Hello...I rec'd this this am and think that it is to important to not pass on...... "food for thought" Have a great day! Jeannie <>< > >U.S. News and World Report > >News You Can Use 5/11/98 > >ON MONEY > >BY MARGARET MANNIX > > >Home-page snoops > >Does your family have a home page on the Internet? If so, you might want >to >reconsider how much personal information you post online. Con artists >who >steal others' identities, get credit in their names, then leave innocent > >people with a mountain of debt to fight and ruined credit to clean up >are >discovering the charms of the Net. > >Old-fashioned techniques like wading through Dumpsters for discarded >credit-card receipts take time. These days, a savvy thief can hack into >an >Internet service provider's subscriber list and lift credit-card numbers >by >the thousands. Databases full of sensitive information have been >inadvertently left open in cyberspace. And some online outfits peddle >sensitive information without regard to privacy, despite Federal Trade >Commission scrutiny last year that encouraged many to limit how they >sell >services like looking up Social Security numbers. > >Meanwhile, thousands of netizens are unknowingly making it easier for >thieves to steal their identities by posting individual home pages, >family >genealogies, and résumés. Sure, there's no harm in posting photographs >of >Morris or Fido. And only the foolish post a Social Security number on a >Web >site. But many pages are packed with the sort of details identity >thieves >crave: full names, birth dates, birthplaces, addresses, occupations, >degrees, phone numbers. With the click of a mouse, a thief has a >personal >dossier at his fingertips. > >Think about it. A name, birth date, and birthplace will get you a birth >certificate, and a driver's license is not far behind. "The driver's >license, unfortunately, has become a de facto ID," says Beth Givens, >director of the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse in San Diego. It's the key >to >all sorts of financial services, and it propels a thief closer to the >magic >number: the Social Security number. > >Mom's maiden name. Some family tree tracers place details like a >mother's >maiden name online. That's often a common password for credit cards and >bank >accounts. Revealing such personal details, says Ed Howard, executive >director of the Center for Law in the Public Interest in Los Angeles, is > >"privacy suicide." > >As Howard points out, the Internet isn't a toy. Your home page may have >hooked you up with a long-lost friend or relative, but it can also put >you >at risk. Identity-theft victims suffer the aftermath of the criminal's >spending sprees for years in the form of calls from collection agencies, > >ruined credit, even mistaken arrest. > >While the Internet is a wonderful tool for genealogists (it has >revolutionized family research), think again before jeopardizing the >privacy >of your relatives by putting intimate details up on the Web. "If a >family >member is going to put up the genealogy, I think they should notify all >the >living members of that family tree," says Givens--who would prefer her >family tree in book form. > >You'll never have complete control over your personal information, so >you'll >never be immune to fraud. But why make it easy for someone to >impersonate >you? If you wouldn't post your background on your local grocery store's >bulletin board, don't put it on the Internet. "It's the world's bulletin > >board," says Carole Lane, author of Naked in Cyberspace: How to Find >Personal Information Online (Pemberton Press, 1997, $29.95). And con >artists >are checking it out. > >Take a bite out of credit crimes >Tip: Identity thieves like to rifle through mailboxes for preapproved >credit >card and loan solicitations, fill them out, and start using other >people's >credit. A 1997 amendment to the Fair Credit Reporting Act (the law that >governs credit bureaus) required credit bureaus to establish toll-free >"opt >out" lines that consumers can call to remove their names from those >mailing >lists. To keep your mailbox free of such identity thief temptations, >call >any of the three largest credit bureaus: > >Equifax >(800) 556-4711 > >Experian >(800) 353-0809 > >Trans Union >(800) 680-7293 > > > The best form of spiritual excercise is to touch the floor regularly with your knees. <>< <><