Tag Archives: identity theft

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IRS Hacked: 400,000 Compromised

This will lead to many, many instances of identity theft.

In case you haven’t heard, the IRS was hacked. The number of taxpayers affected keeps changing, but right now it’s at about 400,000. It may go up further as more information comes out.

Here’s a decent write-up of what happened.

And here’s what you can take away:

  1. As I’ve written before, identity theft is going to be a fact of life for most people. Looking back at the data breaches that have happened over the past year (Target, Anthem, and the IRS off the top of my head), no one can seriously believe that his personal information is safe.
  2. While you can’t keep your info out of identity thieves’ hands, you can and should prepare by monitoring your credit regularly and having an action plan for if and when your identity is stolen.
  3. Since this latest hack may have exposed tax returns, expect identity thieves to choose juicier targets, i. e. wealthier people. But no one is exempt from worry.
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Latest: Scammers Posing as IRS Agents

From CNN:

You know tax scams are getting seriously out of hand when a criminal posing as an IRS agent calls one of the country’s top tax-crime fighters, hoping to scare him into sending money.
Yet that’s exactly what happened to Timothy Camus, the deputy inspector general for investigations at the agency that oversees the IRS.

Oh, the irony. 

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Identity Theft Top Complaint of 2014

Identity theft was the top complaint reported to the FTC in the last year, beating out even debt collectors. From CNN:

There’s no doubt it’s a scary situation when it happens. If a criminal gets his hands on some personal information, it can wreak havoc on your life. You might find mysterious charges on your credit card. Or a thief could file a tax return in your name, getting a bogus refund before you even know it.

None of this is a surprise. Massive data breaches that could lead to identity theft keep coming and, most recently, hackers hit insurance giant Anthem, stealing information on tens of millions of customers.

Hackers are almost always one step ahead of cybersecurity. And besides, there’s enough low-hanging fruit in the form of businesses that have your personal information on file, but don’t even bother to invest in top-of-the-line security to safeguard it. If you haven’t had your identity stolen yet, you probably will. Identity theft is increasingly becoming just another part of modern life that people will have to deal with.

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Identity Theft Your Credit Monitoring Can’t Detect

When people talk about identity theft, they usually mean one thing: someone getting your name, birthday, and social security number. With this information, they then apply for credit in your name. They keep the money, and you’re stuck with the bill (and the bad credit).

That’s the fastest way for identity thieves to make a quick buck, and your credit monitoring is your first line of defense. With credit monitoring, you’ll get an alert every time someone applies for credit in your name.

But there are other kinds of identity theft that don’t show up anywhere on your credit report and can be just as damaging. Here’s what you need to know:

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80 Million Anthem Customers Have Data Stolen

It seems like every day we hear about another massive data breach. Here’s the latest.

From USA Today:

SAN FRANCISCO – As many as 80 million customers of the nation’s second-largest health insurance company, Anthem Inc., have had their account information stolen, the company said in a statement…The hackers gained access to Anthem’s computer system and got information including names, birthdays, medical IDs, Social Security numbers, street addresses, e-mail addresses and employment information, including income data, Swedish said.

In other words, everything a hacker would need to steal your identity. 80 million people–and that’s just the latest. At this point, is there anyone in the country who hasn’t had his information compromised?

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ID Thieves Will Steal Your Tax Refund

From CNN:

Identity thieves are stealing people’s Social Security numbers and other key pieces of personal information in order to file a fraudulent tax return and claim a refund, the IRS warned Monday.

The scammers typically file the fraudulent return early in the season, beating you to the punch. And when you file, that may be the first time you learn your identity has been stolen.

What’s disturbing about this is just how little information it takes to pull off this scam, and how difficult it is to detect. It seems like every day I’m hearing about a school, university, large corporation, or governmental agency that gets hacked and has to notify people that, oops, someone stole your SSN from us. Sorry!

I’m increasingly convinced that identity theft is just going to become a part of modern life that everyone will have to deal with at some point. It has happened to me and many people I know. Even the people I know who haven’t actually had their identity stolen, have had their personal information compromised. So, it may just be a matter of time.

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Banks Want to Robocall You

From Marketwatch:

According to the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, it’s illegal to robocall a mobile phone number without permission. The American Bankers Association wants to change that, arguing that robocalls will help fight identity theft and other kinds of fraud. Opponents say that’s an overreach, one that will erode an important consumer protection.

That’s one explanation. Another is that it allows them to repeatedly call people who owe them money, like this couple. If you’re between 3 days and 6 months late on your credit card payment, the debt hasn’t been charged off yet and the banks still consider it recoverable. This window is when they like to bombard people with debt collection calls. Changing the law to allow robocalls would facilitate this.

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A Whole Bunch of Rich People Just Had Their Identities Stolen

From Bloomberg:

Morgan Stanley fired an employee it said stole data, including account numbers, for as many as 350,000 wealth-management clients and posted some of the information online.

Morgan Stanley wealth management clients are pretty well-off, to put it mildly. If this can happen to them, it can happen to any of us.

It seems like every week now we’re hearing about millions of people whose personal information has been stolen from a large corporation. If yours hasn’t been compromised already, it probably will.

This is a matter of when, not if. Many of you have already had your identity stolen (including me, which figured into how I became involved in credit repair). If you haven’t had your stolen, consider it an opportunity to get your ducks in a row and be proactive.

If you haven’t signed up for credit monitoring, you need to do so. Despite the claims of various companies that provide credit monitoring, there’s not a whole lot of difference. I use Identity Monitor from Citibank.

Watch your credit like a hawk, and if anyone opens an account in your name, contact the credit bureaus and the FBI. Fill out an affidavit of identity theft.