"The crime of identity theft undermines the basic trust on which our economy depends. When a person takes out an insurance policy, or makes an online purchase, or opens a savings account, he or she must have confidence that personal financial information will be protected and treated with care. Identity theft harms not only its direct victims, but also many businesses and customers whose confidence is shaken. Like other forms of stealing, identity theft leaves the victim poor and feeling terribly violated."

• - President George W. Bush, 2006

These were ONLY the cases reported to the Federal Trade Commission.

The Federal Trade Commission notes that “advances in computer technology have made it possible for detailed information about people to be compiled and shared more easily and cheaply than ever.” And while this makes it easier to track down criminals, “at the same time, as personal information becomes more accessible, each of us— companies, associations, government agencies, and consumers— must take precautions to protect against the misuse of our information.”

If you don’t know what “identity theft” is, consider yourself lucky, many people don’t until they become a victim. And it is common that a victim who attempts to report identity theft to local law enforcement learns that the police don’t know what it is either. In at least 10% of the cases that are reported to local police no report is even taken. But as the fastest growing crime in the world it is very important to learn about it.

Perhaps what is most frightening about identity theft is, despite its futuristic sounding name, it is not complicated or sophisticated and even sloppy and amateurish attempts at the offense are often successful.

Identity theft usually starts when an “identity thief,” or a group of thieves, obtains your Social Security Number and/or other identifying information about you, and proceeds to use, modify, or alter that information to get credit, cash, rent apartments, open cell phone accounts, open bank accounts, or perform other acts— pretending to be you.

Identity thieves use both “high tech” and “no tech” methods. This is not hard to do since many, if not most, companies that collect your personal data sell it, and of course intercepting your mail or going through your garbage is a tried-and-true method of getting information, still used today.

Typically, after few simple credit applications, small payments to reassure the banks or creditors that all is well, thousands of dollars are stolen. Although the FTC averages identity theft losses at under $2,000 per incident, this only represents a small percentage of theft occurrences, and generally represents people who were "on top of the problem" early and knowledgeable enough to know where to report it. Other reports suggest that the actual average theft totals $17,000, and even the FTC reports thefts in the millions of dollars. However, what is most important is not the average or the top amount, but that whatever you have, it can be taken. 

There are two terrifying components to this crime. The first is its rapid rate of increase. The second is its ease, low cost to thieves, and therefore its attractiveness to small-time crooks. Some blame law enforcement for their lack of understanding and action around this problem. But as this problem grows, and grows, it is being taken more seriously by law enforcement, including the top governmental agencies. The problem is their actions tend to be focused on recovery and punishment not prevention. It is still primarily the consumer’s responsibility to prevent the crime from happening to them.

Many people know that in the US an individual’s personal liability to any single accredited bank or creditor for any fraudulent activity is limited to $50.00. While this is a very good thing, it also can lead to a lack of vigilance. The loss of money is only one aspect of the cost of identity theft.

The most profound cost is often in the effort it takes to repair the damage done to your “name.”  Creditors and credit bureaus profit from individuals with “poor credit,” and it can be very difficult to convince them that you are not to blame for the damaged credit rating that results from identity theft. While they profit from being able to charge higher rates, fees, and interest for those with bad credit, you loose a second time.

Interestingly, there is a new twist in the identity theft “racket,” banks and credit bureaus are now trying to profit from identity theft in a new way, using marketing scare tactics, selling supplemental “protection” that is not needed, and finding creative ways to collect higher interest and fees from victims. While the banks and credit bureaus are doing a wonderful job educating and frightening the public with advertising campaigns, they are also doing a wonderful job at selling unnecessary protection plans. And just as you are protected in this particular scenario already, so are they, with insurance and tax right-offs.

Identity theft is a brilliant crime, easy to commit, and leading to many new and cleaver ways to re-victimize the victim.

Simply explained, it is just too easy to get past most technology protection devices, which become outdated almost before they become available. Technology moves so fast that scientists can’t keep up with themselves. Additionally, in the high tech end of this game, the criminals are computer scientists. Plus there are just too many other ways to get your information. When a criminal can call a 1-800 number or use an offshore “service” to get your personally identifying information, computer encryption is worthless, and actually damaging because it lulls people into a false sense of security. And while you’re buying products that claim to, or actually do, make you “anonymous,” a culprit can be downstairs rifling through your garbage. Remember, this is both a high tech and low tech crime.

Further, the majority of “mass” identity theft incidents are “inside jobs,” where for instance a bank employee collects the information and is involved in the crime.  When hundreds, or thousands, of people have full access to all your information, because it is part of their job, encryption on your system is irrelevant.

That is not to say encryption is a bad thing, or worthless, we even offer it as one tool in your subscription package. It has an unquestionable place in the protection of information being passed en route over the Internet, and to a limited extent, in protecting against consumer profiling. The aphorism “you’re safer using your credit on the Internet than giving it to a waiter in a restaurant” is true— and that’s because of encryption. But this tool is simply not enough.

This website, and business, provides a variety of services, and yes, the most significant is technological. So of course we are promoting new technology, which we believe works to substantially prevent identity theft! But before the sales pitch, here are some free common sense steps that can help:

Privacy ProBot^® (patent pending) is a proprietary software utility that protects the privacy of our subscribers. It is not an encryption service, as explained above. Instead of creating a “wall” between you and others, it searches for you in the databases of others. Unlike services that aim to “protect” you, a very difficult job in this ever changing technological world, it “finds” you, so you can protect yourself.

The “Bot” scans all available public and privately owned databases such as credit records, medical records, criminal records, domain name registrations, internet newsgroup discussions, and well-known repositories of unlawfully collected personal data. The Bot searches for certain specific information, relevant to our subscribers, without transmitting that data over the internet in any manner.

When the “Bot” finds data pertinent to a subscriber, the subscriber is notified via e-mail and advised to visit their personal secure Privacy Cops web page. The pertinent data is then described and the subscriber is given several possible courses of action to rectify the privacy violation.

Privacy ProBot™ continuously finds and scans new information sources as they become available.