Identity Theft Victims Struggle to Clear Their Names

More information on the identity theft crisis:

This story was printed from ZDNet News, located at http://news.zdnet.com --------------------------------------------------------------
By Alorie GilbertURL: http://news.zdnet.com/2100-1009_22-5805671.html

One in four Americans who fall victim to identity theft find it a struggle to clear their name, according to a recent survey.

Twenty-eight percent of victims have been unsuccessful in restoring their reputations, despite trying for more than a year on average, the Nationwide Mutual Insurance said in a report released Tuesday. The survey, which polled close to 1,100 victims, indicated that people spend an average of 81 hours working to resolve their cases.

"The survey shows that recovering from identity theft can be difficult, costly and stressful, but what is most alarming is that despite the time, money and personal duress victims go through, resolution is not always achieved," Kirk Herath, an associate general counsel at Nationwide Mutual, said in a statement.

More than half of all victims discovered the identity fraud themselves after noticing fraudulent credit card charges or withdrawn funds, the report indicated. It took respondents an average of five-and-a-half months after the first incident to discover the crime. Just 17 percent were notified by a creditor or bank of suspicious activity on their account.

The average sum of charges made to victims' accounts as a result of identity theft was $3,968, according to the survey. While most respondents were not held liable for the charges, 16 percent report that they had to shoulder some or all of the cost. Forty percent of respondents listed
police, banks or credit issuers as difficult to work with when attempting to resolve the problem.

The high-tech industry is increasingly in the crosshairs of the identity theft debate. That's because vulnerable computer systems at some major companies have recently exposed hundreds of thousands of consumers to possible data theft. Security breaches have been reported by data processor CardSystems Solutions, Citigroup's consumer finance unit CitiFinancial, Bank of America and Wachovia, data brokers ChoicePoint and LexisNexis, and the University of California at Berkeley and Stanford University.

Although the industry claims that a small percentage of identity theft cases begin online, a separate survey indicates such incidents are starting to dent the confidence of online shoppers. Three out of four Web shoppers told Gartner that they are more cautious about where they buy goods online, while a third report buying fewer items than they would otherwise because of security concerns.

In another survey by The Conference Board, 54 percent of online consumers said they more concerned about the security of their personal data now than they were a year ago.

NOTE: Just more reasons to get the Identity Theft Shield
http://www.prepaidlegal.com/idt/grschmidt

Here is a little bit of encouragement to get your will prepared and let your family know where it is.

Read the article below just published in the Contra Costa Times (Contra Costa County, California)

First thing you need to do after you read the article is to get your Pre-Paid Legal Membership, and then have our attorneys prepare your will for you with your first month of membership--at no extra cost.
http://www.prepaidlegal.com/info/grschmidt

Your living will--Advance Directive--will also be prepared for you at no extra cost.

Contact me to answer any questions or provide additional information.

George Schmidt
925-676-1926 or
888-559-2135 (toll free for messages only)

Your Last Wishes
By Joan Morris
CONTRA COSTA TIMES (Contra Costa County, California)

A MYSTERIOUS LITTLE key, found tucked away in a dusty desk drawer, remains as confounding today as it was 13 years ago when Terry Ann Black found it. But while Black never learned what the key opened, she has used it to unlock a door and assist others in sorting out the estates of departed loved ones.

Black, a Lafayette resident who has worked 40 years as a nurse, is the author of "Caring Is Not Enough: The Most Important Questions You Can Ask," a self-published booklet that contains more than 70 questions everyone should answer.

The responses are intended to help loved ones deal with banks, creditors, funeral homes and the other loose ends we leave behind when we die.

It is also an insurance policy against the kind of legal and emotional nightmare that enveloped Terri Schiavo and her family. After doctors concluded that Schiavo had suffered irreversible brain damage, her husband, Michael Schiavo, sought to remove life-sustaining measures and allow her to die. Schiavo's parents objected, and because the Florida woman had never written down her wishes, the case was bitterly fought in court and in the halls of public discourse, eventually involving Florida's governor and Congress.

Black's book is not a how-to, nor does it offer advice or direction on whether you should prolong life in circumstances such as Schiavo's. It is instead a checklist to ensure you've done everything you should, and a record for your loved ones to help ensure your last wishes are carried out.
"We work so hard to provide for our families," Black says, "and then we risk losing it all."
The book asks questions -- and provides a space for the answers -- about basic topics, but ones that it's doubtful we think about.

Do you have a will? When was it written? Do you have a copy? Where do you keep it? Who is your attorney? Does anyone have a durable power of attorney? Do you have a living will? Do you have advanced medical directives?

Black intends the book not only to be a record of information, but a gentle nudge to get people thinking about putting their affairs in order. It is not a question of if we will die, Black says, but of when. And most of us have no idea when that will be.

Black and her family were living in the Boston area in 1992 when her father-in-law died in a traffic accident. In the midst of the shock of his death and the grief over the loss, the family had to sort through the man's personal effects. And had to start from the very beginning.
They knew he had made a will, but they didn't know the attorney's name or where the will was kept. They knew he had a checking account, but they had to search for evidence of the bank, clues to savings accounts and investments.

While sorting through the mounds of material, Black found the key. It was easily recognizable as a safe deposit key, but it bore no indication of where the box was kept or information on what was contained inside. It could be important papers, stock certificates, even money. Or it might be sentimental things, old photographs, love letters, a promise ring from years ago.
"I would never ever know," Black says. No one ever located the box.

Later, when Black's mother died, she left a similar maze of paperwork. More confusion came when the will was located. It had been written many years earlier and property that her mother had willed to others had been lost, sold or given to someone else in the intervening years.
"You prepare for school, you plan for vacations, you plan for retirement," Black says, "but we never plan to die."
Her experiences led Black to write her book, which in 1992 contained 50 questions. Since then, she added more, keeping pace with the growing complications of life and death in the 21st century. In addition to questions about advanced directives and medical powers of attorney, she also recently added questions about computer passwords to protected investment accounts.
Even the most careful planner may slip up, Black says. She thought she and her husband had put everything in order. They have wills, they've created a trust fund, they know how they want their estate shared. But neither of them had filed advanced directives with their hospital.

They have now.

Joan Morris is a feature writer. Reach her at 925-977-8479 or jmorris@cctimes.com.

Questions to ask
A small sample of the many questions in "Caring Is Not Enough"
1. Do you have a will? Where is it kept?
2. Do you have a guardian for your minor children? Who is it and what is their phone number and address?
3. Do you own real estate other than your home? Where is it located?
4. Do you have a financial planner? What is the phone number where they can be reached?
5. Do you own a cemetery plot? Where is it located?
• Record vital information for your loved ones.
• Record your personal requests.
• Record your financial information.
• Record your medical information.
• Record important phone numbers.
• Protect yourself from interference by others.

Online
• To a read a sample of the questions asked in the book "Caring Is Not Enough," go to www.contracostatimes.com.

HOW TO ORDER
Copies of "Caring Is Not Enough: The Most Important Questions You Can Ask" are available by mail or through the author's Web site. Send a check or money order for $8 to Terry Ann Black, P.O. Box 1397, Lafayette, CA 94549, or use PayPal at www.caringisnotenough.net.

http://www.contracostatimes.com/mld/cctimes/living/health/12224466htm

New Jersey Veteran State Trooper Faces ID Theft Charges

NJ Veteran state trooper faces ID theft, credit card fraud charges

July 19, 2005, 5:47 PM EDTTRENTON, N.J. -- A state trooper with 17 years on the job was suspended without pay Monday amid accusations that he applied for credit cards online using other people's names, birth dates and Social Security numbers while on duty.

Gary L. Stolinski, 37, of Mount Laurel, was indicted on official misconduct, identity theft and credit card fraud charges. Stolinski, a sergeant assigned to State Governmental Security Bureau, faces up to 15 years in prison and $175,000 in fines if convicted.

The trooper was not represented by a lawyer when he appeared for indictment, said Division of Criminal Justice spokesman John Hagerty. His home phone number is not listed. The indictment charges that Stolinski used a state police computer and other resources while on duty in Salem County last July 31 to apply for at least five credit cards using personal data from other people.

The security division for American Express Corp. determined that the applications were bogus, and contacted the legitimate holder of the Social Security number on one of the applications. The victim, an Arizona resident, contacted Flagstaff police, who reported the identity theft to police in Mount Laurel. Stolinski's next court date has not yet been set, Hagerty said.

http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/newjersey/ny-bc-nj--troopercharged0719jul19,0,3773695.story?coll=ny-region-apnewjersey