The Maryland Family Magazine had a good article on child identity theft.  Identity theft is not just a problem for adults, it’s a problem for kids as well.  Child identity theft is an easy crime because the child is an unsuspecting victim and the most common perpetrator (a family member) has ready access to the child’s personal information.  Read more about this problematic crime (for both the adult and the child) in the Maryland Family Magazine’s story on child identity theft.

The U.S. banking industry’s reliance on magnetic stripe credit and debit cards threatens to turn the country into a magnet for more card-based fraud, said an executive with the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta.

Richard Oliver, executive vice president of the Atlanta Fed’s Retail Payments Risk forum, said that regulators’ reluctance to require more secure technology threatens to isolate the U.S. as a target for fraud rings and criminals thwarted by chip-embedded smart card technology available in Europe, Canada and other parts of the world.

“That means that criminals, intent on profiting from card fraud, will continue to migrate to the United States in growing numbers,” says Oliver, who is also responsible for managing the Fed’s global check and ACH businesses.

While banks are experimenting with chip-embedded technology, smartcard adoption is hindered by the reluctance of merchants to bear the cost of six million new payment terminals that would be required for conversion to the new standard.

U.S. citizens traveling abroad are already running into compatibility problems in using their magnetic stripe cards in countries where ATM machines and point-of-sale terminals have been adapted to read only chip-embedded cards.

Oliver proposes that the government initiate a public policy directive to begin the changeover to the new standard in the U.S., much like the digital TV broadcast conversion completed in 2009.

“If we want to mitigate the possibility of the United States being a center of card fraud and enable our consumers and business folks to travel abroad more easily,” says Oliver, “it may be time to charge someone in government with developing a well-thought-out, participatory, multi-year plan to move this country to the emerging global payments card standard.”

A number of the top reviewed identity theft protection services help protect your social security number from fraudulent usage, including Identity Theft Shield. This service monitor your credit report for inappropriate use of your SSN. If they see anything suspicious, they will alert you. In the unlikely circumstance you become a victim of identity theft while enrolled with the program, you have complete access to their identity theft restoration teams. These identity theft professionals will assist you in restoring your identity.

They also monitor for fraudulent use of other personal information. All-in-all, Identity Theft Shield offers a full arsenal of protection at a reasonable price.

The Connecticut Attorney General has sued Health Net, claiming the insurance company failed to adequately protect the medical records of 446,000 customers whose private data was contained in a computer disk drive that was found to be missing last spring.

The lawsuit says that Health Net waited six months before notifying customers of the data breach.

The company is offering people whose personal information was compromised two years of credit-monitoring services at no charge. The package includes $1 million of identity theft insurance coverage and enrollment in fraud resolution services for two years, if needed.

According to the lawsuit, the company discovered in mid-May 2009 that the portable computer disk drive was missing from Health Net’s office, but did not send letters to customers or post a notice on its Web site until Nov. 30.

The missing disk contained health information, Social Security numbers, and bank account numbers for 446,000 past and present customers. The data was contained in 27 million scanned pages of more than 120 different types of documents, including insurance claim forms, membership forms, appeals and grievances, correspondence, and medical records.

Despite the sensitivity of the information, the data was not encrypted. An investigative report by Kroll, a computer forensic consulting firm hired by Health Net, said the data was viewable through commonly available software.

By failing to encrypt the data, Health Net possilby violated the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act and its own company policies. Failing to promptly notify customers and state authorities of the data breach was also a possible HIPAA violation.

Contributing to the problem was Health Net’s alleged failure to effectively supervise and train employees on policies and procedures on the appropriate maintenance, use, and disclosure of protected health information.

A Kentucky hospital is notifying 5,000 patients of a data breach that occurred when computer equipment containing patient information was stolen from its mammography suite. Hospital officials reported that the information on the hard drive was not encrypted, but was maintained in a locked, non-public area.

Officials at The Medical Center at Bowling Green said the stolen equipment held the data of patients who had bone density testing done between 1997 and 2009.

Hospital officials have determined that the information on the stolen device included each patient’s full name, date of birth, address, medical record number and physician name. Some patients’ records also included information such as social security numbers, weight, height, and menopause age.

The hospital became aware of the theft on April 1, conducted an investigation of the incident, and reported it to the Bowling Green Police Department.

The Medical Center is allegedly following the requirements of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 and the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act, which include: notification of the U.S. Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services; notification of patients who may have had their personal protected health information accessed by the breach; public disclosure to the local media; and posting information about the breach on The Medical Center’s Web site.

Authorities are currently searching for two people who stole the identities of 2 Virginia senators and a delegate and then used their identities to buy drugs, a bong, and dinner. Senate Majority Leader Richard Saslaw, Senator Toddy Puller of Mt. Vernon, and Delegate Tom Rust of Herndon were the victims.

After further investigation, authorities say that that Sky Manriquez, 21, and Bernell Bryan Washington, 24, opened several credit cards in the lawmakers’ name.  The duo is also accused of changing one senator’s address.  Investigators believe the two are staying with friends or relatives in California. After serving a search warrant to the address, investigators recovered several items of evidence including receipts that indicated the suspects purchased medical marijuana using the senator’s fake accounts.

Arrest warrants have issued for the two. Washington apparently has an active $60,000 arrest warrant alleging identity theft, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, and possession of ammunition by a prohibited person. Manriquez has an active $25,000 arrest warrant charging her with identity theft.

It is believe the lawmakers were paying for their meal at a Virginia restaurant when the magnetic strips of their credit cards were stolen. Police say the information was obtained by skimming, that’s when credit cards are swiped using a machine that records the numbers. Statistics show such crimes usually involve a dishonest employee.

Saslaw says he was receiving calls from several credit card companies and banks saying they had received applications in his name.

The suspects posted pictures of themselves on Facebook using the stolen merchandise.

Tyler Perry has become the latest victim of identity theft. The playwright, actor and director is reporting that nearly $30,000 worth of charges were applied to his credit card without his permission.  Tyler broke the news himself through his TylerPerry.com blog in one of his weekly updates.

Perry wrote on his website that he had been robbed and sent out a plea for his fans to alert police, if they knew any of the people who had been involved in the crime.

Perry listed all of the thief’s charges that began on April 25th and ended on May 4th.  The thief enjoyed quite a spree with the card from purchasing several airline and movie tickets to clothing buys from online retailers to a toy escapade at Toys R Us that totaled more than $500.00.

Lifelock customers will receive refunds as part of a settlement with the FTC.  The FTC sued Lifelock claiming it made false claims in its ads.  Lifelock claimed that (1) it could prevent unauthorized changes to its customers’  addresses, (2) it monitored activity on its customers’ credit reports constantly, and (3) it could guarantee that a customer would receive a telephone call from a potential creditor before a new account was opened.  the FTC said these claims were false.

Lifelock will pay $11 million to the FTC to settle the charges against the company.  The FTC plans to use the money to give refunds to Lifelock’s customers.  Details of the refund plan have not yet been released by the FTC.  Information regarding refunds will be posted on the FTC’s website at www.ftc.gov/lifelock.

In his plea agreement, 32-year-old Jason Alan Tauer in Minnesota admitted to stealing the files of 93 people who’d made loan applications at Ameriquest Mortgage, where he worked in 2005. He also admitted to getting information from stolen mail and things he took from gym lockers.

Tauer then used the information to make fake identification documents and checks, which he used to get cash, services and other items. One example of his fraud, Tauer obtained a U.S. Bank credit card in another person’s name and withdrew cash from ATMs throughout Minnesota, sticking the victim with a $30,529.63 bill.

The charges in the plea agreement include two counts of bank fraud, one count of device fraud and three counts of aggravated identity theft. Though Tauer has yet to be sentenced, he could be sent to prison for more than 70 years.

A Harrisburg, PA collection agency and 15 individuals were charged with 639 count indictment due to a scheme that involved identity theft, pick-pocketing, and disguises.

The fraudulent scheme transpired during the period of October 2008 through October 2009. This scheme involved $600,00 of stolen funds from at least 60 different accounts.

The conspiracy process started when one individual pick-pocketed victims, then sold the stolen identification and other confidential documents. A the request of the person who bought the stolen information, additional identification searches of the victims were completed by two collection agency employees. The information that was obtained were social security numbers, date of births, and telephone numbers.

This information was then used to make cash deposits or to cash a counterfeit check from the victims’ accounts. The perpetrators even dressed up in disguises such as wigs, glasses, hats and makeup to try and look like the victims as much as possible.

The awareness of a Chase Bank investigator prompted an investigation. The investigator noticed women who were wearing disguises, making fraudulent transactions against accounts in different Chase branches. However, the accounts had been closed by the account holders since their wallets were stolen.

The 15 accused will now face multiple felony charges that consist of grand larceny, attempted grand larceny, identity theft, conspiracy, scheme to defraud, possession of a forged instrument, and criminal possession of stolen property.