Hospital data breaches continue to grow

From Business Wire:

Identity Force today released its Spring 2010 National Survey of Hospital Compliance Executives. More than 200 compliance executives from AHA member hospitals in 43 states indicated data breaches and medical identity theft continue to grow despite new regulations like the Red Flag Rules and the HITECH Act, designed to protect against the theft and loss of personal information.

“Successful organizations will implement organization-wide training programs that create a ‘Breach-Free Culture’ and help eliminate patient ID misuse and fraud. These programs usually pay for themselves many times over by lowering risk and making breaches much less frequent. Avoiding one substantial breach can save millions of dollars in costs.”

“It turns out that addressing the problems of data breaches and medical identity theft is proving more complex and time-consuming than hospitals counted on. It’s interesting that many compliance experts now call into question whether or not even the new Healthcare Reform Law will ultimately help on these issues,” said Steven Bearak, CEO of Identity Force. “We are simply copying, digitizing and disseminating personal information faster than we can control it.”

Identity thief tells judge she was just doing her job

A Hawaiian identity thief facing the possibility of life in prison admits she has worked for an "organization on the mainland" since 1996, and considers what she does to be be her "job." She and her partner currently had six loan applications pending under other people's names.

Wachovia mails 1099s to identity thieves

Wachovia mails 1099s containing account information and social security numbers to identity thieves, exposing several of the Robert and Patricia Brady's bank accounts.

Data breach of 24,000 Swiss bank customers announced

Swiss bank account information on 24,000 clients was stolen in 2006 and 2007 by former employee Herve Falciani. Data breaches and ID theft are international.

Free, confidential health insurance quotes for residents of GA, TN and AZ

Now that your government insists you purchase health insurance, why not buy it from someone you know? Georgia, Tennessee and Arizona residents and business-owners: Get a free, confidential quote on your health coverage.

More than 20 major banks have had data breaches so far in 2010

Already in 2010, there have been 22 major data breaches by banks! Your info is out there in the hands of thieves.

Man sentenced to 20 years after raking in $200 million from ID theft

A 28-year old man responsible for over $200 million in identity theft losses has been sentenced to 20 years in prison. He had buried over $1 million in cash in his parents' backyard.

3.3 million student loan records hacked in massive data breach

Do you have an outstanding student loan? If so, your personal info just got hacked. along with 3.3 million others. Names, addresses, birthdays and SSN's of 3.3 million borrowers are now in the hands of identity thieves.

Woman lives, marries, under another's ID for 17 years

In 1992 a woman stole another's ID, got married under the assumed name, and has been living under the victim's ID for 17 years.

Pre-Paid Legal: Give yourself a "balance of power" when facing legal issues

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Man gets $18,000 overdraft notice on account he didn't open

Man gets $18,000 overdraft notice on checking account he never opened.

Atlanta Fire Dept. employees' data breached

Atlanta Fire Department employees received a letter last week telling them their names, addresses social security and other identifying numbers had been "leaked on the Internet."

Mass. police say identity theft is on rise

"I only anticipate it [identity theft] getting worse. It’s on the rise," Det. Monica Himes of the Provincetown, Mass., police department said recently. It took one of her fellow officers three years to get his identity back, she said. The Federal Trade Commission says over 10 million Americans annually have their identity stolen. Kroll's Identity Theft Shield can help you restore yours.

Facebook friend hit by identity theft, bank account emptied

Think identity theft only happens to someone else? An Atlanta friend posted this on her Facebook page last week:

I have just experienced identity theft. Anyone on here have experience with what I need to do?? My bank account was wiped out on Monday with a fake driver's license that had my SS#, and they had my bank acct....#. They withdrew all funds at a Wachovia in Greenwood, S.C.

Since that time, the thief has also tried to open a Sears charge card.

I've discussed this issue on my Facebook group page for months. I am an agent for Kroll, one of the world's largest data security agencies. We can help my friend, and we can help prevent this from happening to you, and RESTORE things if it does. Call me at 404-358-1170.

California health care agency mails 50,000 envelopes with social security numbers printed on them

Nearly 50,000 envelopes with the recipients' Social Security Numbers printed on the labels were mailed out in early February by the California Department of Health Care Services health care agency, according to a story appearing in the Feb. 9, 2009 issue of the Sacramento Bee and repeated on many Internet sites.

The agency blamed an "internal error" and an outside vendor.

Here comes another rash of identity thefts.

ID theft in 2009 costs Americans more than $54 billion

According to the newly-released 2010 Identity Fraud Study by Javelin Strategy & Research, over 11.1 million Americans were victims of identity theft in 2009, resulting in a financial loss of over $54 billion.

James Van Dyke, president and founder of Javelin, said fraudsters are becoming increasingly technology-savvy and are using personal information stolen in data breaches to open new accounts or to make changes to existing non-card accounts.

Through a partnership between Kroll, the world's largest security company, and Pre-Paid Legal, provider of legal plans to families and businesses for over 37 years, you can obtain the best protection against having your identity stolen, and will have the best companies working for you to restore your identity should it be compromised. Click here for more information and to become a member.

342,000,000 sensitive records stolen in past five years

Since January 2005, there have been at least 342,000,000 records containing sensitive personal information involved in security breaches in the U.S. Credit card numbers, social security numbers, and all the rest of the information that identifies you as you are out there in the hands of criminals.

See PrivacyRights.org for the list of breaches.

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Court appearance twice as likely as hospital stay

The average person is more likely to find him or herself in court than in the hospital, yet most people have health insurance, but no plan for legal problems. — Hospital Statistics: Emerging Trends & Examining the Work of State Courts

Employees miss work to handle legal issues

Almost half the employees who take time off from work do so to deal with problems that are either legal or legal-related. — LSK Associates Study

ID Theft Prevention: 'I lost my purse... now what?'

"When my purse wasn't returned, suddenly my world was a different place."

I hope you never have to say that. Ms. Gupta discovered after leaving her purse in a movie theater that in her "new world," she had "no tangible evidence to prove who [she really was. She] lost all my key identifiers — driver's license, AAA, insurance, credit and debit cards, health insurance, library card, frequent flyer mile and quite a few individual store credit cards."

But worse — all those key identifies she lost could easily be used by someone else to "prove" they were Ms. Gupta.

Read her story here.

There are two very time-consuming steps involved if you lose your identifiers as Ms. Gupta did: Taking inventory — what did you lose? — and taking action.

Ms. Gupta did not have an identity theft protection program in place.

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