Identity Theft Free Search Service Launched

TrustedID, a California startup company, has launched
a free search engine service where consumers can check
their own credit card and social security numbers for
theft against more than 2 million pieces of information.

While this free search engine service, in concept seems like
a good idea, wouldn't you be concerned of its potential for
abuse by actual identity theft criminals who can also access
this same information repository?

Here's why.

This new identity theft search service currently:

• Does not have any apparent CAPTCHA or automated robot defeats
• Does not require a site visitor to pass any registration or validation
• Is not provided by any of the three major credit bureaus (Experian, etc.)
• Has unwittingly made itself a huge identity theft target for hackers

So, while we applaud, in concept, this service from TrustedID to help
consumers take their own preventative steps against identity theft,
we would be a bit more bullish about the service if it provided some
more rigourous & commonly utilized defense mechanisms to protect
itself from becoming the next major source of leaked consumer
information.

The company claims in their privacy policy they do not keep the
information you input and also it's encrypted during the form
submission.

Our tip for today, then, is to merely be aware of this free
service to check out if your credit card or social security
number (ssn) to see it has been stolen. The source for the
data, according to TrustedID, is various publicly available
website forums where identity thieves traffic stolen consumer
data.

Please note, TrustedID provides this free search service as a
means to get consumers to subscribe to their paid service for
credit & account monitoring.