Welcome to ME&ME, the official blog of Europ Assistance USA. A leading resource on relevant news related to identity theft, travel & medical assistance, and personal assistance services, ME&ME strives to cater to the many roles and identities people relate to, may it be at work, at home, or on the go.
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Online shopping has become commonplace, but it doesn’t mean you should let your guard down. SafeShopping.org has loads of tips to help you determine if an online retailer is reputable and secure.
And after you’ve done the security checks, CyberMonday.com has a list of the deals - good only today!
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Confusion over which entities must comply with the FACT Act’s Identity Theft Red Flags Rule has led the FTC to delay enforcement until May 1, 2009. Previously, the Rule was scheduled to become enforced on November 1st of this year.
Much of the confusion comes from educational institutions, which are not in their primary functions, creditors or financial institutions. However, if they participate in the Federal Perkins Loan Program or in other ways are “loaning” and “collecting” money to allow students to attend their programs, they could be considered to fall under the Red Flags Rule.
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President Bush’s Identity Theft Task Force released information that convictions by the Department of Justice of identity theft increased by 27% in 2007 with a total of 2,470 defendants and 1,943 convicted. That number still can’t account for the millions of identity theft cases every year, and the task force is recommending further steps by federal and state agencies to deter potential identity thiefs with stiff penalties.
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President Bush announced today that seven more countries will be added to the US Visa Waiver Program. Citizens of South Korea, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Slovakia will soon be able to travel to the US for trips of 90 days or less without a visa.
The Travel Industry of America applauded the move, saying that the impact of this move could mean one million more visitors to the US annually, with all the hotel rooms, restaurant meals, and other purchases that go along with travel.
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November 1, 2008 is the deadline for compliance of the “Identity Theft Red Flags” rules. These new rules are being required of financial institutions and creditors and are intended to help prevent identity fraud. Businesses included under these regulations will not only have to have a plan for how to respond to identity theft, but document that they know where their data is and how to protect it. More details on what these rules are and what businesses will have to do to be compliant can be found in SC Magazine.
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Does the gloom and doom of the global economy mean a slight silver lining for Americans traveling internationally? The Seattle Times highlights some of the ways the economic downturn could benefit travelers, like the strengthening of the dollar, and decreases in airfare and hotel room prices.
Budget travel guru Arthur Frommer is also sharing some attractive travel deals for those of you looking for a little escape.
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As a follow up to our last post, President Bush has indeed signed into law tougher measures for punishment of cybercriminals. (The Identity Theft Enforcement and Restitution Act of 2008).
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The Identity Theft Enforcement and Restitution Act of 2007 has been given new life. Provisions of the act were added to a bill to provide Secret Service protection to former US Vice Presidents (H.R. 5938) which was passed by the US House and Senate last week and is expected to be signed into law by the President. If made law, it will give victims greater rights and increase the severity of which some crimes are treated.
The highlights:
It’s been an interesting road for this piece of legislation, but here’s to greater rights for identity theft victims!
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Today Judith Graham’s blog “Triage” at the Chicago Tribune has two postings with tips on how to protect against and respond to medical identity theft. Sources include the Identity Theft Resource Center and the World Privacy Forum. Medical identity theft is an expanding frontier in the crime of identity fraud, and with the decentralization of medical information it can be difficult to discover and resolve.
Medical identity theft can be two different types of crime - strictly financial - where a thief tries to use your insurance to make false claims for procedures that you or anyone else never received. The trickier, and more potentially dangerous scenario involves someone using your identity to obtain medical treatment. Not only do you or your insurance company bear the financial burden for the care, but the tests and treatments done on this “phony you” become a part of your medical history, affecting your future care and ability to get insurance. Depending on the care provider, it can be a chore to get this incorrect information removed from your medical records.
Take a look at the tips and know your rights and action items to help you or someone you know facing this problem.
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The Department of Homeland Security has openly acknowledged that federal agents can now legally seize any traveler’s laptop or “any device capable of storing information in digital or analog form” without proof of illegal behavior.
In particular, the business community is expressing their fear over the fact that the government is allowing any content from these devices to be shared between “…other agencies & private groups for any reason.”
The dilemma for Congress currently is that they must review both sides of this policy. The first comes from the public, particularly “business travelers”, who say that this is privacy breach and a disruption to businesses. The second side is that this policy has taken effect in order to protect the country again terrorist attacks, which is an obvious threat that affects everyone.
Corporate risk managers have worried about potential breach of information from laptop seizures or information scans by US and foreign governments as their travelers cross borders.
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