Tag: Identity Theft

Posted on

Ridgewood Police Warn : Tis the Season for Identity Theft

stolen_credit_cards
November 18,2016
the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, Ridgewood Police report a series of identity theft reports in Ridgewood :

A Godwin Avenue resident reported a Theft of Impersonation on November 7. The victim reported receiving a letter in the mail from Discover Card reporting an account application was denied. A second letter was received from Chase Bank containing a credit card which he reportedly never applied for. The victim then contacted both companies and advised of the fraudulent activity. The victim requested documentation of the incident and was then provided a Ridgewood Police identity theft fact sheet.

A Northern Parkway resident responded to Ridgewood Police headquarters on November 7 to report a Theft of Impersonation. The victim reported discovering a TJ Maxx store credit card and Kohl’s credit card were opened fraudulently. The victim notified both companies and reported the fraudulent activity. Both companies are reported to be investigating the incidents.

On November 8, a West End Avenue resident reported a Theft of Impersonation. The resident reported he was notified by Capital One’s fraud department an unknown person attempted to open a credit card utilizing the victim’s social security number. The credit card fraud department is investigating and advised the victim to file the report as a matter of record.

Ptl. Anthony Mormino responded to South Irving Street on November 8, to investigate a Fraud in the past. Upon arrival the victim reported he had discovered unusual activity on his credit report and he had determined his identity was compromised and used several times in the state of Texas. The detective bureau is investigating the incident.

On November 12, a Midwood Road resident responded to Ridgewood Police headquarters to report Identity Theft. The victim reported his personal identity protection company notified him an unknown person attempted to open multiple fraudulent credit card accounts utilizing his information. The victim reported he then checked his credit report and found a Kohl’s credit card had been created fraudulently. The victim notified Kohl’s fraud department and the matter is under investigation.

A Sayerville, N.J. resident responded to Ridgewood Police headquarters on November 14 to report Theft and Fraud occurred on November 10 in the Village of Ridgewood. The victim reported an unknown person created a fraudulent ATM card and withdrew money from his account at the PNC Bank located at 41 Oak Street. PNC Bank was notified and is also investigating the incident.

How to Keep Your Personal Information Secure

Protecting your personal information can help reduce your risk of identity theft. There are four main ways to do it: know who you share information with; store and dispose of your personal information securely, especially your Social Security number; ask questions before deciding to share your personal information; and maintain appropriate security on your computers and other electronic devices.

Keeping Your Personal Information Secure Offline

Lock your financial documents and records in a safe place at home, and lock your wallet or purse in a safe place at work. Keep your information secure from roommates or workers who come into your home.

Limit what you carry. When you go out, take only the identification, credit, and debit cards you need. Leave your Social Security card at home. Make a copy of your Medicare card and black out all but the last four digits on the copy. Carry the copy with you  — unless you are going to use your card at the doctor’s office.

Before you share information at your workplace, a business, your child’s school, or a doctor’s office, ask why they need it, how they will safeguard it, and the consequences of not sharing.

Shred receipts, credit offers, credit applications, insurance forms, physician statements, checks, bank statements, expired charge cards, and similar documents when you don’t need them any longer.

Destroy the labels on prescription bottles before you throw them out. Don’t share your health plan information with anyone who offers free health services or products.

Take outgoing mail to post office collection boxes or the post office. Promptly remove mail that arrives in your mailbox. If you won’t be home for several days, request a vacation hold on your mail.

When you order new checks, don’t have them mailed to your home, unless you have a secure mailbox with a lock.

Consider opting out of prescreened offers of credit and insurance by mail. You can opt out for 5 years or permanently. To opt out, call 1-888-567-8688 or go to optoutprescreen.com. The 3 nationwide credit reporting companies operate the phone number and website. Prescreened offers can provide many benefits. If you opt out, you may miss out on some offers of credit.

Keeping Your Personal Information Secure Online

Know who you share your information with. Store and dispose of your personal information securely.

Be Alert to Impersonators

Make sure you know who is getting your personal or financial information. Don’t give out personal information on the phone, through the mail or over the Internet unless you’ve initiated the contact or know who you’re dealing with. If a company that claims to have an account with you sends email asking for personal information, don’t click on links in the email. Instead, type the company name into your web browser, go to their site, and contact them through customer service. Or, call the customer service number listed on your account statement. Ask whether the company really sent a request.

Safely Dispose of Personal Information

Before you dispose of a computer, get rid of all the personal information it stores. Use a wipe utility program to overwrite the entire hard drive.

Before you dispose of a mobile device, check your owner’s manual, the service provider’s website, or the device manufacturer’s website for information on how to delete information permanently, and how to save or transfer information to a new device. Remove the memory or subscriber identity module (SIM) card from a mobile device. Remove the phone book, lists of calls made and received, voicemails, messages sent and received, organizer folders, web search history, and photos.

Encrypt Your Data

Keep your browser secure. To guard your online transactions, use encryption software that scrambles information you send over the internet. A “lock” icon on the status bar of your internet browser means your information will be safe when it’s transmitted. Look for the lock before you send personal or financial information online.

Keep Passwords Private

Use strong passwords with your laptop, credit, bank, and other accounts. Be creative: think of a special phrase and use the first letter of each word as your password. Substitute numbers for some words or letters. For example, “I want to see the Pacific Ocean” could become 1W2CtPo.

Don’t Overshare on Social Networking Sites

If you post too much information about yourself, an identity thief can find information about your life, use it to answer ‘challenge’ questions on your accounts, and get access to your money and personal information. Consider limiting access to your networking page to a small group of people. Never post your full name, Social Security number, address, phone number, or account numbers in publicly accessible sites.

Securing Your Social Security Number

Keep a close hold on your Social Security number and ask questions before deciding to share it. Ask if you can use a different kind of identification. If someone asks you to share your SSN or your child’s, ask:

why they need it
how it will be used
how they will protect it
what happens if you don’t share the number

The decision to share is yours. A business may not provide you with a service or benefit if you don’t provide your number. Sometimes you will have to share your number. Your employer and financial institutions need your SSN for wage and tax reporting purposes. A business may ask for your SSN so they can check your credit when you apply for a loan, rent an apartment, or sign up for utility service.

Keeping Your Devices Secure

Use Security Software

Install anti-virus software, anti-spyware software, and a firewall. Set your preference to update these protections often. Protect against intrusions and infections that can compromise your computer files or passwords by installing security patches for your operating system and other software programs.

Avoid Phishing Emails

Don’t open files, click on links, or download programs sent by strangers. Opening a file from someone you don’t know could expose your system to a computer virus or spyware that captures your passwords or other information you type.

Be Wise About Wi-Fi

Before you send personal information over your laptop or smartphone on a public wireless network in a coffee shop, library, airport, hotel, or other public place, see if your information will be protected. If you use an encrypted website, it protects only the information you send to and from that site. If you use a secure wireless network, all the information you send on that network is protected.

Lock Up Your Laptop

Keep financial information on your laptop only when necessary. Don’t use an automatic login feature that saves your user name and password, and always log off when you’re finished. That way, if your laptop is stolen, it will be harder for a thief to get at your personal information.

Read Privacy Policies

Yes, they can be long and complex, but they tell you how the site maintains accuracy, access, security, and control of the personal information it collects; how it uses the information, and whether it provides information to third parties. If you don’t see or understand a site’s privacy policy, consider doing business elsewhere.

Posted on

Three More Cases of Identity Theft in Ridgewood

Nigerian scam michael-scott-

August 25,2016

the staff of the Ridgewood

Ridgewood NJ, the Ridgewood Police report on 8/19/16 a South Broad Street resident responded to police headquarters to report a fraud in the past. The victim reported an unknown person applied for an Amazon credit card utilizing his personal information but was denied.

A Beechwood Road resident responded to police headquarters to report an incident which occurred in February 2016 when an unknown person attempted to file a tax return utilizing the victim’s personal identity fraudulently. The victim reported several months later he received a notice from Discover Card regarding a bank account being opened and most recently he received a notice from PNC Bank that an unknown person was attempting to change the address on his current accounts. The victim reported the IRS and credit bureaus have been notified of the fraudulent incidents.

An East Ridgewood Avenue resident reported the theft of impersonation on 8/20/16. The victim reported an unknown person fraudulently opened three separate accounts between 12/1/15 and 8/8/16. The victim reported a Victoria Secret account was opened in Orlando, Florida, a Sprint Mobile account was opened in Tennessee and a third fraudulent account was a Paypal account opened in August 2016. The victim was provided a Ridgewood Police identity theft fact sheet.

The Ridgewood Police Department would like to remind citizens of the increased amount of scams. Always investigate communications made through postal mail, telephone, and/or the internet to prevent fraud and deceptive activity. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact the Ridgewood Police Department to ensure you’re not becoming a victim of these scams.

Posted on

Ridgewood Residents Targeted with Identity Fraud

prevent-online-identity-theft

August 22,2016

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, once again Ridgewood Police report incidence of “Identity Fraud . On 8/9/16 a Woodside Avenue resident responded to headquarters to report an incident of fraud in the past. The victim reported an unknown person made a purchase using the victim’s PNC debit card in the amount of $1910.76 in Flushing, N.Y. The victim reported PNC Debit Card Fraud department was notified and investigating the incident.

A Hawthorne Place resident reported a theft of impersonation on 8/12/16. The resident reported an unknown person utilized his personal identity to submit a tax return. The resident contacted the IRS and made notification of the fraud.

According to the US Department of Justice these are the most common ways to commit identity theft or fraud;

Many people do not realize how easily criminals can obtain our personal data without having to break into our homes. In public places, for example, criminals may engage in “shoulder surfing” ­ watching you from a nearby location as you punch in your telephone calling card number or credit card number ­ or listen in on your conversation if you give your credit-card number over the telephone to a hotel or rental car company.

If you receive applications for “pre-approved” credit cards in the mail, but discard them without tearing up the enclosed materials, criminals may retrieve them and try to activate the cards for their use without your knowledge. (Some credit card companies, when sending credit cards, have adopted security measures that allow a card recipient to activate the card only from his or her home telephone number but this is not yet a universal practice.) Also, if your mail is delivered to a place where others have ready access to it, criminals may simply intercept and redirect your mail to another location.

In recent years, the Internet has become an appealing place for criminals to obtain identifying data, such as passwords or even banking information. In their haste to explore the exciting features of the Internet, many people respond to “spam” ­ unsolicited E-mail ­ that promises them some benefit but requests identifying data, without realizing that in many cases, the requester has no intention of keeping his promise. In some cases, criminals reportedly have used computer technology to obtain large amounts of personal data.

With enough identifying information about an individual, a criminal can take over that individual’s identity to conduct a wide range of crimes: for example, false applications for loans and credit cards, fraudulent withdrawals from bank accounts, fraudulent use of telephone calling cards, or obtaining other goods or privileges which the criminal might be denied if he were to use his real name. If the criminal takes steps to ensure that bills for the falsely obtained credit cards, or bank statements showing the unauthorized withdrawals, are sent to an address other than the victim’s, the victim may not become aware of what is happening until the criminal has already inflicted substantial damage on the victim’s assets, credit, and reputation.

Posted on

Medical records worth more on black market than credit card numbers

Hacker_theridgewoodblog

“As attackers discover new methods to make money, the healthcare industry is becoming a much riper target because of the ability to sell large batches of personal data for profit,” said Dave Kennedy, an expert on healthcare security and CEO of TrustedSEC LLC. “Hospitals have low security, so it’s relatively easy for these hackers to get a large amount of personal data for medical fraud.”

“One method that can help stop electronic medical records theft is to seek out a physician that uses paper records. Orient suggests asking health care providers which system is used before agreeing to treatment.”

Medical records worth more on black market than credit card numbers

By soaznewsx on December 7, 2015

By Harry Alexander / SoAzNewsX

For many years the public has been warned about credit card and identity theft. The public has also been deluged with advertising from companies that pledge they can keep your personal information safe from hackers.

Indeed, while credit card number theft and identity theft is important, there is another type of personal identity theft that seems to go unreported in the mainstream media.

Medical records theft and Medicare fraud.

Dr. Jane Orient, the Executive Director of the American Assoication of Physicians and Surgeons, said on the Dec. 5 Inside Track radio program that medical records theft is rampant. One of the topics was electronic medical records.

“Anybody who does healthcare treatment, operations, or claims payment has legitimate access to those records,” she said. And, those are the records that can be hacked or even stolen by medical personnel wanting to make some money on the side, she said.

“Once it’s out there, it’s gone,” Orient said.

https://soaznewsx.com/medical-records-worth-more-on-black-market-than-credit-card-numbers/?utm_source=Monday%2C+Dec.+7%2C+2015+Edition&utm_campaign=12%2F07%2F2015&utm_medium=email

Posted on

It’s Way Too Easy to Hack the Hospital

valley_hospital_theridgewoodblog

Firewalls and medical devices are extremely vulnerable, and everyone’s pointing fingers

By Monte Reel and Jordan Robertson | November 2015

from Bloomberg Businessweek

In the fall of 2013, Billy Rios flew from his home in California to Rochester, Minn., for an assignment at the Mayo Clinic, the largest integrated nonprofit medical group practice in the world. Rios is a “white hat” hacker, which means customers hire him to break into their own computers. His roster of clients has included the Pentagon, major defense contractors, Microsoft, Google, and some others he can’t talk about.

He’s tinkered with weapons systems, with aircraft components, and even with the electrical grid, hacking into the largest public utility district in Washington state to show officials how they might improve public safety. The Mayo Clinic job, in comparison, seemed pretty tame. He assumed he was going on a routine bug hunt, a week of solo work in clean and quiet rooms.

But when he showed up, he was surprised to find himself in a conference room full of familiar faces. The Mayo Clinic had assembled an all-star team of about a dozen computer jocks, investigators from some of the biggest cybersecurity firms in the country, as well as the kind of hackers who draw crowds at conferences such as Black Hat and Def Con. The researchers split into teams, and hospital officials presented them with about 40 different medical devices. Do your worst, the researchers were instructed. Hack whatever you can.

Like the printers, copiers, and office telephones used across all industries, many medical devices today are networked, running standard operating systems and living on the Internet just as laptops and smartphones do. Like the rest of the Internet of Things—devices that range from cars to garden sprinklers—they communicate with servers, and many can be controlled remotely. As quickly became apparent to Rios and the others, hospital administrators have a lot of reasons to fear hackers. For a full week, the group spent their days looking for backdoors into magnetic resonance imaging scanners, ultrasound equipment, ventilators, electroconvulsive therapy machines, and dozens of other contraptions. The teams gathered each evening inside the hospital to trade casualty reports.

“Every day, it was like every device on the menu got crushed,” Rios says. “It was all bad. Really, really bad.” The teams didn’t have time to dive deeply into the vulnerabilities they found, partly because they found so many—defenseless operating systems, generic passwords that couldn’t be changed, and so on.

The Mayo Clinic emerged from those sessions with a fresh set of security requirements for its medical device suppliers, requiring that each device be tested to meet standards before purchasing contracts were signed. Rios applauded the clinic, but he knew that only a few hospitals in the world had the resources and influence to pull that off, and he walked away from the job with an unshakable conviction: Sooner or later, hospitals would be hacked, and patients would be hurt. He’d gotten privileged glimpses into all sorts of sensitive industries, but hospitals seemed at least a decade behind the standard security curve.

 

https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2015-hospital-hack/

Posted on

Ridgewood Police Continue to Report Incidents of Identity Theft

Ridgewood _police_theridgewoodblog
file photo by Boyd Loving
November 7,2015

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, the Ridgewood Police reported several incidents or identity theft last week , on October 29, 2015, a Bogert Avenue resident reported fraudulent charges had been made on his/her credit card. It is extremely important that if you become the victim of identity theft, you make proper notifications to help prevent further victimization, starting with a report to your local police department. Information is available at the police desk concerning reporting and prevention of identity theft incidents.

On Tuesday, November 3, 2015, a South Van Dien resident reported that he/she had received a letter from the United States Social Security Administration advising him/her that someone had changed his/her direct deposit account information with that agency. Fortunately, the fraudulent account change was discovered before the victim’s social security account could be compromised.

Once again, be aware that information is available at the police desk concerning reporting and prevention of identity theft incidents.

What to do if you think you have been subject to identity fraud (https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/identity-theft-stolen-checklist-29691.html )

1. Start a log. As you make phone calls or send letters, keep notes of your conversations and correspondence with authorities and financial institutions, including dates, names, and phone numbers. Also keep track of all time spent and expenses you incur; you can deduct theft-related expenses on your income tax return, assuming you itemize deductions, and you may be able to seek compensation if you are ever able to sue the thief. (https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/identity-theft-stolen-checklist-29691.html )

2. Contact the credit bureaus. Call or visit the websites of the three major credit bureaus and ask that they issue a fraud alert and attach a statement to your credit report.

Equifax: 800-525-6285 or www.equifax.com
Experian: 888-397-3742 or www.experian.com
TransUnion: 800-680-7289 or www.transunion.com

Also, get copies of your credit report from each of the credit bureaus. Look for all possible signs of trouble: accounts you didnt open, inquiries you didnt initiate, and defaults and delinquencies you didn’t cause. Also check your identifying information carefully.

3. Review your credit reports. After you receive your credit reports from the three credit bureaus, review them thoroughly. Make sure that all your personal information, including name, address, and Social Security number, is correct and that there are no fraudulent accounts or inquiries. Look for accounts that you didn’t apply for or open, inquiries that you didn’t initiate, and defaults and delinquencies that you didn’t cause. Immediately report any suspicious information or activity to the credit bureau that issued the credit report.

4. Call the Ridgewood police. File a report of the crime with your local police department. Provide as much evidence as you can, and ask the officer to list all fraudulently accessed accounts that you know about on the police report. Be sure to get copies of the police report, because creditors will probably ask to see them. Remember to log the phone numbers and names of all the law enforcement agents that you speak to; creditors may want this information.

5. Fill out an Identity Theft Victim’s Complaint and Affidavit. The form is available from the Federal Trade Commission atwww.ftc.gov/idtheft. Creditors may accept this affidavit when you claim that you are not responsible for a new account or for transactions on an existing account. The information that you provide will enable the creditor to investigate your claim. (The creditor may require you to submit additional information or a different form.) This affidavit also will be useful if you request copies of the thief’s application and transaction records . Follow the instructions that accompany the form. (https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/identity-theft-stolen-checklist-29691.html )

Posted on

Ridgewood Police Caution Residents to be Weary of “Skimming”

Car-Hacking-470x260
October 12,2015
the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, Ridgewood Police report that on Thursday, October 1, 2015, a Hawthorne resident reported that fraudulent charges were made on his/her credit card account shortly after dining at a Ridgewood restaurant. The victim felt that the server at the restaurant may have skimmed his/her card when it was presented for payment.

Be aware anytime that a credit card leaves your possession there is the possibility that it may be “skimmed”. “Skimming” involves the card being swiped through a small handheld device easily concealed in the palm of one’s hand, that downloads the cardholders account information, which is then utilized for fraudulent purchases.
In some cases, the fraudulent charges are made by using the account number while in others an actual cloned credit card is manufactured using the cardholder’s information. Many times, these schemes occur at restaurants and gas stations where attendants take physical possession of credit cards since the credit cards leave the cardholder’s sight. This matter is under investigation by the detective bureau.
Staff members from the Ridgewood blog recommend using extra caution at , gas stations, restaurants , health care visits and car rentals .
Posted on

Crowdfunding Site Robbed of Donor Personal Information

hacker-fares

Patreon: Some user names, e-mail and mailing addresses stolen

At least passwords were encrypted with 2048-bit RSA, hashed via bcrypt, and salted.

by Cyrus Farivar – Oct 1, 2015 3:30pm EDT

Patreon, the website that allows people to maintain regular donations to a website, an artist, or project, announced late Wednesday that it had sustained a security breach.

The site said some registered names, e-mail addresses, and mailing addresses were accessed after someone managed to access a “debug version of our website” that at the time was accessible to the public.

Jack Conte, the co-founder and CEO, wrote in a statement:

We do not store full credit card numbers on our servers and no credit card numbers were compromised. Although accessed, all passwords, social security numbers and tax form information remain safely encrypted with a 2048-bit RSA key.

Conte specified that user passwords are hashed with bcrypt and salted as well, but he encouraged patrons to change their password anyway as a precaution.

https://arstechnica.com/security/2015/10/patreon-some-user-names-e-mail-and-mailing-addresses-stolen/

Posted on

Ridgewood Police Report Rash of identity Theft

Identity-Theft1

August 6,2015
the staff of the Ridgewood Blog

Ridgewood NJ, Ridgewood Police report that on Tuesday August 4, 2015 a West side resident reported discovering fraudulent charges had been made on one of his/her credit card accounts. Information concerning prevention/reporting identity theft is available at the Ridgewood Police Department. While reports of similar incidents continue to be on the rise it is prudent to closely monitor your credit history as well as incoming mail at your residence.

Earlier on Monday July 27, 2015 a resident reported that an unidentified actor had opened several credit cards accounts utilizing his/her personal information. The matter is being investigated by the detective bureau. Information concerning prevention/reporting identity theft is available at the Ridgewood Police Department. While reports of similar incidents continue to be on the rise it is prudent to closely monitor your credit history as well as incoming mail at your residence.

Identity Theft Protection Tips

Identity theft is a crime in which an impostor obtains key pieces of personal identifying information (PII) such as Social Security numbers and driver’s license numbers and uses them for their own personal gain. It can start with lost or stolen wallets, stolen mail, a data breach, computer virus, “phishing” scams, or paper documents thrown out by you or a business (dumpster ).

How can I minimize my risk of becoming an identity theft victim?

As consumers, you have little ability to stop or prevent identity theft. However, there are some positive steps to take which will decrease your risk.

Don’t give out your SSN unnecessarily (only for tax reasons, credit or verified employment.) Before providing personal identifiers, know how it will be used and if it will be shared.

Use a cross-cut shredder to dispose of documents with personal information. Also, use a specialized gel pen when writing out checks.

Place outgoing mail in collection boxes or the U.S. Post Office.

Know your billing cycles and contact creditors when bills fail to show up. Review bank and credit card statements carefully.

Password protect your financial accounts. A strong password should be more than eight characters in length, and contain both capital letters and at least one numeric or other non alphabetical character. Use of non-dictionary words is also recommended.

Don’t give out personal information on the phone, through the mail or over the Internet unless you initiated the contact.

Use firewall software to protect computer information. Keep virus and spyware software programs updated.

Reduce the number of preapproved credit card offers you receive: 888-5OPT-OUT

Order your free annual credit reports on-line at: www.annualcreditreport.com or by calling (877) 322-8228

You may also “freeze” your credit report. For more information on this, go to: State Resources

https://www.idtheftcenter.org/Protect-yourself/id-theft-prevention-tips.html

Posted on

Ridgerwood Police Understanding Identity Theft

Identity-Theft1

Ridgerwood Police Understanding Identity Theft

Identity Theft occurs when someone uses your personally identifying information like your name, Social Security number, or credit card number without your permission to commit fraud or other crimes. According to the Federal Trade Commission, approximately 9 million Americans have their identity stolen each year. Identity thieves may use your personally identifying information to establish lines of credit, bank accounts, credit card accounts and other forms of credit. You may not find out your identity has been compromised until you receive a bill in the mail or are contacted by a debt collector.

Here is a reference guide for how to prevent identity theft and what you should do if you are a victim.

https://www.njsp.org/tech/pdf/Cyber_Crimes_ID_Theft_Guide.pdf