Identity Theft Prevented and Data Recovery Made Easy

Identity Theft can happen to any of us at any time. Identity theft has become one of the fastest growing crimes in Canada and the United States. In the United States, identity-theft complaints to the Federal Trade Commission have increased five-fold in the last three years, from 31,117 in 2000 to 161,819 in 2002. In Canada, the PhoneBusters National Call Centre received 7,629 identity theft complaints by Canadians in 2002, that reported total losses of more than $8.5 million, and an additional 2,250 complaints in the first quarter of 2003 that reported total losses of more than $5.3 million. In addition, two major Canadian credit bureaus, Equifax and Trans Union, indicate that they receive approximately 1,400 to 1,800 Canadian identity theft complaints per month, the majority of which are from the province of Ontario.
One reason for the increase in identity theft may be that consumers often become victims of identity theft without having any direct contact with the identity thieves who acquire their personal data. Simply by doing things that are part of everyday routine – charging dinner at a restaurant, using payment cards to purchase gasoline or rent a car, or submitting personal information to employers and various levels of government – consumers may be leaving or exposing their personal data where identity thieves can access and use it without the consumers' knowledge or permission.
Last week my husband who is a new email user received an email from the bank he uses regularly. The corporate look of the email looked like it had come from his bank and indicated that his account and bank card were under investigation for a security breach. All he had to do was enter his password and the number on his interac card he uses for withdrawals and on-line banking. Fortunately this was at breakfast time, and as he was reviewing his emails he remarked out loud "this is weird". Earlier in the week, coincidentally, we had a call from our bank for real indicating they had an issue with one of our cards we use regularly. So for all purposes, it would have seemed quite normal for the bank to send an email requesting verifation of password and card number. All I can say is thank god for common sense and the fact that this happened when I was there. He did not give the information and acted on contacting his bank to ask why would they send an email requesting this confidential and secure information. Long story short. The email was a bogus email and had all the look and feel of the brand our bank has.
This is how easy it would have been to have had a different ending. All too many times we are too busy or distracted to really pay attention to what we do and who with. This is how easy it could happen to anyone of us.
In this case, pay attention, don't give your password or identification number to anyone unless it is a trusted source, shred all of your documents before putting out in the garbage and lastly, Store all of your life's most important information and documents into the dovetail organizer. Data Recovery made easy. Never be Missing Personal Information again! Secure software that gives you the ability to save to a USB drive for "pack-and-go" access to vital information when you need it.
www.dovetailorganizer.com