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Veterans not the only, or even easiest, targets of identity theft
(South Florida Sun-Sentinel (KRT) Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) May 30--Veterans understandably are a little nervous after the apparent heist of 26.5 million Department of Veterans Affairs records from the home of a federal employee earlier this month.
But it turns out the vets have plenty of company.
Millions of documents are compromised every year, according to experts. While most breaches don't end in identity theft, consumers need to stay one step ahead of the crooks by regularly checking their accounts and immediately alerting their banks and the credit bureaus if they find anything fishy.
People concerned about their personal information also now can ask for up to three free credit reports a year, as well as file fraud alerts with the major credit bureaus.
"The odds are you won't be a victim. But if you are, it can be very bad for you," said Naomi Lefkovitz, an attorney with the Federal Trade Commission.
Identity theft is on the rise, with 255,565 complaints filed with the FTC last year, up 16 percent from two years earlier. The Miami-Fort Lauderdale area ranked sixth nationwide in the number filed per capita, with 6,967 reported cases -- 135 per 100,000 residents.
Many of these crimes are committed by a relative or friend of the victim, said Jim Wright, of the National Crime Prevention Council, or happen when someone loses their wallet or personal papers.
Yet millions of names and Social Security numbers are in danger of being scooped up each year, unbeknown to the individuals they belong to. About 50 million records kept by universities, financial institutions, government agencies and other sources were compromised last year in a fashion similar to what happened with the VA database, said Michael Stanfield, chairman and CEO of Intersections Inc., a Virginia-based data monitoring firm.
Courtney Heidelberg, a spokeswoman with the Florida Department of Veterans Affairs in Tallahassee who is keeping veterans posted on the records theft, discovered earlier this month that Ohio University had information on 300,000 graduates that was compromised. Heidelberg, an OU graduate, filed a credit bureau fraud alert -- something she said veterans can do, too, if they feel uneasy.
The alert, which requires lenders and credit companies to ask for extra information from applicants, is free and lasts for 90 days.
"I would hate not to take that step when it was so easy," she said.
ID theft victims usually are legally protected from getting stuck with huge bills their alter egos have rung up, Lefkovitz said. What those defrauded do lose is time and peace of mind, she said, as it sometimes takes months and professional help to untangle the false identity from the real one.
But whether consumers want to go the extra mile and pay for data monitoring and additional credit checks, "is a personal decision," she said. "It depends on how risk-adverse you are."
Diane Lade can be reached at dlade@sun-sentinel.com or 561-243-6618.
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