Medical Identity Theft Causes Man to face Home Foreclosure

In a bizarre twist of fate, an identity theft victim's
credit cards have been cancelled and his home is
facing foreclosure all because a criminal used the
victim's stolen identity to have colon surgery.

To make matters worst for the victim, a Colorado man, wasn't
even allowed to review the hospital file on him due to
federal privacy laws.

Evidently, it all begin when the victim was duped into providing
his social security number (ssn) and date of birth to verify a check
payment for his advertisement order with a trade magazine.

It appears the ad salesman who requested his SSN was actually
a career criminal out on parole who got the $44,000 colon
surgery charged to his identity theft victim's social
security number.

Months later, however, the identity thief died, after getting
his colon surgery.

But, his criminal fraud damage done to the identity theft victim
lives on.

It took the victim a full year to convince the hospital he
truly did not have colon surgery so the outstanding $44,000 bill
in his name could be waived.

"...I offered to take off my shirt to show them I
had no scars whatsoever, to prove surgery wasn’t
done on me.."

The id theft victim, also a small businessman, was forced to
take out a high interest loan for his company due to the
negative payment information on his credit report resulting
from his identity theft.

Plus, like the other 250,000 people annually who are
medical identity theft victims, they run the added risk
of the following mishaps due to the imposter's medical history
being confused with their own:

• Incorrect medical treatment
• Wrong prescriptions leading to dangerous drug interactions
• Denial of needed surgery due to previous conditions
• Inability to purchase disability or life insurance

Besides the financial ruin, like the Colorado identity theft victim,
you could also face years of hassle -or- outright life threatening
lack of service from the medical industry all because of the criminal
activity of an identity thief.

So, our tip(s) for today to prevent medical identity theft from
happening to you or an elderly loved one are:

• Get copies of everything in your medical file
• Request the disclosure of who's accessed your records
• Look for any treatments you did not personally recieve
• Get a list of all payments made using your medical insurance
• Monitor your credit report for signs of un-paid medical debts

Finally, make sure you ask your doctor's office how they secure your
medical information file containing your social security number
according to the provisions of the federal HIPAA & FACTA laws.

Special end note:

Bookmark this site or subcribe to our spam free automatic updates
as we will expose in our next episode the criminal misdeeds of
an organization which simply threw medical records in the trash
without shredding them first.

You will discover the shocking truth why this is not the first nor
last time this shameful practice takes place.

Make sure you tell a friend.

Medical Identity Theft Threats Life and Liberty

A Florida medical identity theft victim almost
became another more serious type of victim. It
seems her blood type had been changed within
her medical files. An imposter had caused false
entries into her file, like the incorrect blood type,
which could have resulted in her death as a result
of the medical indentity thief.

Or, in Boston where an area psychiatrist made false entries
in charts of individuals who were not his patients so that
he could submit false bills in their names to insurance
companies.

The innocent victims of this medical identity theft learned,
as one innocent man did, only after applying for employment
that his medical record had been falsified to include
numerous false pschiatric sessions that did not ever happen
and a diagnosis for severe depression.

And, in Pennsylvania a man discovered a medical identity thief
had used is identity at (5) different hospitals to receive more
than $100,000 worth of medical treatment. Besides the
financial burden, the Pennsylvania man now is faced with the
prospects of unraveling the five separate medical histories all
created under his name by the medical identity thief.

Unlike financial identity theft, the medical variety does not
always provide a clear path for you (the consumer) to get an
idea your personal information has been abused nor an easily
identifiable path to recovery.

So, our tip for today is to understand you do have some limited
but empowering rights. Under HIPAA, the Health Insurance
Portability and Accountability Act, you:

Right to access, inspect, and copy your health information

Right to request correction or amend your health information

Right to request accounting of disclosures of health information
(who has received it?)

Identity Thief Gets Retired Teacher Billed for His Foot Amputation

Imagine getting slapped with an unexpected and huge
hospital bill for a surgery you didn't even have.
But, when you walk into the hospital to show them
your foot is indeed intact and request to see your
medical file, both requests are abruptly denied.

While this may appear to be strange and untrue, in
fact due to the rising rate of medical identity theft
and federal privacy laws, this type of sudden, unexpected
identity theft can actually happen to you.

Just ask the 56 year old retired schoolteacher this
really did happen to recently.

To make matters worse, a case of medical identity theft
can not only bring financial ruin, but it may also become
life threatening in the not too distant future.

That retired school teacher found that out the hard way
when she suffered a heart attack. When she woke up two
days later finding herself in the hospital, she was asked
by the attendant nurse what drugs she was taking for her
diabetes.

The only problem was - the retired school teacher is NOT
diabetic.

That minor error in her medical file, no doubt related to
her previous encounter with identity theft, could very
well have turned fatal for the retired school teacher.

But, wait there's even more complications with this scenario.

You see, federal privacy laws such as HIPAA were enacted
to protect consumers from unauthorized access to their
confidential medical records by other parties.

When, an identity thief victim reveals to a doctor or
medical office their records are intermingled with
someone else, that other person's privacy is
also protected even though they are the
criminal who created the situation.

"Its not the same as a credit report disclosure"

What makes matters worse, most consumers never even
find out a medical identity theft incident has been
perpetrated against them unless an insurance company
or medical provider makes contact for an overdue payment.

So, our tip for today is to be on the guard for medical
identity theft as it's one of the fastest growing segments
in a crime of choice for the modern American criminal.

Get a copy of your medical information profile and
scrutinize the details for any discrepancies, errors
or outright trails of an identity thief using your
good name.

Besides it saving your from unfairly getting a large
overdue bill, checking your medical insurance records
might just save your life from future prescription errors.

Identity Theft Hits Lifelock CEO From His Own Ads

In response to dares posed by the CEO of Lifelock, an
Arizona firm which has run ads featuring his Social
Security Number (SSN), an instance of identity theft
fraud was successfully perpetrated against Todd Davis.

"Davis acknowledged in an interview with The Associated
Press that his stunt has led to at least 87 instances in which
people have tried to steal his identity, and one succeeded:
a guy in Texas who duped an online payday loan operation
last year into giving him $500 using Davis' Social Security
number.

Davis learned about the fraud in Texas when the payday-
loan outfit called to collect on the loan, he said. He didn't
get an alert beforehand because the company didn't go
through one of the three major credit bureaus before
approving the transaction."

The article further illustrated the danger in deliberately
provoking identity thieves to use his widely available
Social Security Number (SSN) as a publicity stunt in
promoting his company's fraud prevention services
in newspapers, on billboards, radio, & even MTV:

"Davis said it's possible driver's licenses have been issued
to other people in his name because of the widespread
availability of his personal information — and because
of what he described as the flimsy mechanisms in
place to report that kind of fraud."

Look - anyone who's been involved with studying identity
theft from more than just a cursory perspective would
readily understand that identity theft fraud comes in
many forms and there are several very serious types
of identity theft that no credit bureau's profile
report was ever set up to catch - let alone alert
you to:

Medical ID Theft - where someone uses your name and SSN
to obtain medical care often times in a busy hospital emergency
room. Besides the medical insurance problems this can create
for you, even worse your life can be put in peril as the identity
theft fraudster will cause your blood type, medicine interactions,
and allergies to be listed incorrectly on your medical records.

SSN Fraud - where someone uses your social security number
to illegally work within the U.S. which as a result you run the
potential to have the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) send
you a delinquent tax payment demand due to supplemental
income not reported on your annual tax filings. With penalties
and interest, you could easily be looking at a 15% - 20%
incremental tax bill. Ask the lady in California who was served
a demand to pay a $1,000,000 back taxes bill.

Criminal Arrest Identity Theft - where a criminal uses your name
and SSN upon their arrest to avoid any prior offenses from showing
up. The result of this fraud perpetrated against your good name,
though, is you now have just entered the vast criminal information
network. Any unpaid parking tickets or failure to appear in court
notices listed under your name will lead to a potential arrest warrant
that can easily render you time in jail and job loss.

One of our long time editors, took the proactive step to check his
public information profile and was alarmed to find out a convicted
felon in Ohio shared the same first and last name (different middle
initial).

He could have easily been mistaken for the criminal who had been
convicted of assault and battery, but had skipped his bail hearing
and was eventually apprehended.

So, our tip for today is twofold.

Unlike the CEO of Lifelock, remove your social security number
from your wallet or purse to eliminate the potential for an identity
thief to gain easy access.

Secondly, get your public information profile (pip) and review it
for any instances of whether an identity theft fraudster has
already committed acts against your good reputation
and social security number with medical or criminal
identity theft.

These simple, effective steps will immeasurably lower your
potential for identity theft.

PS: Make sure to tell a friend about this important development
in the war against identity theft scams and credit fraud.

Identity Theft Criminals Get 3 More Months Delay In Red Flags

In a law originally slated to take effect 11/1/2008, the F.T.C. has again
delayed the beginning of enforcement for a third time. The latest delay
gives identity theft criminals an additional 90 days to operate without
impunity by businesses who are required to implement the F.T.C. written
anti-fraud regulations mandated by the 2003 F.A.C.T.A. law.

Apparently, according to the F.T.C., there is still confusion
over whichbusinesses are required to comply even though
the law has been around now for over 6 years & itself was
an amendment to the much longer standing Fair Credit
Reporting Act (F.C.R.A.) which also historically defines
what firms are included:

The Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACTA)
requiring “creditors” and “financial institutions” with
covered accounts to implement programs to identify,
detect, and respond to the warning signs, or “red flags,”
that could indicate identity theft.

Examples of the type of firms which are required to comply
are:

• Finance companies
• Automobile dealers that provide or arrange financing;
• Mortgage brokers
• Utility companies
• Telecommunications companies
• Non-profit and government entities that defer payment for goods or services
• Businesses that provide services and bill later, including many lawyers, doctors, and other professionals.

While it may be considered ambiguous by these firms whether they
should comply or not, to the credit of the F.T.C., a great wealth of
resources - even including a special website - was provided to bring
clarity and guidance for implementation.

Evidently, powerful lobbying organizations such as the
A.M.A. objected to the F.T.C.'s definition of them being
included as "creditors" as early as September, 2008
even though there has been a consistent pattern of
medical identity theft data breaches the past 3 years.

So, while the lobbyists and the regulators continue to do battle over
implementing very clear legal steps to protect all of us consumers
from continued identity theft, the criminals and financial fraudsters
have been given another green light signal to perpetrate illegal
activities all the while knowing there is not much real commitment
by our government to wage an all out war against them.

As a result, our tip for today is to take matters under your own
control - especially with medical identity theft as this one of the
softest areas that identity thieves know they can exploit as
"creditors" continue to delay or outright refuse to comply with
regulatory efforts specifically designed to close the loop holes
credit reporting and law enforcement has been frustrated with
for years.

Get your medical identity theft & personal information profile
checked out today.

Finally, make sure to tell a friend or family member of this
important new development in identity theft fraud prevention.

$1.5 Million Proves Identity Theft Does Pay

Priests, an ex-cop, fathers against sons, son against fathers
medical office billing clerks, laptops containing social security
numbers, and more.

We've shared with you stories recently involving all of these
type of individuals who have committed identity theft to
illustrate how pervasive this crime has become.

Why?

Identity theft has become a crime of convenience and opportunity
for many would be criminals. What we mean by convenience is that
it's been suggested by law enforcement officials that identity thieves
now believe it's easier to steal and traffic stolen personal information
than to peddle drugs - especially by organized gangs. With the
reduced potential to getting caught and receiving long
prison sentences, identity theft presents a more attractive
opportunity for criminals to make a easy living.

Case in point, a New York man recently was indicted for his role in
an identity theft scam that defrauded several high profile financial
institutions out of more than $1,5000,000 involving home
equity loans and lines of credit. The New York identity thief
was able to secure these loans using the stolen personal information
of innocent victims living in the area. This identity thief also
fraudently purchased at least $180,000 in various goods and
services using the victim's credit information.

But, how could he have acquired the identity theft victim's
personal & credit information?

Here's one possible answer as evidenced by the recent arrest of a
postal carrier. Apparently, this lady identity thief had stolen
credit cards, checkbooks and bank statements from at
least five (as many as 12) people to whom she delivered mail to
in her area. She was arrested by police after attempting to use
one of the stolen credit cards at a local area shopping mall.

As in these two cases, we've seen an emerging pattern used by
identity thieves with the use of "data collectors". Data
collectors are individuals who typically would not raise
suspicion by lingering or even just regularly transiting a
residential area - but they also serve a double live as
friend to a identity thief. Going about their seemingly
normal daily activities, they also secretly steal
consumer's personal information for either
subsequently selling to other identity thieves
that actually use this information
to purchase goods illegally. Or, these id theft "collectors"
may selectively, but most often quickly, use their victim's
stolen credit cards (and pre-approved applications) to go
on a shopping spree for electronics or other goods they
can re-sell for a profit.

In either case, identity theft does pay for those criminals
waiting for the opportunity to steal your personal information
to commit credit fraud against your good name.

So, our tip for today is straight forward. You can
not stop identity thieves from wanting and
even attempting to steal your personal
information from every place it resides or
where it's being transported to amongst
data sharing partners.

You can, however, practice denial and detection methods as
your way to prevent identity theft from happening to you.
By denial, we mean opt out from pre-approved credit and
junk mail marketing lists. Plus, switch to on-line billing
statement delivery from your financial institutions as well
to limit the amount of your personal information from freely
circulating through the USPS mail system. Make sure to also
request from your financial institutions your right to privacy
by opting out of them sharing your personal data amongst their
marketing partners.

Finally, institute the practice of "detection" by enrolling in
credit and account monitoring as your identity theft burglar
alarm to guard against suspicious transactions or intrusion
by would be identity thieves.

Lastly, don't forget that identity theft just doesn't involve credit
data. You can also leave yourself vastly exposed to large scale
identity theft, as in the case of real estate property purchased
by identity thieves, if you haven't checked out your public records
lately as well.

Check your Medical Records for ID Theft & Fraud

Did you know that you may have a medical information
file that's centrally located for easy access by over
700 insurance companies?

Did you also know that you can order that file and see
what is contained in it?

Before we reveal this relatively unknown source which
has been in existence for nearly a century, why would
a typical consumer even care about their medical
information being effected in anyway with credit
identity theft?

Read the following excerpts as just a few examples of
how identity theft can occur due to unauthorized
access to your medical information:

''We've investigated cases where the compromise point
was the medical records and patient records,'' says
John Wisniewski, a U.S. Postal Inspector and
supervisor of the Financial Crimes Task Force of
Southwestern Pennsylvania. - USA Today

''Medical information contains your Social Security
number, date of birth and even a physical
description,'' says Betsy Broder, who tracks identity
theft for the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). ''All of
those are keys that people could use to exploit
someones financial identity, as well as their personal
identity.'' - USA Today

It can be used to take over someones identity, get a
passport or even declare bankruptcy. If an identity
thief knows an individual is close to death, they
could take out a life insurance policy in the victim's
name, naming themselves or an accomplice as the
beneficiary.

"September 15, 2004 state police have charged a New
Castle woman who worked for a medical billing company
with identity theft and making fraudulent purchases.
In June, a woman from Ohio contacted state police
about the illegal use of her social security number to
buy a vehicle in Delaware. Police say 34-year-old
Pamela Thompson-Saunders was using customers' personal
information to make fraudulent purchases, including
two cars and a motorcycle." - AP

"A temporary employee of the Dana-Farber Cancer
Institute stole patients' personal information. The
employee used one patient's name and date to obtain
$2,500 in long distance services and other phone
service." (J. Ellement, "Dana-Farber Says Patient Data
Stolen, " The Boston Globe, August 8, 2000, p. A1)

"Michelle Perez's answer to not having medical
insurance was to assume someone else's identity. That
got the Elgin woman the gall bladder surgery she
needed, but a judge Thursday decided she couldn't get
out of paying the hospital bill - or out of jail. Kane
County Judge Timothy Sheldon ruled Perez, 28, would
have to pay back Sherman Hospital in Elgin the $37,000
for her operation. She also will have to stay in jail
another 58 days. She has been in jail since her arrest
in April. She also will serve 36 months of probation. "

Source - High Beam Research http://www.highbeam.com/library/doc0.asp?docid=1G1:117473549&refid=ink_tptd_np&skeyword=&teaser=

Now that you may have an improved awareness of how
financially devastating identity theft and fraud can
impact you - using your medical records, we unveil
that little known source which can be an important
ally.

The Medical Information Bureau, also known as MIB
(http://www.mib.com), is the largest database of
medical information in the United States and Canada.
MIB conducts a confidential interchange of
underwriting information among its member life
insurance companies as an alert against fraud.

MIB holds approximately 15 million files in a central
database. MIB collects and provides information on
consumers to its over 700 member insurance companies
for use in their underwriting process.

MIB's member companies account for 99 percent of the
individual life insurance policies and 80 percent of
all health and disability policies issued in the
United States and Canada. When an insurance claim is
filed, a copy of this information goes to MIB.

Data collected by MIB may include:

• medical conditions
• family relationships
• sexual behavior
• substance abuse
• driving records
• criminal activity
• participation in hazardous sports
• private thoughts from psychotherapists
  

Note, the MIB may not have a file on you, but we
recommend you should verify it's existence as well as
the correctness of that information on you.

You can obtain a copy for free once a year by calling
(866) 692-6901 -or- by visiting the company's web site
at www.mib.com/html/request_your_record.html.

Medical Information Bureau,
P.O. Box 105,
Essex Station,
Boston, MA 02112
(617) 426-3660
http://www.mib.com

Comprehensive Identity Theft Prevention & Resolution Services Now Available

We've recommended in the past the need to utilize
multiple weapons in your fight against identity theft
fraud. Especially, now that in 2006 the odds for
Congress approving a national disclosure law have
improved which will not only pre-empt tougher state
laws, but also serve the needs of big business over
consumers.

So, it's really necessary for consumers to arm themselves
against the on-going identity theft growth trend.

Typically there's been many key pieces of the puzzle
you've needed in order to enjoy a comprehensive
defense against identity theft:

• Credit report snapshots & on-going credit monitoring
  with exception alerts
• Verification of your social security number (SSN)
  benefits and/or associated name not being used by
  another person
• Public record checks of your background to catch the
  non-credit report items; especially for un-warranted
  criminal activity -or- bankruptcy filings under your
  name
• Medical and insurance record checks for fraudulent
  claims by identity thieves
• Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) checks for faulty
  accident reports
• Bounced or bad check reporting by retailers and
  banking institutions
• And even more sinister databases used for Patriot act
  or sex offender screening

These repositories we have helped to expose these past
months are allies in your defense against identity theft.
We've advocated the use of ALL of those repositories as
necessary components of your fully empowered identity
theft prevention strategy.

However, until just recently, we were not aware of any
source which effectively combined ALL of these individual
identity theft tools into a single, affordable service which
provided you the opportunity to take back control of your
personal information.

That is until today!

We've learned of a new company, started just last
month, which is dedicated to providing a single point
of service for a fully comprehensive suite of the best
identity theft prevention AND resolution services
available within the U.S.

That resource is known as Identity Rehab, a Denver
based firm, which publicizes itself as the "complete
identity theft solution".

Identity Rehab offers an identity theft "snapshot"profile
of your identity and personal information across 13 separate
data repositories used by employers, banks, insurers, and
other companies which determine what rates you may
qualify for (or, if at all). In addition to the "snapshot"
report, they will also provide an on-going monitoring
of your profile across these disparate repositories.

Plus, as part of their positioning as a complete
solution provider, Identity Rehab also offers
consumer advocacy services for when you need
a place to turn for advice on how to correct the
many sources associated with your identity.

Combined or even selected as separate services, we
believe Identity Rehab holds the key to unlocking the
puzzle for consumers to finally enjoy affordable but
comprehensive identity theft prevention across the
numerous credit and non-credit point solutions
available today.

So, our tip for today is to check it out and take advantage
of this affordable full service solution to fighting identity
theft while saving yourself time and money.

Identity Theft Justice Extremes

In a bizarre twist to two cases of identity
theft, one perpetrator faces a life sentence
while another has their previous conviction
over turned by the courts.

Maryland's highest court overturned
yesterday a Howard County man's conviction
on identity theft charges, ruling that the
state law is ambiguous and can't be used
to prosecute someone who takes the identity
of a fictitious person.

"Two of the seven judges dissented, arguing
that legislators could not have intended the
"illogical result" of allowing a perpetrator to
escape prosecution by using a fake identity."

Crazy isn't that judges would allow a convicted
identity theft criminal to go free while in the
next case you will see the opposite end of the
spectrum represented within the same state
of Maryland.

Meanwhile, in Anne Arundel County, a woman
is facing the prospect of a life behind bars after
pleading guilty of aggravated identity theft.

It seems, according to the case investigators,
the identity thief used her victim's lost wallet
and identity to get narcotic pain medication
from 85 hospitals and health care providers
throughout 11 different states across America.

Two different cases, same state, with polar
extremes to the justice ultimately rendered
for identity theft victims.

So, our tip for today is to not count on the
justice system to always work in your favor
should you become an identity theft victim.

Take proactive care of your own financial
freedom by guarding against identity theft
from ever happening to you.

Seek out, especially for medical identity theft,
a solution to catch the often times hard to catch
criminal activity against your good reputation.

Remember, its up to you to take the first steps
to insure your chances of becoming an identity
theft victim do not need to rely upon the courts
to remedy you after its too late.

$1.4 million Identity Theft Fraud Ring Recruited Bank Employees

In a sign of the financial services industry turmoil has created
fertile ground for identity theft by insiders, a major identity
theft fraud ring was recently uncovered that stole over $1.4
million with the aid of tellers in at least 3 major banks.

According to the New York County District Attorney, the
identity theft criminals used the stolen personal information
to mostly create counterfeit checks in the thousands.

By fraudulently cashing and depositing the
counterfeit checks, the defendants stole over
$1.4 million from one bank’s accounts and
substantial additional sums from other banks.

"Victims of this scam included private individuals,
corporations, religious institutions, hospitals, and
schools, as well as city and state government agencies."

While every major retail bank in Manhattan was targeted,
the following banks were disclosed in the recent indictment
as part of an on-going investigation:

• JP Morgan Chase
• TD/Commerce
• Wachovia
• HSBC

The fraud ring would not have been as successful in their identity theft
fraund operation without the aid of bank staff.

"These employees, often tellers, had access both to the
banks’ computer systems and to large numbers of valid
checks processed during legitimate customer transactions.

In return for cash payments, the recruited tellers
photocopied valid customer checks and printed out
copies of customer profiles, which contained the
customers’ names, addresses, social security
numbers, bank account numbers and account balances."

Serious personal information used in a very serious identity
theft fraud crime - one which may very well still yet to be
fully uncovered as the investigation continues possibly
involving these additional financial institutions:

Some of the other financial institutions affected by this
group’s criminal activities are

1. Bank of America
2. Citibank, Capitol
3. One Bank
4. Washington Mutual Bank
5. EAB Bank
6. Banco Popular
7. Amalgamated Bank
8. M & T Bank
9. Sovereign Bank
10. First National Bank
11. United Bank
12. Citizens Bank
13. Fleet Bank

With the scale and scope of this latest insider fueled identity theft
fraud, this case has the opportunity to become of one of the the
largest in 2009.

So, our tip for today is to take action by not waiting for the identity
theft criminals and the banks to notify you of your financial future
being ruined.

Check out your bank statements if you transact with any of the
financial institutions listed above. Also, for the on-going prevention
of identity theft, it would be wise to institute automatic credit
monitoring on all of your major banking and credit accounts.

Finally, as your social security number (ssn) can be used in
other major forms of fraud such as medical identity theft and
arrest warrant scams both of which can put you in jail - get
your public information profile (pip) to review for these very
serious forms of identity theft that no major credit bureau
report was ever designed to catch.

Manager Commits SSN Identity Theft Against His Own 200,000 Patients

According to a November 2005 survey, 67 percent of
Americans are concerned about the privacy of their
personal health information and are mostly unaware
of their rights.

With good reason, take for example a former manager of
a California medical group who was arrested earlier this
year after stealing a DVD containing confidential data of
200,000 patients.

That identity thief was not some common street criminal
doing dumpster diving, but rather a trusted branch
manager for a medical services company servicing
hundreds of doctors.

As part of the patient data on the stolen DVD, later recovered
by the FBI, it included:

• Patient Names
• Addresses
• Phone Numbers
• Dates of Birth
• Social Security Numbers (ssn)
• Medical Diagnoses
• Medical Procedures performed

However, as in court documents obtained, we learned this
"inside man" was later revealed to have been associated
with a number of other thefts revealing a pattern of larceny
we've concluded medical data is a prime target for
criminals.

This manager of the California medical services company, for
example, was also implicated in 6 other burgularies
involving 3 different locations of his employer.

This "inside man" was implicated, according to the court documents,
as all of the burgularies involved someone with company
security knowledge such as:

• Where within locked offices was a computer database containing credit card and payment authorization information for donors?
• Which desk contained keys needed to unlock the cabinet containing computer disks?
• How was the alarm system deactivated during 2 of the thefts?

This identity thief, working as the "inside man", was eventually
caught and much of the stolen equipment and data was recovered.

But, there's no limit to the amount of damage which could have
been done had it been proven this identity thief uploaded all
of that patient data to the various online forums he
hawked his stolen goods with.

Other medical identity thieves, who evidently were never caught,
have had an even larger impact. For example, how about the 1.4
million California's recieving in-home care whose social security
numbers and dates of birth (dob) were exposed when a Cal-Berkeley
researcher's computer was accessed by a hacker.

Or, how about the 145,000 UCLA blood donor's whose names,
dates of birth, and social security numbers (ssn) were on
a laptop stolen.

As in all of these cases and many more, their common repeating
theme is one of targeted identity theft by reckless criminals
operating from "insider's" knowledge or even access to highly
confidential medical and identity information.

So, our tip for today is to arm yourself against the organizations
which may still have more careful medical identity thieves quietly
stealing your data and selling it to the highest bidder.

You have the right to protect your personal information.

Get yourself enrolled in quality credit monitoring. Make sure
you check out your medical information profile and
request your personal information from medical providers so
that you have a personal backup file just in case it's ever stolen
by an identity thief and you need to prove the accuracy of your
data.

Identity Theft Goes Nuclear causing Fallout for Months

Not until 9 months after the theft, 1,500 people working
for the nuclear weapons unit of the Department of Energy
were notified their most sensitive personal information
had been stolen by identity thieves.

Evidently, the identity thieves used, in this instance,
high tech computer hacking methods to penetrate a center
in Albuquerque, New Mexico to expose amongst other data:

• Names
• Social Security Numbers (ssn)
• Birth Dates (dob)

The only way you would have ever learned of this
incident, is also how those effected by the theft were notified -
through the Congressional investigative hearings late last week
coming on the heels of the V.A. departments massive security
breach involving 26,500,000 veteran's social security numbers
lost.

The head of the security unit at the Albuqerque facility,
withheld information of the identity theft break in
from his boss for at least 8 months. This security unit, itself
set up in the year 2000 after fears of espionage by Chinese
agents, reported to the Energy Department administrator whom
was kept uniformed of this very serious security breach
involving the 1,500 staff member's identity data.

Once again, we find a similar reason why these type of
identity theft cases unnecessarily put millions of Americans
at risk of financial ruin. For the simple reason of job
security, the people who are entrusted to protect our most
sensitive personal information are either too embarrassed or
too incompetent to admit identity thieves have beaten all of
their security procedures and policies.

Compounding the identity theft problem by seriously delaying
public disclosure merely presents an even more
lucrative opportunity for fraud to occur against
the countless victims of identity theft.

Identity thieves understand this and have played on these fears
for years, we're just now as a country being forced to admit the
problem since 2005 (Choicepoint) and yet are struggling with an
effective national solution other than weakening the tougher
individual state laws requiring prompt consumer disclosure
and credit freeze rights.

So, our tip for today, is to take a measure of added preventative
insurance for your own personal well being and financial security.
Start by getting a "free" copy of your credit report to inspect it
for any signs of identity theft such as new accounts you did not
open. While conducting a review of your status against identity
theft, also get your public information profile checked out
too.

Identity thieves have been known to file false information to
law enforcement and medical insurance providers which will
minimally get your fired from your job and or or be suddenly
dropped off from healthcare medical coverage.

The Death of Privacy from Medical Identity Theft

Imagine photocopies of checks, social security numbers,
dates of birth, & many other types of highly confidential
personal data for up to tens of thousands of former
students were not stolen by identity thieves but were
simply thrown into the trash without any shredding.

Well, instead of imagination, this actually happened in 2003
involving the University of Minnesota. The documents, though,
covered consumer data from the 1970s to the mid 1990s.

It seems, the university's Department of Healthcare Management's
independent study program office, known as the Excutive Healthcare
Study program, was the offending agent in this very serious breach
of personal data security.

"That could cause thousands of identity thefts."

The documents, estimated to be as many as 300 boxes worth, sat in
an open trash bin before being subsequently dumped in a public
landfill where anyone could just pick up this type of sensitive
consumer data:

• Social Security numbers (ssn)
• Dates of Birth
• Checking account numbers
• Legal signatures on checks and applications
• Home addresses
• Telephone numbers
• Patient Medical histories
• Student grades including ssn

But why would someone simply throw into an open trash
bin sensitive consumer data most associated today with
rampant identity theft and credit fraud?

Expediancy is the answer then as it is now.

You see, businesses do not like for their employees to waste time
on non revenue producing tasks. With the pace of business today
and it's resulting premium placed on profit at any costs, you will
find a "take any action - even it's the wrong action" mentality
which is common in most companies. As an example, remember
Enron as one of the more aggregious offenders of expediancy
and out of control profit seeking we've seen in recent years.

Within this type of business climate, is it any wonder that
some old, moldy boxes of records no one really cared about
could easily be disposed of in an open trash bin?

Here's three big reasons why someone at the University of
Minnesota or any other current day would be offender will
want to care about how they dispose of sensitive consumer
financial and medical data:

1. GLB
2. FACTA
3. HIPAA

These three acronymns are federal laws which were
enacted specifically to protect the privacy of
consumer data after past incidents of abuse became
so widespread that our U.S. Congress was forced to pass
new legislation to stop those business practices deemed
to be outright harmful to Americans.

But, you will find as we expose throughout this month,
organizations continue to commit acts of improper
records disposal - especially medical data because
there has been very little real enforcement of
those laws with active monitoring.

So, our tip for today is to demand your rights under federal
law to have organizations which maintain your documents
containing your social security number (ssn) and medical
information to shred or burn them before disposal.

For any organization to fail to do so is subject to
fines, penalties, and even lawsuits.

2 in 3 Americans Concerned over Personal Health Info

This year has seen a record level of company
disclosures associated with consumer personal
information and identity theft. Typically involving
social security or banking account numbers being
exposed, the common perception has been focused
toward financial institutions and their affiliated data
partners as the prime culprits.

Most consumers are largely unaware of their privacy
rights related to medical records privacy and their
protection against identity theft and social security
number fraud.

Yet, two thirds of Americans are concerned over the
privacy of their personal medical records according to a
recent national survey conducted by Forrester Research.

No doubt, fueled by recent high profile stories where
investigative reporters have uncovered instances of
private medical records being dumped in trash
containers available to anyone passing by.

No wonder, identity thieves often go "dumpster diving"
for information they can use to steal your identity,
your credit, and your money.

Case in point, a Lubbock, Texas medical facility
evidently discarded patient documents into dumpsters
behind their offices without shredding them first. The
types of personal information available to any would be
identity thief ranged from social security numbers,
addresses, to even specific diagnosis. Just enough
personal information to fill out a credit card application
or attempt to get "instant credit" under the victim's
name in most major department stores.

Or, how about in Detroit where medical records were
found 10 days ago behind a shopping center by a pedestrian.
Some of the medical information contained social
security numbers (SSN) which could be used by identity
thieves.

And, an un-named hospital that discovered a nurse was
accessing medical records of local politicians and
civic leaders. The nurse was fired, but there was no evidence the
hospital ever disclosed the personal information breach to those
consumers who were exposed.

Further, the personal information of approximately
2,800 Ohio State University Medical Center patients -
including names, addresses, phone numbers, birth
dates, Social Security numbers and why they were
making appointments were posted on the Internet in
April, 2004 as reported by the Columbus Dispatch.

Finally, where the California state Department of
Managed Health Care levied the largest fine for a
privacy violation against Kaiser Permanente Northern
California for leaving sensitive patient information
on a publicly accessible Web site. The names,
addresses, phone numbers and lab results of about 150
patients were posted on a Kaiser site ``for up to four
years'' before a disgruntled former worker blew the
whistle on the privacy breach.

HIPAA, the federal Health Insurance Portability and
Accountability Act, lists 19 identifiers, or pieces of
personal information which are considered "protected"
in a health care setting.

Those include:

• Your Name
• Address
• Date of Birth
• Social Security Number (SSN)
• Diagnosis
• Date of your Appointment
• and more...

HIPAA does not require there to be any notification to
patients whose personal data is exposed to identity
theft due to lax disposal practices.

What can you do about it?

Consider only selecting healthcare providers
who can actively demonstrate to your satisfaction
their confidential medical records protection and
disposal practices.

Learn more about your rights to medical privacy
especially related to protection of your billing
information or to file a complaint by calling this
toll free number below:

1-866-627-7748

Lastly, institute a comprehensive credit monitoring and
(PIP) personal information profile scan as an early
warning system to protect you and your family assets
from the damages resulting from identity theft fraud.

Identity Theft for Cosmetic Surgery

In an unusual new update to our recent series on
medical identity theft, a California woman paid for
her cosmetic liposuction surgery using the stolen
identity of another woman.

Apparently, this identity theft criminal was successful
in not only getting over $5,000 of liposuction surgery,
but also managed to secure "several" post surgery
appointments.

This woman identity theft was caught, however, by authorities
after completing a finance request to pay for the surgery.
Also, having a distinctive tattoo evidently lead investigators
to identify this vain thief from her past arrests.

So, our tip for today is to be on guard with your credit beyond
what most consumers consider are typically card fraud related
incidents of identity theft.

Because there are many ways, like this identity theft
liposuction crime, your credit can be accessed without
your authorization it's prudent for you to consider credit
monitoring. Active credit monitoring can alert you via wireless
or email alerts when suspicious activity first takes place given you
the necessary time to limit or even prevent extensive damage to
your credit.

Plus, to find the often times hidden, past incidents of non-
credit report damage such as liens or court judgements
resulting from criminal activity committed in your
name, get your personal information profile (pip).

You will be shocked to know the volume of information on file
with your public information profile that presents over 400 ways
an identity thief can easily ruin your good name. Any one of
those 400 ways can cost you your job, force you to pay
higher auto insurance, or even land you in jail.

$2.1 million Identity Theft Ring Hits Fed Chairman Bernanke

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's wife was
among the victims of an identity theft ring responsible
for over $2 million in fraud perpetrated by an "inside"
accomplice working for two D.C. area physicians.















In all, prosecutors say, the conspiracy ensnared
500 victims and accounts at least 10 financial
institutions.

During her year as the doctors' receptionist, Leake met
with Gray 20 times, she admitted. At each meeting she
handed over patients' information gleaned by photocopying
personal checks, and retrieving their birthdays and Social
Security numbers from files. In return, Gray paid Leake
between $200 and $500 for each victim's information.

Gray then took that information and used it to create fake
Maryland driver's licenses containing a victim's information
with a picture of another member of the conspiracy, court
documents said. The pictured co-conspirator then used the
bogus license to drain cash from bank accounts, sometimes
by cashing checks stolen from other victims by pickpockets.

Medical identity theft continues to be an effective way for
credit fraudsters to steal your hard earned money. It doesn't
matter how rich and powerful you are, as in the case of Chairman
Ben Bernanke and his wife.

So, our tip for today is to make sure you take the time to contact
your banks & credit card companies to get enrolled in automatic
credit monitoring for your accounts. Also, to safeguard against
medical identity theft which is not by design the purpose of credit
reporting, get your public information profile (PIP) reviewed for
any past or future instances of fraud using your good name.

Identity Theft Made Easy

Warning this is satire and
not an endorsement
for identity thieves.

Why stick up banks, sell drugs, or
commit other crimes sure to
land you behind bars for lengthy
prison sentences; instead try
identity theft.

Here's why.

There exists a virtually limitless
supply of potential victims - in
the U.S. alone there has been over
80 million Americans who's data
has either been outright stolen,
lost, or breached by unauthorized
individuals in the past year and
a half covering 130 separate
incidents. And that's only the
ones that have been disclosed.

Don't worry about getting caught
or going to jail either. It seems
in most cases by the time the
victim figures out they've been
stung by identity theft, there
won't be anyone to around to arrest.

Plus, even with the rare chance
you happen to get caught by police,
who are simply too overwhelmed with
with investigating drug peddlers and
violent gang members and murderers
to have the time for identity theft,
you most likely recieve a minimal
amount of jail time (if not probation).

Rob a 7-11 store with a gun and only
get away with $50, you'll do 10 years
minimum in many states. Steal someone's
identity and commit credit fraud to
the amount of $2,500 or more and maybe
you may recieve a maximum of 2 years.

Do the math, your risk is lower and
the profit is much higher being an
identity thief than certainly a drug
dealer.

Now that you see the easy money potential
to identity theft, here's how you can
easily commit this crime.

First, you get a job for some large company
or even a medical office. Any lower level
job will do, preferably a clerk in billing
or human resources - you know the kind of
jobs which promise long hours of menial
tasks - for a minimum wage.

But, then there is the upside to what on
the surface may seem like a dead end job
for a large company - which will most likely
lay you off the first opportunity arises
to replace you with a cheaper hire or with
another wonder computer. You see the real
upside potential for you lies in all that
personal data you have access to.

The kind of personal data that's highly
confidential such as social security numbers
(ssn), date of birth, full legal name, &
mother's maiden name. You know, all the
kind of highly sought after personal data
that your friend of a friend will gladly
pay you up to anywhere from $25
to $100 per person to steal from.

All you have to do to realize your big
payday (and not from actually working for it)
is to do any of the following to liberate that
data from your employer's premises:

Print the detailed employee list and simply
throw it in the trash scheduled to go into
the dumpster that night.

Show your boss what a hard worker you are by
taking a laptop home with all that unencrypted
data (including social security numbers) but
make sure to call your criminal friends ahead
of time so that you can conveniently arrange
to have the laptop "lost" or "stolen" from
your car or home by a "random" act of theft.

Don't worry about getting caught, unlike robbing
a bank or that 7-11 store, there most likely are
no surveillance cameras around to capture your
act of identity theft. Plus, if your company
ever does figure out (likely months later) it
was you, they will cover up the act completely
or delay for weeks releasing any victim warnings
for fear of public embarassment and potential
class action law suits.

Congress, even helps your company cover it up
as they have not acted in the past year with
any national law requiring companies to issue
timely disclosures of security breaches being
mandatory. Understand, your Congressman is
far too busy soliciting campaign contributions
and all expense paid golf junkets from those
same large companies who want to continue to
keep consumers utterly in the dark about just
how lax their personal data security has been
for years.

And you, as the would be identity thief, finally
do not need to worry about those victims you've
stolen their identity from. Until recently, most
identity theft victims did not know their rights
to get a free credit report each year or where to
check out their public records for any of the
tell-tale signs you've committed identity theft
against them.

So, go ahead steal those identities.

It's so easy...practically anyone can do it...and
have.

Priests, ex-cops, teenagers, mothers, and more
already have!

1.3 Million Personal Identities Exposed by Ohio Officials

Identity thieves had worldwide internet access to the
following routinely posted personal information of
over 1 million Ohio residents:

• Tax documents
• Medical records
• Land disputes
• Tax liens
• Civil lawsuit
• Traffic tickets
• Bank account balances
• Bank account numbers

Federal authorities had uncovered a 8 person identity theft
ring which had operated across five states including Ohio
by accessing a local county court house website in Cincinnati.

Here's the irony --- the local government officials believed
they were complying with Ohio's Open Records Act by routinely
posting confidential information on their website ----
including over:

• 450,000 documents containing social security numbers (ssn)
• 320,000 traffic tickets (name, addr, & dmv number)
• 600,000 domestic-relations filings (names & addresses)

The identity theft ring used the stolen identities to scam
banks and retail department stores with phony credit cards and
faked checks in:

1. Ohio
2. Kentucky
3. Michigan
4. Indiana
5. Georgia
6. Tennessee

According to the Secret Service agent that was part of the
investigative team which cracked the identity theft ring, the
thieves looked for addresses, names and Social Security
numbers (ssn) from middle-class and upper-middle-class areas.

The thieves could get everything they needed from the
court house website for identity theft & fraud:

• Date of birth,
• Physical description
• Social security number (ssn)

This exposure is not directly related this week's furor over Ohio
Secretary of State Ken Blackwell whose office appears to also have
placed thousands of Social Security numbers (ssn) on its
Web site.

But here's the similarity: Blackwell's records are also public
documents compiled in the routine course of business which are
made readily available to any consumer, business, or identity
theft ring still operating.

Combine these willful security breaches with the issue of
2,600,000 registered drivers in Ohio carry licenses
containing their social security number along with
their full name and address --- identity theft criminals
apparently hold a sizeable advantage over consumers.

That is, unless you fight back against the identity thieves and
careless public officials by considering these simple steps as
our tip for today (especially if you live in Ohio):

Contact your local representative to demand your personal information
be removed or redacted from public documents before posting to the
internet or even general public access.

Scrutinize your most current credit report for any obvious signs
of identity theft or linked inaccurate information harmful to your
credit rating costing you higher interest rates & potential job
loss.

Adopt an automatic monitoring service for all of your banking,
credit card, & credit bureau data to catch early indications of
identity theft being committed against you and your loved ones.

Conduct a public records (liens, DMV, criminal,& property) search
for any court ordered judgements against your name.

Finally, verify your medical information profile does not contain
an "unknown evil twin" falsely filing claims which will increase
your premium cost higher.

Identity Theft by Car Salesman and Blood Donorship

Imagine taking a test drive in that
cool new car you've had your eye on...
which leads to your personal identity
being stolen and used to commit financial
fraud.

That's right fellow law abiding citizens,
identity theft from seemingly harmless
activities.

As identity theft has shown from many
of our past stories to be a crime which
is committed by a ever widening cross
section of America, our latest installment
sheds light on two new lows by opportunistic
criminals.

First, a car salesman in suburban Chicago
has been charged with felony financial
identity theft by authorities after a
search warrant of his home reveals documents
showing another man's personal information
was used to setup cable, Internet and
telephone services.

The identity theft victim's confidential
information apparently was stolen by the
car salesman when he leased a vehicle from
the Lexus dealership.

Evidently, there's now a new way for you
to get ripped off by an auto salesman.

Our second story involves an identity thief
who abuses the trust and good will of blood
donors in a St. Louis, MO suburb. It seems
a former employee used the social security
numbers of donors to make unauthorized credit
card charges on their accounts prompting the
local Red Cross to send letters to "a few
thousand" blood donors warning
them to "potential" identity theft.

These two stores point out how anyone can
now become an identity theft victim from
seemingly innocent normal tasks such as
shopping for a new auto or being a blood
donor.

So, while we don't advocate to stop giving
blood or auto test drives, our tip for today
is to question organizations you come in
contact with for how they will safeguard
your personal information. Ask if their
employees with access to sensitive
consumer financial information
are required to be bonded and/or
insured? Do they conduct criminal
and background checks on potential
employees?

Remember you have the right to choose who
to transact with and companies (or even
other entities such as medical or
educational facilities) that can not
demonstrate to your satisfaction basic
information security procedures, simply
do not deserve your business.

Finally, check out your current credit
and public record profiles to make sure
everything is clear as identity thieves
tend to copy successful scams from other
parts of the country.

Identity Theft Prevention Ask your Doctor..

In some states, the practice of "don't ask, don't tell"
seems to be the business rule for identity theft
disclosure to consumers.

Earlier this year, the personal data of 185,000
current & former patients of the San Jose Medical
Group were put at risk for identity theft when the two
computers which housed the information were stolen.

Because the medical group was located in California,
which has a disclosure law, the consumers received
letters notifying them their social security numbers
(SSN) and confidential medical information had been
inadvertently exposed to identity theft.

Yet, if that same medical group was located in a
different state where there was either no disclosure
law or even one which held exemptions for medical
providers, the consumers at risk would've had to find
out first they've been victimized before they could
even inquire.

So, today's tip is ask your medical provider what
steps they utilize to lock up at night and secure your
sensitive personal information. As always, though, we
further recommend you incorporate into your
id theft prevention strategy a multi layered
monitoring solution (see our recommended resources
section for a few great options).