Tag Archives: identity theft

New Take on Old Phishing Scam Wreaking Havoc on HR Departments

By Kevin Wallace and Melinda L. McLellan on March 8, 2016 Posted in Cybersecurity

From would-be Nigerian princes to foreign lottery officials, cybercriminals have been known to assume all sorts of false identities to carry out email phishing scams that trick unsuspecting consumers into clicking on fraudulent links or divulging personal information to strangers. We often see a spike in this type of activity around tax season, when fraudsters … Continue Reading

Wow! Government Amends Red Flags Rule to Make it Narrower

By Barry Cutler on December 14, 2012 Posted in Identity Theft

Congress, FTC Restrict Definition of “Creditors” who must Adopt a Formal Plan to Prevent, Detect ID Theft In journalism, the adage goes, “man bites dog” is news. The regulatory equivalent should be “government amends Rule to make it narrower.” Yet that is what the Congress and the FTC have done to the definition of “creditors” … Continue Reading

It’s Raining PII in New York

By Judy Selby on November 26, 2012 Posted in Identity Theft

On November 25, 2012, the front page of the New York Post blasted the headline, “Drop Secret. Shred Alert! Covert cop files used as parade confetti.” The Post reported that shredded files appearing to contain material from Long Island’s Nassau County Police Department were dropped during this year’s Thanksgiving Day parade. The confetti reportedly contains … Continue Reading

SEC and CFTC Propose Identity Theft Prevention Rules

By Craig A. Hoffman on March 14, 2012 Posted in Financial Privacy, Identity Theft

Reflective of an increased interest in data privacy concerns, on February 28, 2012, the Securities and Exchange and Commodity Futures Trading commissions jointly released proposed rules designed to protect investors from identity theft by mandating the creation of programs to detect potential security threats. The proposed rules are meant to implement Title X of the … Continue Reading

FTC Report Shows Rise in Identity Theft Complaints

By Michael Young on March 6, 2012 Posted in Identity Theft

The Federal Trade Commission has released the Consumer Sentinel Network Data Book, its annual report of complaints filed with the FTC and other state organizations. The report tracks consumer complaints by categories such as fraud, identity theft, and other. Fraud complaints span 30 different categories, including debt collection, bank/lending services, prizes/sweepstakes/lotteries, impostor scams, shop-at-home and … Continue Reading

FTC Enforcement of the Red Flags Rule Likely to Begin January 1

By Craig A. Hoffman on December 23, 2010 Posted in Enforcement, Federal Legislation

Since 2008, the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) has announced multiple times that it would delay enforcement of the Red Flags Rule. The last Enforcement Policy announced a delay through December 31, 2010, so that Congress could consider legislation regarding the scope of entities covered by the Rule. The Rule applies to “financial institutions” and “creditors” … Continue Reading