I wrote about credit monitoring services and how they don't fully protect you against identity theft in today's Q&A. If you haven't read it, check it out since we discuss LifeLock, an identity theft protection company whose CEO has been flaunting his Social Security Number all over the place in an attempt to prove to potential customers how safe he feels using his company's services..

Too bad he's had dozens of attempts by various people to steal his identity with at least one person being successful.

In the column, I talk about credit freezes so I just wanted to remind everyone how we've told you before how to request a credit freeze here.

Continue reading "Credit monitoring services can be costly and ineffective" »

Posted by Dan Thanh Dang at 1:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

Got old, sensitive documents that you don’t want any identity thieves to get their hands on?

Shred ’em. And this Saturday you don’t even need to own a shredder to do so.

The Attorney General’s office is hosting a shred-a-thon in Greenbelt on Saturday. Prince George’s County residents can have their junk mail and financial papers ripped apart by local shredder Torn2Shredz. The shredding runs from 9 a.m. to noon at Eleanor Roosevelt High School, 7601 Hanover Parkway.

There are limits on the amount of paper you can bring for shredding. Each household can bring in enough documents to fill two standard-sized paper grocery bags

Shred documents that will have personal information that would allow thieves to steal your identity. Those include ATM receipts, bank statements, canceled and voided checks, pre-approved credit card applications, employee pay stubs and medical and dental records.

Posted by Eileen Ambrose at 5:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)
                    

Stories today and earlier this week about a security breach at The Dental Network, a CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield dental HMO, caused concern for some readers who are current or former plan members who worried their information might have been compromised.

The business accidentally posted names, addresses, dates of birth and Social Security numbers of 75,000 members on its Web site for two weeks last month. Under state law that went into effect in January, companies are required to notify consumers if their data has been disclosed.

Some people who did NOT receive letters from The Dental Network have contacted me as well as the Identity Theft Program of the state attorney general's office asking if they, too, were affected.

Continue reading "Identity theft: who's at risk?" »

Posted by Liz Kay at 7:38 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)