Following the Equifax breach many have asked the three Credit Reporting Agencies (CRA) to 'freeze' their credit accounts. A credit freeze is being advertised as a means of blocking all access to your credit reports with the expectation that it will stop identity thieves from setting up bank accounts, taking out loans, or other financial transactions all in your name. In fact a credit freeze will block many enterprises from checking your credit reports which should prevent identity thieves from opening new lines of credit.
What we are not told is our credit information will still be released to any of our existing creditors as well as any debt collectors who are trying to recover funds. Your Bank, your credit card providers, and any other financial institution that has a financial relationship with you can gain access to your credit information from any of the three CRAs. The problem is your existing creditors are selling your credit information. An example is Bank of America (BofA) who sends a letter to its customers every year telling how they 'safeguard' financial information. They also let us know they are sharing our financial information with their affiliates and we can't prevent this sharing. Sharing is a misnomer because what BofA is doing is selling this critical information to their affiliates. We can't know who these affiliates are and therefore don't know what their policies are concerning protection of financial information.
Currently there is no foolproof method of insuring identity thieves will be prevented from gaining access to your credit information. It is unsettling knowing our credit information is being sold legally and also illegally by Hackers; this information is everything an identity thief needs to make any of us identity theft victims.
The solution we need is the means to prevent these thieves from making use of of our identity information. The best and simplest way is through the use of the Social Security Number (SSN) registry which is a facility that allows each of us to register our SSN. The way it protects us is by allowing anyone engaged in a financial transaction to access the registry to verify the owner of an SSN. If the SSN is registered a message from SSN owner is displayed. The message can be anything the SSN owner wants, it could be a phone number to call prior to approving any type of financial transaction or it could be a requirement to enter a security code known only to the SSN owner. The SSN registry will prevent identity theft and save us billions of dollars every year.
Those who wish to register their SSN must have established their identity in the Identity Bank. The Identity Bank and the SSN registry are currently in development and expected to be available in 2018. More information is available in the book An Identity You Could Own which is available on Amazon and through Apple iBooks at a cost of $.99.
Friday, December 1, 2017
Tuesday, November 21, 2017
The Equifax Breach - What You Don't Know Will Hurt You
We all heard about the hackers that plundered Equifax and stole an incredible number of customer files. Chances are criminals now have or will shortly have enough information to make millions of us identity theft victims. But this has happened before and we have been playing the odds for many years in hopes we do not become one of the 10 million Americans who become victims every year.
What most do not know is Credit Reporting Agencies (CRA), like Equifax, supply credit information to thousands of enterprises, both government and non-government, in order to help identify customers. If you applied for Social Security benefits on line, a bank loan over the phone, etc., you may have been asked questions about your past residences, about your home mortgage, or other information that supposedly only you would know. These questions are made up based upon CRA information and for most enterprises it is their only means of determining identity.
Well now the criminals can answer those questions. The identity thieves will be able to read the answers right off the stolen Equifax file. Ironically these thieves may do a better job of answering questions than you can since you would be relying solely on memory. Do you remember the name of your mortgage holder in 2004?
So we continue to play the odds, which is a matter of waiting until it is our turn to be a victim of identity theft. But there is a solution - we can devise the means to prevent these thieves from using fake identity documents to masquerade as us and steal from us. The solution is laid out in my book An Identity You Could Own which is available on Amazon and through Apple's iBooks at a cost of $0.99.
What most do not know is Credit Reporting Agencies (CRA), like Equifax, supply credit information to thousands of enterprises, both government and non-government, in order to help identify customers. If you applied for Social Security benefits on line, a bank loan over the phone, etc., you may have been asked questions about your past residences, about your home mortgage, or other information that supposedly only you would know. These questions are made up based upon CRA information and for most enterprises it is their only means of determining identity.
Well now the criminals can answer those questions. The identity thieves will be able to read the answers right off the stolen Equifax file. Ironically these thieves may do a better job of answering questions than you can since you would be relying solely on memory. Do you remember the name of your mortgage holder in 2004?
So we continue to play the odds, which is a matter of waiting until it is our turn to be a victim of identity theft. But there is a solution - we can devise the means to prevent these thieves from using fake identity documents to masquerade as us and steal from us. The solution is laid out in my book An Identity You Could Own which is available on Amazon and through Apple's iBooks at a cost of $0.99.
Monday, November 20, 2017
Identity Fraud Impacts More Than 15 million Americans in 2016 - Up 16%
While we all hoped for less identity related fraud in 2016 it hasn't happened. According to Javelin Research, in their 2017 Identity Fraud Study, more than 15 million Americans (up 16 percent over 2015) fell victim to financial fraud made possible mostly through criminal use of stolen identity information.
You may be a recent victim of identity theft and are looking for protection from identity thieves who will likely attack again. Or you may be like the rest of us who are frightened at the prospect of becoming a victim. You may also be someone who is paying for what is purported to be identity theft protection believing these products actually offer protection from identity thieves. These products can only tell you once you have become a victim which means our only choice is to wait around until it is our turn to be attacked. Unfortunately, there is currently no solution that will protect any of us from an identity thief if the thief has enough information to impersonate us and steal from us.
The solution that will work is one that allows each of us to have our identity documents authenticated and available for viewing anywhere and anytime. Such a solution will make it impossible for an identity thief to impersonate you and steal from you. This solution is achievable and is fully explained in my book An Identity You Could Own. I'm not interested in making money selling this book which is why the cost is $.99 and is now available on Amazon and through Apple iBooks.
You may be a recent victim of identity theft and are looking for protection from identity thieves who will likely attack again. Or you may be like the rest of us who are frightened at the prospect of becoming a victim. You may also be someone who is paying for what is purported to be identity theft protection believing these products actually offer protection from identity thieves. These products can only tell you once you have become a victim which means our only choice is to wait around until it is our turn to be attacked. Unfortunately, there is currently no solution that will protect any of us from an identity thief if the thief has enough information to impersonate us and steal from us.
The solution that will work is one that allows each of us to have our identity documents authenticated and available for viewing anywhere and anytime. Such a solution will make it impossible for an identity thief to impersonate you and steal from you. This solution is achievable and is fully explained in my book An Identity You Could Own. I'm not interested in making money selling this book which is why the cost is $.99 and is now available on Amazon and through Apple iBooks.
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