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The statistics for ID theft are already registering signficant numbers for a year that is still in its first quarter. According to this press release from the University of Texas at Austin, the university’s computer system was hacked, exposing some 55,200 records that included names and social security numbers of current and past students, faculty, …
The National Consumers League, Internet Fraud Watch published two surveys on Web e-mail scams: Top 10 Internet Scams 2001 (includes data on Type of Complaint, Percentage of Total Complaints and Average Loss), and Ages of Consumers Who Filed Complaints, 2001 (includes Percentage of Total Complaints). The surveys are available in tabular format on this webpage. …
The Gartner Group released a news analysis on February 20, Stolen Credit Card Case Should Prompt Card Companies to Act, in reponse to the recent hacking of a database containing millions of credit card records. Their conclusion: “The theft of 8 million credit cards reveals serious flaws in card companies’ disclosure processes. Credit card issuers …
The Federal Trade Commission is sponsoring two free workshops, Technologies for Protecting Personal Information: The Consumer Experience (May 14, 2003), and Technologies for Protecting Personal Information: The Business Experience (June 4, 2003), according to this February 21 press release. See also the text of the Federal Register notice on these workshops, for which written comments …
The Virginia House yesterday passed and adopted HB 2426 – Posting certain information on the Internet; prohibitions, in response to growing public concerns about privacy and ID theft. The bill “provides that beginning July 1, 2003, no state agency or court clerk shall post on a state agency or court-controlled website any document that contains …
CNN reports on an announcement by Visa and Mastercard (which does not appear on either of their respective websites) revealing that a hacker accessed the records of up to 2.2 million accounts via a contractor (Data Processors International) that processes their credit card transactions. According to CNN “the affected accounts make up about one-third of …
Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), is the sponsor of S. 223, a bill to prevent identity theft, and for other purposes, introduced on January 28.
The UCLA Center for Communication Policy today released the third installment of their report, Surveying the Digital Future. The report addresses topics that include the following; Internet Users – Who is Online, Who is Not; Media Use and Trust; Consumer Behavior, Communications Patterns, Social Effects of the Internet (on family, children, friends, politics); the Internet …
This USA Today article highlights how your employee data is increasingly vulnerable to ID theft. The means by which such information is obtained is not necessarily sophisticated or complicated, or accomplished electronically. For example, credit card receipts, 401K reports and direct deposit pay stubs thrown into the office trash are collected and then used to …
The United States Sentencing Commission (USSC) is seeking public comment on proposed amendments to guidelines applicable to persons convicted of crimes related to the misuse of computers (i.e., hacking, cracking, writing and disseminating viruses, ID theft, web-related fraud, etc.). These new guidelines have garnered a new level of attention due to significantly increased incidences of …
This FTC press release provides an overview of their new 2002 National and State Trends in Fraud Identity Theft Report (in PDF). ID theft accounts for 43% of total complaints made, with fraud associated with Internet auctions accounting for 13% of complaints. See also another new FTC report, ID Theft: When Bad Things Happen To …
eMarketer has published an article, Personal Information: The Push-Pull Between Companies & Consumers, that incorporates survey data collected by a number of organizations including, Harris Interactive, ConsumerWebWatch, and PricewaterhouseCoopers. E-privacy and ID theft concerns dominate consumer perspectives when conducting online transactions. In a related article, MSNBC reports on extensive credit card fraud complaints involving PayPal, …
