Identity Theft Update

Broadcast on Fox News Channel - Your World With Neil Cavuto

BRENDA BUTTNER, anchor:

Philadelphia. You heard about the modern day Bonnie and
Clyde who are accused of stealing their neighbors'
identities and robbing them blind while the couple lived in
luxury, traveling the world first-class? Well, just hours
ago a judge slapped them with three new charges. This is
the case that probably has everybody asking--I know I
am--how well do I know my neighbors? How easily could this
happen to you?

With us now is Jim Stickley of Trace Security.

Jim, thanks for joining us.

These are just a couple of...

Mr. JIM STICKLEY (Trace Security): Thanks for having me.

BUTTNER: ...kids, I mean, and they had had some keys and
some credit cards and they were stealing people blind.

Mr. STICKLEY: It was amazing, I mean, they were very
successful at what they were doing.

BUTTNER: How common is this, do you think? How much at
risk is the average American?

Mr. STICKLEY: Identity theft is getting out of control. I
don't know if it's generally your neighbor next door doing
it to you, but identity theft is definitely on the rise.
And, I mean, it's happening to everybody.

BUTTNER: You know there's a couple of things that you have
to keep in mind to stay away from people like this. When
you're burglarized, a lot of times the robbers are not
going after your HDTV, right? They're looking for credit
cards or statements; you've got to be careful where you
keep them.

Mr. STICKLEY: Exactly. Used to be when someone robbed
your house, you'd think, oh, they stole my electronics,
that's a bummer. Now you have to worry about, OK, they
stole my electronics, did they find my passport, did they
find my birth certificate, did they happen to see my Social
Security number, because these are things that they will
continue to use against you as time goes by.

BUTTNER: Now these people used mail and, you know, they
got a hold of mail, all that type of thing, I mean,
allegedly. You got to watch your mailbox, too. If you
don't get, what--if you don't get a bill on time, what does
that mean?

Mr. STICKLEY: Well, absolutely, I mean, the post office is
pretty accurate in getting what you're supposed to have
delivered. So if all the sudden you don't get your water
bill one month or your gas and electric bill or whatever it
happens to be, that might be a red flag that somebody stole
some of your mail. And if part of that mail contained
things like those pre-approved credit card applications
they might be using those against you.

So you really need to, kind of, be aware that this could
come back to haunt you later.

BUTTNER: What's the most valuable thing you own and how do
you protect it? Is it your Social Security number?

Mr. STICKLEY: It's absolutely your Social Security number.
Once that's out, once somebody has that, you can't put
that back in and unlike a credit card that you can just
cancel, your Social Security number is with you for life.

So, I could go and I could become you tomorrow, run up some
bills and you get it all cleaned up. Two years from now, I
could go back and do it all over again to you, and you
could try again--it's one of those things--it's a gift that
keeps on giving.

BUTTNER: So--and there has been a scam where some banks
supposedly call up and say, 'Well, we need something to
verify something, give us your Social Security number.'
And people do it over the phone. Never do it over the
phone, right?

Mr. STICKLEY: Absolutely not--and what they'll do is
they'll leave a message during the afternoon and give you
like an 800 number to call. So that way when you call
them, they'll go, 'Oh well, I need to validate who you are,
so go ahead and tell me your account number, oh and tell me
your Social Security number for security purposes.'

BUTTNER: So basically be suspicious is bottom line?

Mr. STICKLEY: Absolutely. You have to be. The best thing
you can do is go to annualcreditreport.com, get your free
credit report at least three times a year.

BUTTNER: Right. And check those statements and watch out
for that Social Security number.

Mr. STICKLEY: Absolutely.

BUTTNER: All right. Thank you so much. We appreciate it.

Mr. STICKLEY: Thank you.

# # #