Carver Communications - Index

Carver Communications - 5.15.09 - Index

Vol.XXVIII, No.10 © Carver Communications, Inc. May 15, 2009
Identity Theft - An Issue You Can’t Afford To Ignore
By Cheryl Baumgartner
Identity theft is one of the most misunderstood
crimes there is. Identity theft
can happen to anyone, rich or poor, young
or old, living or dead. There are two major
myths that make people feel complacent
about this crime. They may not feel safe
but they feel that in the end, no major damage
will be done.
The first myth is that identity theft
is a financial issue. The truth is financial
identity theft is simply the type of identity
theft we are most familiar with. The financial
industry did a great job of educating
the public about financial identity theft.
They neglected to mention the other four
major types of identity theft. Social
Security Identity Theft, Driver's License
Identity Theft, Medical Identity Theft and
Character Identity Theft. Financial
Identity theft only accounts for about 28%
of reported cases, over 70% of the time it
will take the assistance of an attorney to
correct an identity theft issue.
The second myth is that identity
theft is a 'victimless' crime. Even if the victim
does not lose anything on the identity
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theft itself, the victim loses the out of
pocket expenses to fix the problem, which
often includes time lost from work.
Businesses also lose billions yearly to
identity theft. What about those other
types of identity theft? Being arrested on a
warrant and possibly extradited to another
state for a crime that an identity thief committed
would make you a victim. You can
be reimbursed financially but you can
never get back the time you spend in jail.
It's gone, forever.
Identity theft is happening at an
alarming rate - it's a global epidemic. So
the question becomes how are thieves getting
their hands on our information? It
happens several ways, some we can prevent
and some we have no control over.
We can lower our risk personally by being
careful. Don't give out or confirm your
information to unknown parties. We are
bombarded with phishing scams daily. No
reputable company is going to ask you for
information in an e-mail. Do not give out
or confirm information when parties call
you on the phone. Shred (using a crosscut
shredder) all documents that contain your
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personal information. Check your credit
report. Consumers are entitled to one free
credit report from each of the three credit
reporting agencies each year. That takes
care of what you can personally do. Now
about those things situations you can't control.
How many different schools have
you attended? Do you own a car and have
a driver's license? How many job applications
have you filled out? Do you have a
bank account, cell phone or utilities? Ever
been to the doctor or in the hospital? Then
all of these entities already have your
information. The average American is listed
in 50 different databases, databases that
you cannot control. So those entities must
be trusted to keep the information safe.
You want the different agencies that
hold your information to do everything
they can to protect your information. Now
think about your clients, do they give you
information that identifies them? Don't
they expect you to use the utmost care in
protecting their information? Sadly businesses
and even the government are not
doing a very good job of it. We hear of the
big breaches on the news, The Veteran's
Administration, TJX/Marshall's and
Heartland Payment Systems have all made
national news. We don't hear about the
multitude of smaller breaches that happen
on a regular basis.
The one thing that all of these
breaches has done is to trigger legislation
regarding the security of personal information.
Legislation that affects all businesses
in some way. Both State and Federal lawmakers
are looking at ways to stem the tide
and the liability is falling on businesses.
One of these items that is of particular note
to realtors is the Federal Trade
Commission's (FTC) FACTA Identity
Theft Red Flags Rule. This particular item
has been in effect and mandatory since
January 1, 2008.
Realtors may find that they are subject
to comply with this law. According to
the National Association of Realtors
Frequently Asked Questions about the
Identity Theft Red Flag Rules, using consumer
reports, extending or arranging for
credit makes you subject to the legislation.
If you regularly assist your clients by
pulling credit reports, suggesting lenders
and/or assisting in the loan application
process you must be in compliance with
the law.
While The original FTC enforcement
date was set for November 1st 2008,
the FTC has granted an extension until
August 1st 2009. However the best thing
that you can do for yourself, your clients
and employees is to consult with a
Certified Identity Theft Risk Management
Specialist. Every CITRMS is certified
through the prestigious Institute of Fraud
Risk Management http://www.tifrm.net/content.aspx?id=91.
Your consulting CITRMS
can not only present the information on the
Red Flags Rule to you, but will stay with
you every step of the way to starting the
compliance process. Your consulting CIT-
RMS will also provide the mandatory
training to your employees.
To arrange for a no cost consultation
to learn your responsibilities under
The Red Flag Rules or to start the compliance
process please call me ASAP. The
deadline for compliance is August 1 2009.
Cheryl Baumgartner, Certified
Identity Theft Risk Management Specialist,
210-317-7147