From: Rathie, Ian (FUSA) Sent: Tuesday, July 10, 2001 12:59 PM To: 'Me'; JoAnn Powlus; Joanne Sundheim; Kathy Witsil; O'Malley_all; Victor Talamo Subject: FW: ELECTRONIC IDENTITY FRAUD NEWSLETTER FYI - Some good info in here... Ian Rathie VP, Information Security First USA Bank, N.A. (302) 282-2224 -----Original Message----- From: Edentifica@aol.com [mailto:Edentifica@aol.com] Sent: Tuesday, July 10, 2001 12:33 PM To: EDentification@aol.com Subject: ELECTRONIC IDENTITY FRAUD NEWSLETTER _______________________ ELECTRONIC IDENTITY FRAUD NEWSLETTER _______________________ Volume 4, Issue 5 July 10, 2001 From: e-Dentification, Inc. Voice: (717) 859-2430 Fax: (717) 627-5454 Email: Headquarters@e-dentification.com Web Site: www.e-dentification.com John F. Ellingson, Madison, WI - editor President/CEO of e-Dentification, Inc. Email Address: ellingson@e-dentification.com _______________________ This newsletter is only sent to subscribers. If you would like to receive or terminate this newsletter email: Subscribe@e-dentification.com and say "Subscribe" or "Unsubscribe". Past issues of this newsletter are archived on our web site: www.e-dentification.com _______________________ IDENTITY THEFT HITS HOME The wife of one of us at e-Dentification, Inc. discovered recently that her identity had been stolen. As a result we have put together a checklist of what to do after you make the discovery that your identity has been stolen. A theft of identity threatens your entire net worth. Outside of serious injury or illness this is probably one of the most traumatic events that can befall a person. It is important to place in perspective the discovery that your identity has been compromised. The notice you receive is typically one generated after a credit transaction or bank relationship has gone bad. DISCOVERY: 1. You may receive a demand for payment for an account you know nothing about. 2. You may receive a notice of bounced checks for a checking account you don't have. 3. You may find strange charges to or transactions on accounts you do have. 4. Each of these events reflects an event that occurred in the past. It is important to realize that by the time you get notice that your identity may have been compromised, a good deal of damage has been done and the actual event of stealing your identity information may have occurred a year or more in the past. Your strategy now, should be one of protecting against further compromise and remediation of the damage done. DAMAGE CONTROL: 1. The first steps should be to protect your current accounts. To accomplish this, your current accounts must be severed from the past and any access the identity thief may have or be able to obtain to those accounts. Assume that the thief has access to all of your past information. To make a break you have to make that information obsolete. A) This means closing every account and opening new ones with new account numbers. B) It means notifying the fraud and/or security personnel everywhere you have existing accounts. Do not accept claims from the account managers that their system is secure. There is no such system. C) Notify the three credit bureaus and the credit card clearing houses (VISA, MasterCard, Amex, etc.) that your accounts may have been compromised. D) Review all of your recent statements for the last six months for anomalies. 2. Change your phone number. 3. Notify the FBI, which has jurisdiction in such matters. 4. Contact the Social Security Administration (talk to a real supervisory person) about changing your social security number. REMEDIATION: 1. Contact the three major credit bureaus and review your credit reports for anomalies. Unfortunately, you will not be able to review credit reports that are associated with manipulations of your identity that the thief (or thieves) may be using. 2. Call your congressional delegation and complain. 3. Contact all of those that you know of who might have confidential information about you: your lawyer and healthcare providers, to alert them to be extra cautious about whom they might reveal confidential information to. 4. Steel yourself for a long haul. The thief (or thieves) may have a two-year head start on you. It may take two or more years to correct this problem and separate yourself and your records from those the thief is generating. NOTE: Due to the above-mentioned event I felt it was important to provide you with the information in this month's editorial. Therefore, I have delayed Part III, Defining A Public Policy on Privacy, of our three part series. Please look for it in our next issue. By, John F. Ellingson, Madison, WI - editor Email Address: ellingson@e-dentification.com HELP FOR VICTIMS OF IDENTITY THEFT CREDIT BUREAUS: Equifax Equifax: P.O. Box 105069, Atlanta, GA 30348. Report fraud: Call (800) 525-6285 and write to address above. Order credit report: (800) 685-1111. If you have reason to believe that you are the victim of fraud, Equifax Credit Information Services, Inc., can assist you. www.equifax.com Experian Experian (formerly TRW): P.O. Box 9532, Allen, TX 75013.Report fraud: Call (888) EXPERIAN (888-397-3742) and write to address above. Fax: (800) 301-7196.Order credit report: (888) EXPERIAN. www.experian.com/ Trans Union Trans Union: P.O. Box 6790, Fullerton, CA 92834. Report fraud: (800) 680-7289 and write to address above. Order credit report: (800) 888-4213. http://www.tuc.com/ GOVERNMENT AGENCIES: U.S. government's central website for information about identity theft http://www.consumer.gov/idtheft/index.html Federal Trade Commission If you've been a victim of identity theft, file a complaint with the FTC by contacting the FTC's Identity Theft Hotline by telephone: toll-free 1-877-IDTHEFT (438-4338); TDD: 202-326-2502; by mail: Identity Theft Clearinghouse, Federal Trade Commission, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20580 http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/credit/identity/index.html Social Security Administration Report fraud: (800) 269-0271. Order Earnings & Benefits Statement: (800) 772-1213. Web: www.ssa.gov US Postal Service Notify the local Postal Inspector if you suspect an identity thief has filed a change of your address with the post office or has used the mail to commit fraud. (Call the U.S. Post Office to obtain the phone number, (800) 275-8777. www.usps.gov/websites/depart/inspect Secret Service The Secret Service has jurisdiction over financial fraud, but, based on U.S. Attorney guidelines, it usually does not investigate individual cases unless the dollar amount is high or you are one of many victims of a fraud ring. www.treas.gov/usss Passports Whether you have a passport or not, write the passport office to alert them to anyone ordering a passport fraudulently. travel.state.gov/passport_services.html Driver's License You may need to change your driver's license number if someone is using yours as ID on bad checks or for other types of fraud. Put a fraud alert on your license. Go to your local DMV to request a new number. www.aamva.org/hotlinks.html PRIVATE AGENCIES: Phone Service If your long distance calling card has been stolen or you discover fraudulent charges on your bill, cancel the account and open a new one. Provide a password which must be used any time the account is changed. Pacific Bell fraud hotline: (877) 202-4558. Privacy Rights Clearinghouse This web site contains many publications on identity theft. 1717 Kettner Ave. Suite 105 San Diego, CA 92101 Voice: (619) 298-3396 Fax: (619) 298-5681 E-mail: prc@privacyrights.org www.privacyrights.org Identity Theft survival Kit Identity theft prevention and survival http://www.identitytheft.org/ Direct Marketing Association Mail Preference Service, P.O. Box 9008, Farmingdale, NY 11735. Telephone Preference Service, P.O. Box 9014, Farmingdale, NY 11735 www.the-dma.org End