passport identity theft in sandy springs, ga Wednesday, May 7 2008

The eagle eyes over at attrition.org  (gotta love these guys) spotted this passport information identity theft scheme reported just minutes ago by WSB radio:

http://wsbradio.com/news/050608visascam3a.html

 

 

Atlanta Visa Service Scam

6 May 2008

 

(WSB Radio) — The FBI is in the process of notifying as many as 1,000

customers of a metro Atlanta visa service that they may been been the

victims of identity theft.

 

An employee of International Visa Service in Sandy Springs has been

arrested and charged with stealing the personal information of people

who were applying for a passport. Warren Fowler is accused of sending

the information to his brother in Miami, who sold the identities on the

black market for up to $7,500 each. Alvin Fowler is also in federal custody.

 

The owner of International Visa Service says she is personally

devastated by the betrayal of a longtime employee.

 

 - -

Since the 2008 RSA conference, there has been coverage from notables such as TechRepublics Tricia Liebert who recently spotlighted the black market value of our informaton. Time to update last years research.

 

Add to Onlywire

3 Responses »

 

take 2: interpol seeks publics assistance locating pedophile Tuesday, May 6 2008

INTERPOL requests public assistance to identify man pictured sexually abusing children

---

LYON, France – INTERPOL is asking for the public’s help in identifying a man pictured sexually abusing children in a series of images found on the Internet and retrieved from the computer of a convicted paedophile.

The man, whose name, nationality and location are unknown is featured in approximately 100 images in a series of around 800, which are believed to have been taken in Southeast Asia and depict the sexual abuse of at least three boys aged between six and 10 years old. The first pictures of the man were originally discovered by police in Norway in March 2006.

“The law enforcement community around the world has done all it can to find this man who clearly presents a danger to young children, and we are now asking the public to help identify this predator and protect other potential victims from abuse,” said INTERPOL Secretary General Ronald K. Noble.

“When we made a similar appeal last year, it was information provided by the public which helped identify and locate Christopher Paul NEIL, who is now in jail facing child abuse charges. We hope that people around the world will again play a vital role in tracing this man who could otherwise continue to sexually abuse young children.”

After receiving the pictures from Norwegian police, INTERPOL’s child exploitation unit at the General Secretariat in Lyon, France circulated the images to its global network of experts to try and identify the man. The photographs were also entered into INTERPOL’s Child Abuse Image Database (ICAID) for a digital comparison of images received and stored in ICAID from around the world. To date, around 800 images in this series, all featuring the same victims and locations, have been identified.

Operation Vico, INTERPOL’s first-ever public appeal to identify an unknown man photographed sexually abusing children, led to the swift arrest in Thailand of Christopher Paul NEIL last October. Following the success of that operation, INTERPOL’s General Assembly in 2007 approved a resolution empowering the organization to publish information to request the public’s assistance in child sex abuse investigations.

“Again, it was a carefully considered decision to publish this second man’s picture in a public appeal. Our duty as law enforcement officers is to protect children and we believe this appeal, codenamed Operation IDent, will help us do that,” said Kristin Kvigne, Assistant Director of INTERPOL’s Trafficking in Human Beings unit.

“While these images were only discovered two years ago, we believe the photographs were taken between April 2000 and May 2001 so clearly this man will be older than he appears in the pictures.”

Anyone with information about this man’s identity and current location should contact their local police or the INTERPOL General Secretariat. Members of the public should not take any direct action themselves.

Add to Onlywire

 

 

One Response »

 

when is adhd ptsd? Monday, Apr 21 2008

The folks over at Communuties Against Predators (CAP) are blogging about  Maia Szalavitz’s article in MSN: Diagnisos ADHD - or is it trauma?

“To some extent, it really doesn’t matter what you call it (ADHD), but how you treat it,” says William Copeland, assistant clinical professor of psychiatry at Duke University Medical Center, an author of the North Carolina study.

Copeland, however, disagrees that trauma symptoms are frequently mistaken for ADHD. “I think it’s fair to say that there are some situations where they can look the same,” he says, but, he explains, by taking a thorough history, most clinicians will discover the truth. It’s also possible to have both conditions: In fact, ADHD itself has been linked with an increased risk for PTSD.

This is a good article the folks over at CAP bring full circle in their common sense approach in support of helping us parents:

This is an area where the parents and care-givers need to be observant and stay attuned to their children: if you see a change in how your child behaves, such as nervousness, a strong startle response, increased aggressive behavior which seems out of character - then you need to look around at the people and circumstances of your child’s environment and see if you can find some clues, and you need to get your kid screened by a professional. There are a lot of great child psychologists out there, and a lot of insurance companies cover a certain number of visits per year, especially when you have behavioral disruptions. Many of these psychologists and counselors are available through school districts.

Remember, younger kids have ‘magical thinking’. If abuse starts before the kids are more logical thinkers, then they probably assume that you know about it, or that you can pick up on the tiny little clues that they drop, which are often disguised as erratic behavior.

Talk to your kids, follow up on random statements, and don’t let erratic or unusual behavior go un-discussed and dealt with.

 Add to Onlywire

One Response »

 

notebook of alternate Juror No. 4 Friday, Apr 18 2008

Great read. Here is the link to Judy Hodgson’s article today in the North Coast Journal, below.

The Notebook of Alternate Juror No. 4

What it’s like to sit in judgment of an alleged child molester

I’ve been here a week and a half, sitting through jury selection, and I’ve learned a few new things about our justice system. For instance, I already knew the difference between direct and circumstantial evidence, but I didn’t know, as the judge patiently explained at least four or five times, that the two are equally valid. If someone comes into the courthouse dripping wet, stamping his feet and shaking his umbrella, and tells you it’s raining, it’s reasonable to accept that as fact.

There was another judicial concept potential jurors were having trouble with: You have to be able to look at the defendant and presume him to be innocent until you hear all the evidence, go into the jury room and begin deliberation. Why was this so difficult? Because we were not looking at an alleged burglar or sobered-up drunk driver who recently found Jesus. The guy sitting there is charged with possession of child pornography (illegal) and — infinitely more offensive — molesting two 10-year-old boys who were expected to testify. The judge and both attorneys warned jurors the pornographic videos we would be viewing would be explicit and even disgusting, “But you can’t just turn your head and not watch.” You have to listen to all the testimony and view the evidence.

There were more than a few — I lost count — potential jurors who said, “But he must have done something or he wouldn’t have been arrested.” “They didn’t just randomly snatch him off the street.” “If this were any other type of case, your honor … I have kids.”

The initial pool of more than 200 jurors dwindled at first due to the expected length of the trial, six to eight weeks, and again because of answers we had to provide on the lengthy questionnaire. One question read: Have you or anyone you know ever been involved in a sexual molestation incident?

The number of people answering yes was a little startling. I had become friendly with one woman sitting next to me. We talked over several days of jury selection about her daughter, her husband, her work. When she got in the jury box, with hands folded in her lap, she quietly told the story of a girl, about 5 or 6, who was repeatedly molested by her two older brothers, until one day the boys inexplicably stopped. She said she was that girl. No, she never told her parents. She ended up on the final jury panel, but others who told their stories were excused. There was one man who kept clenching and unclenching his fists as he told about a male predator who had stalked his son, now grown, when his son was 10 and playing Little League. Another had a father, he kept insisting, who had been “falsely” accused of molestation but forced by his own family to plead guilty just to bring an end to the nightmare. Television shows could not compete with the drama in that courtroom those early days in February. This was real and it was gritty.

As we finished the first week, the 12 in the jury box were deemed acceptable to attorneys for both sides. It was a good panel that included some pretty smart people: several teachers (one who spoke six languages), a retired chemistry professor from Humboldt State, a retired journalist who used to edit copy for the Journal a few years back. The 40 or so of us remaining in the leftover jury pool gave a little cheer at the prospect of being dismissed. Then the judge reminded us of the need for four alternates.

 

 

Feb. 19

 

Back in court after a holiday weekend, the examination of potential jurors began again. The judge repeatedly asked could you be fair and impartial? Two beefy law enforcement types were excused after they admitted they’d give extra weight to any testimony from their brothers in blue. After an hour or so, it looked like we had three acceptable alternates. Then my name was called. I sat in the chair of Alt Juror No. 4.

Yes I had been a juror before, 30 years ago. Criminal case. On a scale of one to 10 (one being super-terrific), what do I think of the judicial system? I gave it a cynical “four.” Why? The system favors the wealthy. Plea bargains. And don’t get me started on what damage Bush has done to our legal system. Yes, I’m called almost every year for jury duty but I am always excused because I’m a reporter. Well, not because I’m a reporter, but because I know so many people involved. In this case: some of the cops, the district attorney (but not the deputy trying the case), Judge Watson, the school superintendent who may testify. I’ve written lots of stories and even opinion over the last 27 years involving molestation cases — the pedophile teacher, the priest who liked young boys he took camping, the foster father/molester of a girl who was eventually murdered but not by him. (Surely you don’t want me? I added silently.)

“You know serving as an alternate juror can be pretty frustrating,” said the defense attorney, continuing his questioning of me. You have to sit through all the same testimony just like the other jurors, but you don’t get to go into the room to deliberate. You don’t get to decide the case. You just have to be ready in case someone gets sick or there’s an emergency.

“Yes, I know,” I heard myself say. But what I was really thinking was I’m a reporter. I can write about it. Not during the trial, of course. I’ll keep a daily journal of notes at night. After all, it’s an important case on a topic I’ve covered many times during my career but never from the point of view of a juror.

“Will you all stand and raise your right hand.”

….to read on, here’s the link

 

 

Add to Onlywire

One Response »

 

privacy and choice in identity services Thursday, Apr 17 2008

Its been awhile since Daniel Solove and Chris Hoofnagle published their whitepaper A Model Regime of Privacy Protection.  Solove and Hoofnagle built the model regime around Fair Use Practices, a set of very general principles that could be applied to current US law to increase privacy protection.

In view of the brisk growth and adaptation of identity verification systems and consumers selecting of identity fraud prevention services , seemed like a good time to dust this off  because it looks like such a good foundation for forming questions to ask providers:

• There must be no personal data record-keeping system whose very existence is secret.
• There must be a way for an individual to find out what information about him is in a record and how it is used.
• There must be a way for an individual to prevent information about him that was obtained for one purpose from being used or made available for other purposes without his consent.
• There must be a way for an individual to correct or amend a record of identifiable information about him.
• Any organization creating, maintaining, using, or disseminating records of identifiable personal data must assure the reliability of the data for their intended use and must take precaution to prevent misuse of the data.

  Add to Onlywire

One Response »

 

biometrics & ID on the ‘net Tuesday, Apr 8 2008

http://www.idology.com/press26.html

UPEK and IDology announce first biometric identity verification solution for the Internet

 

Introduction marks latest innovation to protect online businesses and consumers from identity theft, payment fraud and phishing attacks

 

San Francisco, CA, (RSA Conference 200 April 7, 2008 –UPEK®, Inc., the leader in enterprise and consumer biometric fingerprint solutions, and IDology, Inc., an innovative provider of identity and age verification solutions, today announced that they have partnered to deliver a world-class identity verification and authentication solution for online businesses and their customers to securely and conveniently prevent identity theft, fraud and phishing attacks. The joint solution is being demonstrated at the RSA Conference 2008 in IDology’s booth #804 and UPEK’s booth #2003.

The ability of online businesses to verify a user’s identity has never been more important. Last year, $45 billion was lost to identity theft, indicating a high need for businesses to protect themselves, and their consumers, from risks including payment fraud, identity theft, hackers, phishing scams, and other not yet known ways criminals might invent in an attempt to profit. The challenge businesses face in consumer-not-present situations is being able to have the same level of confidence that someone is who they claim to be as when the person is standing in front of them. With some analysts estimating ecommerce growth to reach $230 billion by the end of this year, online businesses are increasingly requiring ways to easily and securely identify consumers without sacrificing their fraud protection.

By combining IDology’s ExpectID® service with UPEK’s Authentication Service, the joint solution offers a streamlined self-registration process for Web sites to proof the identities of their users at account creation, and then employ strong biometric authentication thereafter to ensure only users with proven identities can access the service. Based on nominal information provided by an end user during account creation, ExpectID verifies an identity by analyzing thousands of trusted data sources in real time, thereby mitigating identity theft. The process is often invisible to the end user and renders a high degree of confidence in the identity claim. In cases where an identity needs a higher level of verification to prove someone is who they claim to be, users are presented with a series of non-invasive multiple-choice questions regarding facts about their past such as people they know or the places they have lived. Because the questions are based on personal history, it is difficult for anyone other than the actual person to answer them correctly.

UPEK Authentication Services provide a convenient and secure way to log into Web sites, replacing passwords with the swipe of a finger. The combined solution ensures only users who successfully passed the identity proofing process are able to gain access to services, and unlike passwords, fingerprints cannot be shared, stolen or phished. UPEK’s unique Digital ID hardware engine ensures only authorized users have access to services.

“Both business and consumers are increasingly facing online threats and are looking for ways to better protect themselves,” said Jonn Dancu, President and CEO of IDology. “We’re pleased to partner with UPEK who shares our ideas of helping to make the internet safer with stronger security and the most convenient user experience”

“The use of passwords continues to be a weak point for Web site security,” said Robert Blau, UPEK General Manager and Vice President . “Users simply swipe their finger to authenticate, no more passwords. Combined with IDology, businesses now have a solution to the identity and authentication problem.”

About UPEK

UPEK, Inc. is the global leader in enterprise and consumer biometric fingerprint solutions. UPEK authentication hardware and software are integrated into laptops from the world’s top five largest PC makers, as well as USB flash drives, external hard disk drives, and mobile phones from leading manufacturers. UPEK’s ecosystem of over 100 hardware and software partners enables strong authentication solutions for market verticals including healthcare, banking, education, and government. UPEK offers the only silicon-based fingerprint device that is FIPS 201 certified for authentication of over 10 million US government employees and contractors. UPEK also provides consumer packaged goods including the CES award-winning Eikon® Digital Privacy Manager, the only fingerprint reader on the market that supports PCs and Macs. UPEK products make your digital world safe and personal. For more info, visit www.upek.com.

UPEK, the UPEK logo and Eikon are registered trademarks or trademarks of UPEK, Inc. in the United States and other countries. ExpectID is a registered trademark of IDology, Inc. All other trademarks or registered trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

About IDology

IDology, Inc provides real-time technology solutions that verify an individual’s identity and age for anyone conducting business on the Internet to help drive revenue, decrease costs and prevent fraud. What makes us different is that we do this in a way that builds more confidence with your customers – by protecting sensitive data and promoting consumer privacy.

Our ExpectID product suite validates the identity and age of individuals without requiring personal information such as a social security number or driver’s license. Using our solutions, businesses are provided with more than simple pass/fail rates and are informed about what discrepancies are present in the components of an ID. With our advanced rules-based technology engine, businesses are able to easily and quickly react to the situation at hand either by approving the transaction, enabling knowledge-based authentication questions, changing criteria settings, or asking someone to resubmit their information.

Founded in 2003, IDology is the only provider to offer an on-demand change management tool that allows client business-unit managers to control the entire proofing process, including within an integrated solution, without having to rely on internal IT resources or contact IDology’s customer service. For more information, visit www.idology.com or call 866-520-1234.

Contact info:

Steve Hahm
+1-510-420-2630
Steve.hahm@upek.com

Jodi Florence
+1- 770-984-4642
Jflorence@idology.com

  Add to Onlywire

No Responses »

 

call for change; id verification in social networks Monday, Mar 31 2008

 Zack Martin, Editor over at CR80News joins the demand for changes to social networks in his article published today titled “Social networking sites have little to no identity verification“. CR80News explores the utilization of identification technologies on college and university, K-12, corporate campus, and other closed system environments.

Its quite encouraging to see increasing attention, another call for change  especially from a media perspective and verification initiatives in play. Its been an interesting and occasionally frustrating 4+ years since theses concepts were entertained and the underlying technology was promoted by our team. The folks over at Zoeys Room  were a very early identity verification adopter,  if not the first social network to consider and implement a verification initiative as early as 2005 as I recall. A lifetime ago that seems; time flies fast when one is having fun, right? Anyway, here’s the article, its a good read.

Social networking sites have little to no identity verification

But this must change

When trying to get into a bar or club there is typically someone at the door checking IDs. But on social networking sites there is no bouncer, which means there’s no way to tell whether you’re corresponding with a 15-year-old girl or a 32-year-old man. It’s the same no matter where you go. MySpace, Facebook, and professional networking site LinkedIn, do little to make sure people are who they claim to be. “There is a general feeling that social networking is the wild west of identity management and a lot of bad things happen because proper controls haven’t been put in place,” says Roger K. Sullivan, president of the Liberty Alliance Project management board.

The stories range from the tame to the tragic.
A student not happy with an administrator at school creates a profile on a social networking site. Even though the student is a woman she creates a profile that is a man and then flirts with the administrator in order to cause her embarrassment later. At a Catholic school in the Chicago suburbs, an administrator monitors the popular social sites on a regular basis just to make sure nothing out of the ordinary is happening. She has run into instances where students create accounts in other peoples’ names – people who actually exist – and then make false statements. For example, one student set up an account as a real person from another school and made statements about the student’s sexual proclivities while giving out her real phone number. In 2006, a fake profile led to the suicide of a 13-year-old Missouri girl. A classmate’s mother originally created the profile to find out if Megan Meier was saying anything bad about her daughter. But then it was used to gain Meier’s confidence and then to tear her down. Angry messages went back and forth, and it ended with Meier hanging herself. There’s also the need to prevent pedophiles from contacting children online. MySpace has agreed with different states’ attorney generals to adopt better technologies that will help identify underage users so they can be protected from predators, but the social networking site hasn’t figured out how it’s going to do it. The vast majority of sites don’t do anything to try to confirm the identities of members. The sites also don’t want to absorb the cost of trying to prove the identity of their members. Also, identifying minors is almost impossible because there isn’t enough information out there to authenticate their identity. But this may all change. As sites become more scrutinized they will have to take steps to make sure people are who they say. “There will be a trend to use a third party that leverages database information that will be able to vouch for you and provide a more certain level of identification,” says Eric Skinner, chief technology officer at Entrust, an Addison, Texas-based digital identification vendor. There are a handful of vendors that are offering online identity vetting. Most are working with financial institutions, but they see business opportunities with the social networking sites. eHarmony and others offer optional identity services Pasadena, Calif.-based eHarmony.com is offering identity verification technology to its members, says a spokesperson for the company. The dating web site is using technology from Dallas-based RelyID.“Many users are new to the whole world of online dating and sometimes need a little more encouragement to get off the fence to reach out to their matches,” says the eHarmony spokesperson. “We saw RelyID as another way to help people take that first step.”The service is voluntary to eHarmony members and they must pay an additional $5.95 fee to participate. For those members who want to be authenticated, they provide their full legal name, address and date of birth. RelyID’s technology then checks public and financial records databases and comes back with a multiple choice quiz based on an individual’s personal data, such as names of relatives and latest financial transaction, says Pat Mangacotti, vice president of business development at the company. If an individual answers the question correctly, the ID will be verified and they receive an authentication badge on their profile. If they don’t answer the questions correctly they can come back and take the quiz again within 72 hours, Mangacotti says. If they can’t be verified after taking the quiz a second time they can then present government-issued identification to RelyID’s customer support team. Reaction to the service has been positive, says the eHarmony spokesperson. But the company would not say how many members have chosen to use the RelyID service. “In a few cases, where certain customers may have been new to online dating, they have told us that seeing a user’s RelyID badge got them off the fence and let them confidently reach out to a particular eHarmony member,” the spokesperson says. Mobile social networking service Funky Sexy Cool is offering identity verification to all its members at no additional cost, says Tim O’Connor, CEO of the New York-based company. But members have to choose to go through the process. Funky Sexy Cool enables members to find other like-minded individuals in the same geographic area to hang out with. For example, a member can send out a message to his friends saying he’ll be at a certain club or bar. When first registering for Funky Sexy Cool potential members can click a box that will enable them to be verified, O’Connor says. If they choose to go through the process they will be asked for information, such as full name, last four digits of the Social Security number and date of birth. Funky Sexy Cool is using ID verification technology from IDology Inc., Atlanta. IDology searches public databases to confirm an identity, says a company spokesperson. The company’s technology searches driver license records, property records and similar databases. To sign up for Funky Sexy Cool a user must already claim to be 18 years old, O’Connor says. The site doesn’t require age or ID verification because they don’t want too many steps to register for the site. “If you make too many things mandatory people between the ages of 18 and 34 won’t join,” he says. O’Connor says there is a need for some sort of age or identity verification, but the companies that run these sites walk a fine line. “I want to be part of a group that enforces age verification,” he says. “But if you have registration that is cumbersome and difficult you won’t get the members. We’re trying to gauge member reaction and see what happens.”Cost is another problem, O’Connor says. IDology charges about 37 cents per ID verification, which doesn’t seem like much at first. But when dealing with hundreds of thousands to a million of members the cost rises quickly. “We need to increase ad revenue so we can defer some of that cost,” he says.
Minor difficulty
But the problem of identifying minors remains. The technologies that some sites use to prove an identity use public records and databases and minors don’t have any information in those systems. “There isn’t a technology that exists today that can confirm a minor’s identity online,” says a MySpace spokesperson. IDology and RelyID say they wouldn’t be able to identify minors with their technology. It would also be difficult to just confirm age without needing additional information, says Ant Allan, research vice president at Gartner Inc., Stamford, Conn. This would raise privacy concerns, especially when dealing with minors. “The younger you are the less information appears in the databases,” he says. “And when you’re on the borderline, their identity proofing systems won’t come back with anything. Also, someone could be 18 to 21 years old, and they may not have amassed enough information to return a positive result.”Liberty Alliance’s Sullivan, who is also vice president of Oracle Identity Management, says it’s only a matter of time before social networking sites offer tiers of identification assurance, which could be used to confirm a minor’s identity. For example, if a 14 year old wanted to sign up on MySpace without a parents’ permission they would be placed on the lowest ID tier. “They would be put into a question mark bucket,” Sullivan says. But if one parent went online and confirmed his child’s identity they would be raised up a tier. If both parents did it they would go up two tiers. The parents would be authenticated through public records and online databases. Eventually there would be a fourth tier as well. A minor would physically go to a trusted source with documents that prove their age and identity. These identity assurance sources don’t exist, but it’s something the Liberty Alliance is working toward, Sullivan says.
Already authenticated?
But what about those individuals who want to remain anonymous online? They’re not pedophiles or out to harm anyone, but they just don’t want their true identity revealed. “There are some social networking sites where people want to be associated with the real world identity and others where they don’t,” Allan says. “If the folks running MySpace and Facebook insist on some level of identity proofing, it might discourage people from joining.“The needs here vary and I don’t think it’s clear cut that social networking sites have to have the same level of authentication and identity proofing as financial services sites.”For social sites there doesn’t have to be a strong link to the real-world identity, Allan says. “If you’re trying to prevent something obscene from being posted there is recourse through the usual channels like finding their IP address,” he says. “For the majority of reasonably well-behaved people it’s not so important.”

For sites where reputation might hold a bit more importance, such as LinkedIn, there is a type of hierarchical identity proofing that exists on the sites, Allan says. “The network is part of the identity verification,” he says. “Once you get a certain number if people it establishes you and is a way of acknowledging your identity. Depending on the rigor people are looking for that network might be enough to confirm a person’s identity, but other times you might need something else that can be verified.”

Add to Onlywire

6 Responses »

 

and the winner in identity theft prevention & resolution is…. Sunday, Mar 30 2008

Without missing a beat, in her article No Fail-Safe Identity Theft Protection Andrea Coombes over at the WSJ itemized the pros and cons of consumer identity theft prevention and resolution services available today.

If a product claims to prevent identity theft, don’t believe it, says Linda Foley, founder of the Identity Theft Resource Center in San Diego, Calif. “You can’t protect a person from identity theft. It’s impossible. All we can do is minimize our risk.”

The article describes how consumers can leverage Fraud Alerts free of charge from the credit bureaus. Yes, this means one doesnt have to pay for services that claim to prevent identity theft. Even though some creditors may simply ignore these alerts, this service was designed to notify you when a new credit line is opened in your name. Credit alerts do not cover any unlawful use of existing accounts where a thief may simply move your accounts to their control so they can get services or merchandise using your credit card or checking account.

Then Andrea nails how Credit Freezes fail to stop thieves from  hijacking existing credit or bank accounts and how  Freezes simply can’t address the numerous and serious forms of identity theft.  These are common such as when a thief provides your name as his identity when pulled over for a traffic violation, seeks employment or even medical coverage using your healthcare information.

In exploring Credit Monitoring and web services, Andrea reports on the lag between credit activity and its appearance on a credit report as well as where your personal information is posted online and can be purchased for a fee starting at $80 on one site mentioned in the article. These services could help you understand that you’re already an identity-theft victim.  More timely and efficient is analysis of credit histories and public records followed by scheduled monitoring that scans for changes to information about you contained in the data records repositories like ID Watchdog offers.

I have written about them previously a few times, for instance here and here.

Briefly, and what this means for consumers, is early knowledge is power. If a bad guy steals your personal information to do something as simple such as opening pre-paid mobile phone or utilities account chances are ID Watchdog is going to be able to detect bad activity before the bad guy can apply for credit or an account becomes a ugly mark on your credit report, driving history or even gives you a criminal record like what happened to ID theft poster-child Charlie W. 

ID Watchdog leverages world class fraud prevention technologies and a scours a variety of information repositories (some of the secret sauce) to pull all this off for its subscribers. 

The big question is what if you find something that concerns you somebody is using your identity, what next?

Some companies offer insurance to cover your losses while State and nonprofit agencies will help you out for a fee. These are itemized over at the Identity Theft Resource Center and the Privacy Rights Clearing House.  Most of the time resolution and insurance services are guidance for consumers such as where to get affidavits and other required reporting documents, how to fill all these out, where to send and how to follow up with complaints.  According to the FTC, an identitity theft victim can spend some $1400 and 600 hours dealing with red tape to reclaim their identity.

And another plug for ID Watchdog  is well deserved here as they perform the total resolution service for their subscribers. Short of replacing a drivers licence which has to be done in  person, every aspect of a resolving a compromised identity is taken care of by ID Watchdog. This means an end to all the exhausting and frustrating tasks for the identity theft victim,  all the way from filing police or agency reports for victims to dealing directly with employers, insurance or the actual creditors in closing fraudulent accounts. Resolving victims issues at the source is the key to their success on behalf of thier customers. Making claims, disputing credit reports or even criminal records can be temporary with the same bad information repopulating affected reports such as credit bueraus and other databases again and again. And again.

All consumer facing so called identity theft prevention services considered (freezes, alerts or otherwise) I see ID Watchdog as a truly unique service designed to minimize risk comprehensively before bad things happen and closes the post exposure loop with their hands-on resolution offering. Did I mention I like this company?

The world of identity fraud prevention seems to be divided by two.  Very briefly, there are vendors and business units of major companies that help their business customers avoid losses from identity fraud and theft. The other side of the coin are those companies, agencies or advocacy groups that deal with consumer facing issues.   Open ID or ID 2.0, when it comes to mass adaptation hopefully sooner than later, will act as a conduit between businesses and consumers, offering consumers choice and control in where and how their information is used in the spirit of making the internet a safe and secure place for both sides of the equation. 

Not waiting on promising new technology, I noticed a couple forward thinking business service vendors and consumer facing organizations  partnering up already who will have a leg up not only in doing their part to help stop the identity theft crisis  overall, but will also be recognized as very serious players in regard to ID 2.0. That’s a leap of understanding in that on the internet both business and consumer issues will be better served together for the greater cause of a safe and secure internet. Whether a business or customer we are all consumers on the internet. Perhaps more companies will realize opportinities in unexpected or odd bed fellows that will make for winning partnerships in the not too distant future.

Add to Onlywire

12 Responses »

 

mobile P2P payments security and timing Friday, Mar 28 2008

Research and Markets has published “Mobile Person-to-Person Payments and Transfers: Security and Timing Are Everything“ to their reports offerings. 

On the RandM site is a preview of the contents is here, along with a list of the leading companies discussed in the report that have a stake in the space.

Report Description:

Mobile person-to-person payments and transfers (mobile P2P) offer the first income-generating step for financial institutions on the pathway to full mobile banking and payments. While still a niche product, demand is growing and one out of ten consumers currently states that he or she would likely use mobile P2P if the service were available. This report is based on an online survey of 2192 consumers, a survey of 26 executives from the financial industry, and ten interviews of executives in the payments industry.

Primary Questions

·       What are the main barriers preventing mobile P2P transfers services from being adopted?

·         How can those barriers be addressed so that mobile P2P transfer services contribute significantly to revenue? 

·         What are the key marketing strategies of mobile P2P and which consumer segments are the most profitable targets?

·         Which aspects of mobile P2P appeal to each segment? 

·         Which features attract the unbanked and under-banked and how are these groups responding to mobile P2P money transfers?

·         What mobile P2P transfer offerings are available in the marketplace? 

Target audience for this report:

·         Financial institutions

·         Online banking

·         Mobile banking

·         Mobile network operators

·         Marketing

·         Mobile banking platform providers

·         Credit card networks

·         Mobile payment vendors

 Add to Onlywire

3 Responses »

 

Identity 2008 Wednesday, Mar 26 2008

Its not too late to register for id:anlaytics 6th annual identity conference:

•  May 12-14, 2008
• La Costa Resort and Spa
• Carlsbad, CA

Uncertain risk. Enhanced opportunities. Unique visibility into both.

The Identity 2008: See More Potential conference has established itself as the comprehensive forum for identity risk, insight and new opportunities. From May 12 to 14, 2008, attendees and speakers can explore the latest trends in identity while staying on the stunning grounds of La Costa Resort and Spa in northern San Diego.

In its sixth year, Identity 2008 will bring together key executive-level industry leaders, corporate decision-makers, and government policy-makers to review challenges and explore solutions regarding the latest trends across identity risk, policy compliance, and incremental customer growth.

Engaging and relevant thought leadership topics that will be discussed include:

• Identity intelligence across business lines
• Identity monitoring and credit monitoring
• Authentication for online enrollment and eCommerce
• Data breaches and internal data theft
• Regulatory issues and compliance
• Demographic shifts

Identity 2008 is expected to draw attendees from financial services firms, communications companies, physical and online retailers, e-commerce providers, healthcare/insurance companies, government officials and academia.

5 Responses »