ID Assist E-News June 2008

Ever wonder what thieves do with a stolen identity? Once they have your personal information, identity thieves use it in a variety of ways.

Credit card fraud:

• Open new credit card accounts in your name.
• Use the cards and don't pay the bills, the delinquent accounts appear on your credit report.

Phone or utilities fraud:

• Open a new phone or wireless account in your name, or run up charges on your existing account.

Bank/finance fraud:

• Create counterfeit checks using your name or account number.
• Open a bank account in your name and write bad checks.
• Clone your ATM or debit card and make electronic withdrawals your name, draining your accounts.
• Take out a loan in your name.

Government documents fraud:

• Get a driver's license or official ID card issued in your name but with their picture.

Other types of fraud:

• Get a job using your Social Security number.
• Rent a house or get medical services using your name.
• Give your personal information to police during an arrest. If they don't show up for their court date, a warrant for arrest is issued in your name.

And these are just a sampling of ways they can use your information. That's why ID Theft Assist is here for you. By offering FREE credit monitoring, we help detect a problem before it gets out of hand.

MOST RECENT COMPROMISES

May 14, 2008- Oklahoma State University (Stillwater, OK)
A breach in an Oklahoma State University computer server exposed 70,000 names, addresses and Social Security numbers of students, staff and faculty who bought parking and transit services permits in the past six years

May 12, 2008- Pfizer (New York, NY)
About 13,000 employees at Pfizer Inc., including about 5,000 from Connecticut, had their personal information compromised when a company laptop and flash drive were stolen. No Social Security numbers were on the laptop, but names, home addresses, home telephone numbers, employee ID numbers, positions and salaries were possibly compromised.

May 5, 2008- Target America Inc. /UCSF (San Francisco, CA)
Patient information was made accessible online included their names and addresses along with names of the departments where medical care was provided. Some patient medical record numbers and the names of the patients' physicians also were available online.