliver your press releases via RSS? Or even better yet, why not deliver some of your releases as video comments, interviews or statements from your company managers or owners?

–> Help your visitors keep up with what’s going on in your web forum, by publishing your latest forum posts or whole threads via RSS.

And yet these are still only a few examples of what you can do with RSS today, since something new comes up almost every day.

Are you as well already among those taking advantage of the marketing & publishing power of RSS?

Copyright 2005 Rok Hrastnik

Rok Hrastnik is the author of Unleash the Marketing & Publishing Power of RSS, acclaimed as the best and most comprehensive guide to RSS for marketers by leading RSS experts. The complete guide on RSS for marketers: http://rss.marketingstudies.net/index.html?src=sa3