ID Theft Solutions, LLC

01/07/2016

Tax season is fast approaching...

In a hacker’s world, January 19, 2016 is a red letter date. It’s the first day that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) will allow individuals to e-file their 2015 tax returns and if your personally…

01/14/2015

ID Theft Solutions is now associated exclusively with ID Watchdog (www.idwatchdog.com). Email me at [email protected] for more information.

Mr. Michael Greene, Mike has been the Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer at ID Watchdog Inc. since March 2011. Mr. Greene has spent the past 10 years in the data security space; first with Webroot Software, PC Tools, and then Symantec. Mr Greene has been granted two patents related to…

07/23/2013

http://www.kcra.com/news/consumers-may-be-at-risk-of-id-theft-during-health-care-enrollments/-/11797728/21008158/-/mf2mpez/-/index.html #.UeaeQpkb63w.email

As state officials get ready to train thousands of people to enroll Californians in health plans, questions are emerging about whether consumers are at risk for identity theft in the enrollment process.

04/29/2013

Providence Business News:

http://www.pbn.com/Medical-identity-theft-hurts-employers-too,88227?search_filter=durso&sub_type=stories,packages

Vicki Lee Blair, a 63-year-old former computer analyst from Westminster, Calif., had the surprise of her life. Blair went to a clinic seeking antidepressant medication. She said she was shocked when clinicians bombarded her with questions about a blood test in her file indicating thyroid problems an...

04/15/2013

Employment-Related Identity Theft Gets Harder
Posted: 04/05/2013 2:01 pm

The Social Security Administration (SSA) has now added a new tool on their web site for tax-payers to detect employment-related identity theft. Your online account, known as "my Social Security," can give you access to your yearly earnings statement, among other things.

With this account, if your earnings are reported higher than what you actually earned, you might be a victim of identity theft. In such cases, an identity thief could be earning income in your name, using your social security number.

How does employment-related identify theft work?

If an identity thief discovers enough information about you, he or she can use it to obtain employment. Where do identify thieves get their information? Many of them get it online.

A survey found that users of LinkedIn, Google+, Facebook, and Twitter experienced higher rates of identity fraud than the average consumer in 2011. In fact, LinkedIn and Google+ users experienced the highest incidence of identity fraud compared to Facebook and Twitter users.

It's safe to say that most LinkedIn users are working professionals. You might expect working professionals to be tight-lipped with personal data. In practice, it appears they are not.

Obviously, identity theft is a violation of your privacy, but in spite of that, the SSA can potentially hold you liable for taxes owed on income earned. Other consequences include denial of unemployment or disability benefits -- if the government thinks you're employed when you're not.

One benefit of using a "my Social Security" account: the SSA no longer mails out an annual earnings and benefits statements. Your information is only accessible online. Identity thieves will have one less avenue for stealing your information by getting their hands on your annual statement, which are readily identifiable pieces of first class mail.

Your "my Social Security" account also allows you instant access to your benefit verification letter, payment history, and earnings record.

Identity Theft is a Growing Business

Identity theft is getting easier, thanks to information over sharing on social networks and other places. People share far too many details about their identities, including birth dates, phone numbers, high school or college names, etc.

According to another study, of those with a public social media profile, 68 percent share their birthdate.

Identity thieves start with your birthdate. And it is relatively easy these days to determine a child's birthdate on Facebook or other social network sites. Proud parents announce baby's full name and birthdate all the time.

By doing so, a criminal has roughly 14 to 16 years to use a stolen social security number because that newborn won't need proof of citizenship for a job until they start working in their mid-teens.

The moral of the story

Be very careful with the information you share online. Check your social network profile for your full name, birthdate, home address, home phone, spouse/partner name, high school name, and so one.

And don't share your children's details either. A child is 51 times more likely to have his/her identity stolen.

04/13/2013

We've got your back:

On Assignment: Why your tax refund is becoming a growing target for identity thieves
Wed Mar 27, 2013 12:33 PM EDT

By Kate Snow
Rock Center Correspondent

First, a confession: I haven’t filed my taxes yet this year. My husband and I are procrastinators.

After working on this story, I’m more than a little worried about what we might find out when we do try to file.

For many months, Rock Center has been investigating an underworld of crime involving something that sounds really boring-- tax refund fraud. But when you see the money these criminals are raking in and the luxury cars they drive, you’ll understand why it’s one of the fastest growing crimes in America.

It’s very simple. Thieves steal your identity. Somehow they get a hold of your name, Social Security number and date of birth. (You can buy data like that on the street for $10). Then they file a fake tax return electronically using invented numbers for your income and deductions. Because the IRS often doesn’t verify those numbers until summertime, the thief gets a refund before anyone is the wiser.

Now you understand my fear. Imagine you’re a procrastinator like me. You go to file your tax return and discover that someone else has already filed in your name and received a refund from Uncle Sam. The IRS doesn’t know who to believe. So now the burden is on you, the victim, to prove you are the legitimate taxpayer.

It happened to Sheila Vosdoganes. The past four years, she said, have been nothing short of “hell."

When her accountant went to file her 2009 tax return, it bounced back with a message telling her to call the IRS. Someone had filed pretending to be Vosdoganes. She called the IRS to try and sort it out.

“They didn't really seem interested at all in my case,” Vosdoganes said.

“I was furious from the beginning because I felt like I had no outlet that was gonna give me a defined answer,” she said. “I was constantly on the phone here at work, at home. Constantly following up on it-- trying senators, representatives, anybody I could find that would lead me to a solution. And I didn't see one happening.”

Vosdoganes did eventually receive the $5700 refund she was due, but it took months. And even then it wasn’t over. The very next year, someone used her information to receive a refund again. She believes it was the same criminal two years in a row.

The IRS has made changes in an effort to help people like Vosdoganes.

In an interview with Rock Center, IRS Deputy Commissioner of Operations Support Beth Tucker said the agency has added new screening filters in its computers to flag when something might be fishy on a tax return. And despite budget cuts, the IRS has beefed up staff in the identity theft section to deal with the increasing number of victims and tripled the number of criminal investigations over the past year.

IRS agents are also trying to cooperate more closely with local law enforcement in hard hit places. In January, a nationwide sweep netted 389 people in 32 states.

But Vosdognaes isn’t satisfied. She’s nervous that her information may be used again and again to commit tax fraud.

“It's frightening because I don't know how long it will continue, when it will come back at me. And that is something you lose sleep over,” she said.

The advice from the IRS for legitimate taxpayers? File early.

I’ll have to try that… next year.

03/29/2013

http://myemail.constantcontact.com/ID-Theft-takes-its-toll-on-the-Workplace--Protect-your-ID-while-Traveling.html?soid=1109175964302&aid=CJc2fBiKryc

This past winter one of the top box-office movies was "Identity Thief," a comedy about a guy chasing a woman across the country after she had stolen his identity. The message of the movie was simple: getting your identity stolen can be funny. But try telling that to the more than 11 million victim...

03/22/2013

Who knew??:

http://www.aol.com/video/giving-zip-code-to-stores-could-lead-to-identity-theft/517717088/?icid=maing-grid7%7Cmain5%7Cdl15%7Csec1_lnk3%26pLid%3D286667

"TODAY" says giving out your zip code to stores could lead to identity theft because the stores use that information to obtain personal information. Daily Mail reported a National Retail Federation spokesperson said stores use this information to better know their customers. The Patriot Ledger repor...

03/21/2013

Facebook users risk Identity Theft, says famous ex-conman:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2013/mar/20/facebook-risks-identity-theft-frank-abagnale

Advertising Week Europe: Frank Abagnale, portrayed in Spielberg's Catch Me if You Can, and now an FBI security expert, warns of danger to children. By Mark Sweney

03/19/2013

iPhone and iPad security vulnerability

March 18, 2013

A new security vulnerability has been identified on iPhone smartphones and iPad tablets, involving malicious iOS provisioning profiles. No live examples of an attack of this nature have been found, however a proof of concept has been developed.

Provisioning profiles (mobileconfig files) control iOS settings such as network configurations. They are used by iPhone and iPad software developers to install development iOS applications on a device. Software developers use software simulators when developing new iOS applications, however at some point in the software development cycle, the application should be testing on a real device before uploading onto the AppStore. This is where provisioning profiles are used – they enable the developer to test on a real iPhone or iPad. Apple permits each developer to provision up to 100 devices. It takes only one tap to install a provisioning profile on the iPhone/iPad.

A malicious provisioning profile could alter the network configuration of the device so that all subsequent traffic from the device is routed via a server controlled by the attacker. This would enable the attacker to read the data being transmitted, including sensitive data such as bank logins, usernames and passwords, etc.

iOS has been far more secure than other mobile operating systems such as Android. Two main features contribute to Apple’s high security: application verification and sandboxing. All iOS applications are carefully scrutinised before being permitted on the AppStore, successfully excluding most malicious functions. Sandboxing ensures that each application executing on iOS is isolated from other applications and external data. This isolation limits the application’s permissions and capabilities and secures data entered into the application from other applications on the device.

It is very possible for iPhone/iPad users to be tricked into installing a malicious provisioning profile through social engineering. The security company that highlighted this vulnerability have shown how users could be enticed into installing a malicious profile in order to supposedly set their device up to receive free access to popular movies or TV shows, or to receive improved battery performance. It is quite feasible that social engineering techniques such as these would be successful in tricking iPhone/iPad users. Provisioning profiles are also used by cellular carriers, mobile device management solutions, and other mobile applications.

iPhone and iPad users should be careful when installing provisioning profiles and to only do so from reliable sources.

As of yet, no malicious provisioning profiles have been found in the wild. However, this does not mean there have not been any attacks. How big a threat is this vulnerability?
• A restriction on the extent of this threat is the 100 devices per developer limit – this vulnerability could only be used for very focussed, limited attacks.
• However, for the initial point of access in an Advanced Persistent Threat (APT), this method could well be extremely dangerous. The first phase of an APT is for the attacker to gain high level access to the system. Malicious iOS provisioning profiles may offer this opportunity.

This proof of concept has shown that even relatively secure systems such as iOS, have weaknesses and possible attack vectors. More information is here.

03/12/2013

Protect your identity...celebs are getting hacked...non-celebs like you and me are hacked every day. Enroll today & protect yourself before you become a victim. Visit us online at www.idtheftsolutionsusa.com

Are you concerned about computer hacking or having your personal information stolen? http://bit.ly/W5qwYT

03/08/2013

Waitress Handed Her Own Stolen Driver’s License By Customer

By Katie Kindelan
Mar 7, 2013 1:47pm

Courtesy of Brianna Priddy

When Brianna Priddy, a server at a Colorado Applebee’s, asked a diner ordering an alcoholic beverage for her identification, she received quite a surprise.
The woman, dining at the Lakewood, Colo., restaurant with three men on Feb. 25, handed Priddy her own driver’s license, the sameone that had been in Priddy’s wallet when it was stolen nearly two weeks prior.
Instead of saying out loud the thoughts racing in her head, Priddy calmly examined the license, took the woman’s drink order and left the table.
“I don’t know what came over me,” Priddy, 24, told ABCNews.com. “I just wanted the cops there so I had to just act like everything was alright.”
She told her managers and then called police.
“I don’t even remember exactly what I said,” Priddy said. ”I was shaking like crazy.”
“They were asking for a description and I said, ‘No, she’s sitting in the restaurant. You need to get down here now,’” she said.
When police arrived, they arrested the female. In a later search of the suspect’s car, police also found drugs and drug paraphernalia, along with Priddy’s student ID, according to police.
Making the situation even stranger, the suspect, whose name has not been released because it is an ongoing investigation, is 26 years old, making her of legal age to purchase an alcoholic beverage on her own.
“It makes us suspicious why she would use Brianna’s ID and not her own when she’s old enough to buy a drink in a bar,” Lakewood Police spokesman Steve Davis told ABCNews.com.
The woman faces charges of drug possession as well as theft, identity theft and possibly criminal impersonation, the latter three of which are all felonies, according to Davis. ABCNews.com could not confirm whether she has made bail or remains in custody.
Priddy confirmed the theft happened while Priddy was at a friend’s house the night of Feb. 13.
The wallet, which contained around $500 in cash, according to Priddy, has not been recovered.
Priddy, who has worked for Applebee’s for three years, says she has never heard of anything like this happening before. Davis, who has worked in law enforcement for over 30 years, says this ranks in his “top few” most strange criminal circumstances.
“I commend her for being so calm and composed about the whole thing when she saw her own license,” Davis said. “Most people, I think, would have had some sort of reaction when they saw their own driver’s license given to them.”