Identity Theft Poll
Take Our Identity Theft Poll
The ITRC, in conjunction with the NFCC, Council of BBBs, and FICO.com, is participating in a monthly online poll, assessing consumer awareness on a variety of issues. Click here

ITRC Monthly Case Load

August Contacts as of 8/30/2010: 905
August Estimated Run Rate: 948
Year To Date 2010 Contacts: 7249

ITRC Consumer Internet Transaction Concerns Survey
ITRC today announced that 87 percent of consumers who have made a purchase or bank transaction online in the past month are concerned about the safety of the personal identifying and financial information they transmit. Click here for full survey.

Agenda for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act creates a strong Consumer Financial Protection Bureau that will put a national priority on protecting consumers from unscrupulous practices in the financial arena. The Bureau will have its work cut out for it. Here are some priorities for protecting vulnerable consumers. Click here
Provided by National Consumer Law Center

Photocopiers and Hard Drives
Where IS my copy?
In recent weeks, a great deal of attention has been focused on the subject of photocopiers which use hard drives.

The concern is that public or company photocopiers, being used by consumers and businesses, capture images of the material copied....

Use of Children’s SSNs
Since the 1980’s, children in the US have been issued Social Security numbers (SSN) at

birth. However, by law, they cannot be offered credit until they reach the age of 18. A child’s SSN is therefore dormant for credit purposes for 18 years. Opportunists have found novel ways to abuse these "dormant" numbers. Years ago, the ITRC envisioned a simple solution to this problem - the Minors 17-10 Database.

If you see an ad, especially in CraigsList, selling a Credit Protection Number, credit privacy number or secondary credit number, do NOT respond. These are scams. They are either bogus Social Security numbers or ones belonging to other people. It is illegal to use any number other than your own Social Security number when requesting credit, getting a job or for any other purpose. Many belong to children who will be badly harmed in the future. AP Story

New FBI Warning
Social Engineering Scams
The IC3 continues to receive reports of individuals’ e-mail or social networking

accounts being compromised and used in a social engineering scam to swindle consumers out of thousands of dollars. Read More

Data Breaches 1H 2010
As of June 30th, the ITRC recorded 341 individual breaches

for the first six months of 2010. Unfortunately, hundreds of breaches have been veiled from the public, delayed in publication, or not listed on any public lists. The question still remains: How many breaches and victims are there?

"What’s Your Story?" 2010
Video Contest Winner Announced
The video "Overexposed" by Nicholas Chen and Edan Freiberger took the grand prize this year in the Trend Micro Internet Safety for Kids and Families "What’s Your Story" 2010 Video Contest. For more

The ITRC is proud to announce it is now listed on the New York Times Topic page for identity theft . These topic pages, compiled by reporters, editors and researchers at the Times, are a great source of authoritative online information for readers and researchers. Click Here.

ITRC Receives Congressional Award

Identity Theft Resource Center recently received the 2010 Suzanne McDaniel Public Awareness Award... Click here

ITRaC News
ITRaC News is the ITRC quarterly e-newsletter. This newsletter covers: What’s New, latest scams, news releases, product information, Guest Authors, various articles about identity theft, legislative updates and more. Q2 2010

FBI Scam Alert
TDoS Attacks
The FBI Newark Division released a warning to consumers concerning a new scheme using telecommunications denial-of-service (TDoS) attacks.

ATM Skimmers
Would you have spotted this ATM Fraud?

Courtesy of Brian Krebs

Breaches 2010
As of September 1, 2010, the total number of breaches reported by the ITRC is 488. For more information about the ITRC breach reports click here

FTC Ruling
Starting 4/2/2010, a new Federal Trade Commission rule will help consumers avoid confusing ads for "free credit reports" - which often require them to buy credit monitoring or other services - with the federally mandated no-strings-attached credit reports available at AnnualCreditReport.com , or 877-322-8228. Learn more

What’s It All About???

Comments from Victim Lisa S.
as written by an ITRC Staff Member

Microshredders
ABRA KADABRA!
Make your personal information virtually disappear! Shredders used at home and in the

workplace have improved to the point that paper documents are almost being turned into dust. The new microshred shredders are now the gold standard in shredding protection, slicing dicing each page into nearly 3,000 particles. Read More

Mortgage Identity Theft

Mortgage Fraud on Rise
Over the past year, ITRC victim advisors have been reporting a marked increase

in the number of requests for information regarding mortgage fraud. By definition, this type of fraud is categorized as "financial". As a result of these inquiries and the number of related cases, the ITRC created new ITRC Solution 28 - Mortgage Identity Theft .

New E-Scam
Individuals need to be cautious when posting rental properties and real estate on-line.

The IC3 continues to receive numerous complaints from individuals who have fallen victim to scams involving rentals of apartments and houses, as well as postings of real estate online.

Marketplace Ethics

by Sheryl Bilbrey, CEO, BBB of San Diego

Friend Finder Game

ITRaC News - Archive
Current and previous Editions in PDF or browser versions

Identity Theft Videos

Courtesy of ITRC, OnGuardOnline.gov,
Federal Trade Commission, and
US Postal Inspection Service

Shop Shield
Shop Shield is the first ITRC recognized "Secure Payment Agent." SPA is a method of protecting your personal information that allows you to remain completely anonymous while conducting online transactions. Shop Shield is offering a 90 day free trial at no obligation to ITRC visitors.

MyIDScore
Just as you would monitor your health status or your credit status, you should review your identity score to see if fraudsters may be misusing your personal information. My ID Score is a great resource for consumers who are concerned about the unauthorized use of their identity.

A Special Opportunity for ITRC Victims
A Special Opportunity for ITRC Victims Provided by Debix Identity Protection Network