ID Assist E-News February 2008

How safe is your personal information? Everyday retailers, credit card companies, banks, database companies and the alike house your personal information in databases and on the internet all over the world which makes it all too easy for an identity thief to get his hands on your information.

For example, it was only one year ago that the TJX Companies Inc. disclosed what has turned out to be the largest information security breach involving credit and debit card data.

TJX eventually said that 45.6 million card numbers belonging to customers in multiple countries were stolen from its systems however, that number may be far too low. A group of banks that are suing the retailer have claimed in an October court filing that information of about 94 million cards was exposed.

Unfortunately, there's not a whole lot any of us can do about our personal information being available however, its important to know how vulnerable your good name really is. That's why ID Theft Assist takes a proactive approach by offering Free Credit Monitoring with your membership. If there's ever a discrepancy or compromise with your credit, ID Theft Assist will alert you right away! This is just another way ID Theft Assist is looking out for you!

MOST RECENT COMPROMISES

Jan. 17, 2008-GE Money / Iron Mountain/JCPenney
Personal information on customers of J.C. Penney and up to 100 other retailers could be compromised after a computer tape went missing. The missing information includes Social Security numbers for about 150,000 people.

Jan. 8, 2008-Wisconsin Department of Health and Family Services-Madison, WI
Social Security numbers were printed on about 260,000 informational brochures sent by a vendor hired by the state to recipients of Senior Care and other state programs.

Jan. 2, 2008- Workers Compensation Fund-Salt Lake City, UT
Officials with one of Utah's largest insurance companies are searching for a stolen laptop containing Social Security numbers and other personal information for about 2,800 people and 1,400 companies. The computer was taken from a car parked in the home garage of an auditor for the Workers Compensation Fund.