Author: Crown Information Managment

Nearly half of all identity theft victims have difficulties…

The monetary costs of identity theft can be quite hefty. In fact, victims of identity theft lose an average of $2,000 to 15,000 in wages trying to deal with their cases. This is because victims spend between a day and 9 months trying to repair the financial damage caused by identity thieves, and some even spend up to a year trying to deal with their cases. On average, victims spend between $850 to $1400 in expenses related to their cases, which includes paperwork and any other legal fees.

As a result of identity theft, nearly half of all identity theft victims have difficulties obtaining credit and loans, and roughly 1/5 of victims have higher credit interest rates. Over 2/3 of victims have difficulties removing negative information from their credit scores.

The psychological impact of identity theft is also extensive on both the victims and their families. Victims often times experience anger, anxiety and depression as a result of losing their finances. Nearly half of all victims experience denial, disbelief, feel filed, and develop an inability to trust others, and over half feel unprotected by the police as well as experience rage.

IdentityTheftFacts.com

Strict security should be practiced when using smart phones, laptops, iPads . . .

Christopher Chaney, of Jacksonville Florida, has been accused of targeting the entertainment industry, by hacking into the personal e-mail accounts of celebrities. He was arrested after being charged with a range of cyber-related crimes. Investigators believe that Chaney used publicly available sources to mine for data about his victims, all of whom are associated with the entertainment industry.

Once Chaney gained access and control of an e-mail account, he would obtain private information, such as e-mails and file attachments, according to the indictment. In addition, investigators believe that Chaney was led to new victims by accessing the address books of victims whose computers he already controlled. “It’s important to remember that, although these victims appear to have been targeted based on their celebrity, similar methods may be used to illegally access any one of our computers,” said Steven Martinez, Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office. “Strict computer security should be practiced when using smart phones, laptops, desktops, iPads, or any other device that provides Internet access.”

-Associated Press

Thieves are using unsecured wireless networks to infiltrate smartphones . . .

Imagine this:  You’ve been invited to deliver a speech, to the United States Treasury Department, on Identity Theft.  The Conference will be held at Disney World, so you take your family along to enjoy the resort and parks.  When you return home you find you have become a victim of identity theft.  Likely, the thief used a smartphone to snap a picture of you purchasing an item, when you pulled out your credit card and ID for verification.

Thieves are also, now using unsecured wireless networks and infiltrating smartphones through Bluetooth technology.  Experts say it is best to have updated virus software, and to encrypt sensitive data and never type passwords or credit card number over an unsecured wireless network.  They also recommend that you keep your phone’s Bluetooth turned off unless you are actively using it and monitoring it, to prevent unauthorized access to the phone.

Info provided by Sarrelson Law

Information used to open credit cards and bank accounts. . .

Jonathan Morris II, the owner of St. Augustine-based cleaning company Mr. Janitor, was arrested for allegedly stealing personal information from some Eagle Harbor Country Club members.

According to the Clay County Sheriff’s Office, Morris used that information to open credit cards and bank accounts in alleged victims’ names.  Morris is scheduled for a pre-trial hearing in January.  His charge is listed as identity theft of more than twenty persons or $50,000.

What to do if you might be a victim of identity theft . . .

Those of us in the information security business talk about identity theft all the time. Identity Theft has risen 13% from 2010 to 2011. We thought it might be a good idea for our clients to have a check list of things to do if you feel you have become a victim. Remember: “THIS IS NOT LEGAL ADVICE”. It’s just a suggestion on where you can start when you feel victimized!

Call the IRS and inform them you believe you are a victim of identity theft. (Often the way you will find out that something is amiss is when you don’t receive your refund check. It may have been issued to the thief who has assumed your identity).

Fill out IRS Form 14039 and fax or mail back to IRS.

Contact the Social Security Administration ( If you go to their website they have an Identity Theft webpage). If you contact them by phone they will tell you to contact the Federal Trade Commission.

Contact the Federal Trade Commission (877-438-4338). After you contact them by phone, you will be sent an Identity Theft Complaint Affidavit.

Contact your local police department and tell them you have been a victim of identity theft. Make sure you get a case number and follow up in a few days to get the full police report. Make sure you put that police report in your Credit bureau file.

Contact one of the three credit bureaus: Equifax at 800-525-6285, Trans Union at 800-680-7289, or Experian at 888-397-3742.Tell them you are entitled to make a victim-of-fraud statement that will be put into your credit history along with your police report.

Save storage space, keep your business legally secure . . .

Retention schedules are one of the most important aspects of a documents life cycle. Different documents have different legal requirements and these requirements may be as short as a month or as long as twenty five years.

Retention schedules are important for several reasons, such as saving you storage space, but most importantly it keeps your business legally secure. In the event of a lawsuit, Federal Rule 26 requires that each party provide all relevant records to the opposing counsel. By destroying records according to a set schedule, your company can appropriately limit the amount of materials it must search through to comply with this law.

Business should also be aware of the documents discarded on a daily basis. This trash often contains information that could be used against the company or worse, private information belong to your clients. Discarded daily records include phone messages, memos, and misprinted forms, drafts of bids and drafts of correspondence.

Crown Shredding and Records Storage can work with you to develop a secure document destruction program that’s best for your business.

707 Avenue K Southwest, Winter Haven, Florida 33880 . . .

WE HAVE A NEW HOME!
707 Avenue K Southwest
Winter Haven, Florida 33880

CROWN SHREDDING is growing!
We are proud to share a few photos of our new facility, with our friends. VIEW PHOTOS . . .

Looking forward to the future, we will begin providing document storage and records management services, along with our current shredding services. We invite you to stop by and take a tour!

We also want to take this time to thank you for being a partner with CROWN SHREDDING. We could not continue to expand our services without your trust and support.

Property Management firm fined $15,000 after Data Breach of laptop containing personal information . . .

The Massachusetts Attorney General announced that a property management firm was fined $15,000 after the theft of a company laptop containing the personal information of over 600 Massachusetts residents.

According to the Massachusetts Attorney General, an employee of the property management company had a laptop containing unencrypted personal information stolen from her car during the night. This incident was found to be in violation of Massachusetts’ Data Breach Regulation.

In addition to paying $15,000 in civil penalties the company must:

• Ensure that personal information is not unnecessarily stored on portable devices;
• Ensure that all personal information stored on portable devices is properly encrypted;
• Ensure that all portable devices containing personal information are stored in a secure location; and
• Effectively train employees on the policies and procedures with respect to maintaining the security of personal information

More than twice as many individuals have been affected by healthcare data breaches in 2013 than in 2012 . . .

So far, more than twice as many individuals have been affected by healthcare data breaches in 2013 than in 2012. And the main reason is a handful of mega-breaches. The very scary part is that three large, highly publicized data breaches have not been tallied yet. If confirmed the tally of individuals affected by breaches could surge by almost a million!  Not yet included on the 2013 list so far are:

Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey:  This breach included the theft of two unencrypted desktop computers from the company’s headquarters which affected nearly 840,000 individuals.

The University of Washington Medicine:  This breach affected 90,000 patients.

Cottage Health System in California:  This breach affected 32,500 people who had their personal health information exposed on Google due to a business associate whose servers were not appropriately protected.

The key to preventing healthcare data breaches includes conducting a thorough risk analysis to identify security risks; encrypting computing devices, especially mobile devices and minimizing the amount of sensitive data stored on end-user’s devices.

Key steps to preventing healthcare data breaches of all sizes, experts say, include conducting a thorough risk analysis to identify security risks; encrypting computing devices, especially mobile gear; and minimizing the amount of sensitive data stored on end-users’ devices.