ME&MEE

We may not be talking about the Thomas Crown Affair here, but some art aficionados may feel like something was stolen from them today. Art.com’s site was recently hacked and the company is warning its customers of the potential for identity theft. Also in the news, the AP has an informative article discussing errors in medical billing and points out that locating mistakes early on can help in identifying whether those errors are at the hands of the insurance company, your doctor, or a medical ID thief. And finally, we can’t help but notice that Halloween is just a few short days away. Check out this article about staying away from holiday-related spam that could be used to steal your ID. Definitely more trick than treat.

The Department of Justice released an interesting report on identity theft, focusing on the thief rather than the victim. The report found that the majority of identity theft thieves are under the age of 34, with 18% being between the ages of 18 and 24. The report also found that close to two-thirds of offenders are male and in nearly 80% of the cases, the thief worked alone. One of the biggest surprises is that fewer than 20% of crimes involved the internet. Old-fashioned dumpster diving, mail theft, and rerouting of mail through change of address cards were the most frequently used methods for stealing identities. And here we thought young people were completely dependent on technology.

It’s not often that we cheer for the folks on Capitol Hill, but when a move to protect consumers from identity theft is made, we can’t help but get excited. A bipartisan bill was introduced in the Senate that, if passed, will add to and toughen existing laws as well as give prosecutors stronger tools in prosecuting thieves. The bill defines extortion schemes that threaten to damage or access confidential information on a computer as acts of cyber crime, makes it a felony to use spyware or keyloggers to damage 10 or more computers, and eliminates the requirement that the loss resulting from damage to a victims’ computer must exceed $5,000 for prosecution. The legislation will also let victims of ID theft seek restitution for money and time spent repairing their credit history. This legislation is long-overdue and we’ll keep our fingers crossed for a quick passage. Also in the news, a NYC dog-walker has been charged with identity theft, grand larceny, and forgery when he stole over $50,000 from an elderly woman and opened credit cards in her name. The elderly woman befriended the dog-walker, allowing him to stay in her guest room rent free in exchange for walking her dog, running occasional errands, and, oh yeah, stealing from her. The walker’s bite might be worse than his bark, but at least he’ll be, ahem, kenneled for a while.

We here at Me & Me are always looking for tips that raise awareness of threats to your identity and pocketbook. The US Postal Service has launched a new campaign to raise awareness of phishing scams, such as those that claim you have won millions (for, let’s be honest, doing nothing) and ask that you send a payment as a hold on your winnings. Check out www.fakechecks.org to get tips about how to prevent falling victim to this and other scams. Also in the news, TransUnion launches its credit freeze service for consumers nationwide today. You’ll remember we talked about TransUnion expanding the service beyond victims of identity theft and senior citizens to allow all consumers to access the service. Experian will join TransUnion in November and the third of the three major credit bureaus, Equifax, is expected to offer the service soon as well. In other news, a new survey released in the UK finds that nearly half of British consumers do not trust their banks with their personal data and many are prepared to give up online shopping if it means protecting themselves from ID theft. Bet online retailers aren’t too excited to hear this piece of news.