ID Thieves Now Targeting Children

The latest form of identity theft doesn't depend on stealing your Social Security number. Now thieves are targeting your kid's number long before the little one even has a bank account.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The latest form of identity theft doesn't depend on stealing your Social Security number. Now thieves are targeting your kid's number long before the little one even has a bank account.

Hundreds of online businesses are using computers to find dormant Social Security numbers -- usually those assigned to children who don't use them -- then selling those numbers under another name to help people establish phony credit and run up huge debts they will never pay off.

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Inmate pleads no contest to ID theft counts

It just shows you that you cannot control who gets and uses your personal information.

A Multnomah County jail inmate accused of pretending to be a grandson who needed cash to bail out of jail has pleaded no contest to multiple counts of identity theft.

Prosecutors say 44-year-old Stephen Lee Brown's crimes included impersonating the 20-year-old grandson of an 86-year-old Portland couple in March. The grandparents took a cab to the jail. Jail employees caught on to the scheme before the couple could deposit $1,500 in Brown's jail account.

Multnomah County Circuit Court Judge Henry Kantor ordered that Brown repay their $50 cab fare.

The judge also sentenced Brown to six years in prison and recommended that prison officials keep him away from phones.

Deputy District Attorney Chuck Mickley says 29 of Brown's 66 convictions have been for crimes committed while he was in jail or prison. As Brown pointed out to the judge, the prison yard is full of phones.

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Information from: The Oregonian

Senators push Data Breach Notification Bill

Two prominent Senate Democrats have offered a bill that would require businesses and nonprofit groups to meet baseline standards for safeguarding consumers' personal information, and to act quickly to provide notification in the event of a breach.

The Data Security and Breach Notification Act, introduced by Sens. Mark Pryor (D-Ark.) and John Rockefeller (D-W.V.), would mandate firms that engage in the collection and storage of personal information to implement "reasonable security policies and procedures" to prevent leaks or breaches.

In the event of a security breach, covered businesses and nonprofits would be obligated to notify all affected individuals within 60 days.

"As more and more of our personal information is collected and stored online and on computers, we need to ensure that the businesses storing this information are keeping it safe and giving us quick warning if it falls into the wrong hands," Pryor, the chairman of the Subcommittee on Consumer Protection, Product Safety and Insurance, said in a statement.

Read More at: http://www.esecurityplanet.com/news/article.php/3897501/Senate-Dems-Push-Data-Breach-Bill.htm

New ID theft targets kids' Social Security numbers

The latest form of identity theft doesn't depend on stealing your Social Security number. Now thieves are targeting your kid's number long before the little one even has a bank account.

Hundreds of online businesses are using computers to find dormant Social Security numbers — usually those assigned to children who don't use them — then selling those numbers under another name to help people establish phony credit and run up huge debts they will never pay off.

Read more at the Washington Examiner: http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/economy/ap-impact-new-id-theft-targets-kids-social-security-numbers-could-threaten-credit-system-99761934.html

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