ID Assist E-News December 2007

As the holidays approach, consumers are more likely to be visiting crowded stores and malls. Scam artists and fraudsters know this, so they are likely to be lurking there too. ID Theft Assist offers these 5 helpful tips to protect yourself during this often hectic holiday season:

1. Clean out your wallet, purse, or pocketbook. Remove unnecessary credit cards, debit cards, your Social Security card, and other unneeded documents that could compromise your identity if lost or stolen while shopping.
2. Make sure that the credit card receipts that you receive from merchants do not contain your full account number.
3. Don't use a debit or check card to pay for your purchases. These cards typically put consumers at much greater risk than credit cards because they offer fewer consumer protections in the event of a loss. And because these cards access funds directly from your bank account, your money will remain missing while you and your bank sort out any theft, which could mean bounced checks, late fees, and numerous other problems.
4. When shopping online, make sure that the Web site uses encryption technology before you provide your personal information. Encryption scrambles the information you send, such as your credit card number, in order to prevent computer hackers from obtaining it en route.
5. The safest way to shop on the internet is with a credit card. In the event something goes wrong, you are protected under the federal Fair Credit Billing Act. You have the right to dispute charges on your credit card, and you can withhold payments during a creditor investigation. You will know it is secure if you see a small pad lock icon in the lower right corner of your screen.

Stay safe this holiday season! Please let us know how and when we can help you.

MOST RECENT COMPROMISES

October 4, 2007- Massachusetts Division of Professional Licensure (Boston, MA)
Social Security numbers of about 450,000 licensed professionals were inadvertently released. The information was mailed last month to agencies that submitted a public records request for the names and addresses of professionals licensed by the division. The division mailed 28 computer disks to 23 agencies that use the information as a marketing or promotional tool.

October 30, 2007- Hartford Financial Services Group (Hartford, CT/ OH)
Three backup tapes that contained personal information of 230,000 customers, including 9,200 Ohioans, mainly of the company's property lines, were misplaced.

November 5, 2007-Alabama Department of Public Health (Montgomery, AL)
The personal information, including the names, ages and Social Security numbers of families enrolled in the state's ALL Kids health care coverage program, were accidentally sent to the wrong families last week. 1,554 affected families were alerted that some of their confidential information might have been released.