Hi: There was an interesting article at CNN the other day, titled "Identity theft: The new way to rob a bank" In the article, a Federal Trade Commission report estimated --> identity theft losses to financial institutions are at $47 billion/year --> In comparison, bank robberies total roughly $77 million/year Most common ways that identity theft robberies happen; 1) A bank employee sells your personal information to criminals, who then use the information to take over your account. 2) Crooks use your Social Security number and date of birth to open accounts in your name to launder checks. If the police catch up, it's your name on the account - not the crooks'. 3) An e-mail scam known as "phishing" attempts to trick people into giving out their personal information and credit card numbers. Apparently, when a person is the subject of identity theft, it takes 40+ hours to clear up and clean up the mess, request new cards, etc., etc. If you're doing business online, never EVER click on a link in an email to go to any money related site (ie; paypal, banking, affiliate accounts, etc) ALWAYS, ALWAYS open a browser and type in the url to go to sites that have anything to do with money or your personal accounts. ALWAYS. No exceptions! : ) Linda P.S. The rest of the article is here if you're interested; http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/05/18/identity.theft/index.html

Linda! Good Information. Thanks for the Alert! You can read my story of ID Theft at http://zbizpro.blogspot.com I think either a bank employee or an employee of the health insurance company where I filed my claims stole and sold my SS#... Anyway, I found one day that someone had access to my bank account, used an ATM to syphon almost $2000. from my checking account, and then began to file for credit in my name at various stores, etc. There is protection available.......

Hi, Linda, No wonder all the fees are going up and the interest paid on your interest-earning checking and savings accounts is going down. Never mind that the bank makes you whole after an identity theft, we are paying for this in higher fees and lost earnings! Back in January, I posted a related story about a new twist on the phishing scheme. Turns out it wasn't new, just new to me, and I thought I was savvy to phishing. I was caught by it just before leaving the country for two weeks last fall. Not fun. So for anyone who is interested, here's the link to that story, too. http://community.adlandpro.com/forums/thread/277199.aspx Cheri

Hi Linda, This is a very timely warning - quite a few of us on Adlandpro are sounding the alarm, but people are still running into trouble... There's something people can also do to prove to themselves just how sneaky these people are - they can hold their mouse over the link they see in an email and then read the REAL URL in the lower left margin of their browser. It can be a real eye opener. God bless, Dave

Hello Linda, Thanks for this insight. Had I read this a few months back, I would have probably been saved the pain I went through. But knowing how to prevent it from happening again is indeed a blessing. CHeers! Ricardo