I thought this worthwhile to pass onto you NewGeners. It's too bad we need to be on guard, constantly, because of things like this. Joan ----- Original Message ----- From: Julie C Hesson <ww6916@dragonbbs.com> To: <NHHILLSB-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Thursday, October 12, 2000 10:40 AM Subject: [NHHILLSB] Protect Yourself! > Listmembers: > > The following probably goes without saying, but I think it's worth > reiterating, for the trusting and unwary among us. We want to share our > GedComs with our fellow listmembers, and we want the information to be > as complete as possible--blank spaces are anathema to us genealogists. > > A word of caution: Please--do not place specific details of > living persons, whether yourself, or family members, on the web. > > Identity theft is becoming big business, and the computer makes > it > increasingly possible, even probable that you, or someone you know, will > become a victim. The FBI considers identity theft a huge--and > growing--crime problem. > > By giving your complete name, date and place of birth, and your > parents' names, you have just given any unscupulous person all the data > they need, to steal your identity, and ruin your life. > > With the above information, they can write for a copy of your > birth certificate, acquire a new copy of your Social Security number, > get a replacement driver's license in your name, and acquire credit > cards with > which to charge $1,000's of dollars of stuff in your name. > > Once they have done this, your credit is in a mess, and they can > just move on, to the next unsuspecting innocent person. > > If you send your family's history to a non-web group, such as a > county genealogical group, for inclusion in a future publication, just > be > prudent, and leave out the specific birth and marriage data on living > persons. > > Don't volunteer to become a victim--put no data of a personal > nature on the web--don't email it through a listserver, which hosts > surname boards, because it then is archived, and any unscrupulous > archive-surfer has access to it. > > Don't make it easy for someone to steal your identity! > > Julie, who had a close call with identity theft.... > >