Today’s blog is some “kind of” good news in the world of Identity Theft— according to a study released recently by Javelin Strategy & Research, despite a series of large-scale data breaches over the past two years, identity theft fell for the second consecutive year in a row in the U.S. Roughly 12.7 million Americans were hit with identity fraud in 2014, a 3% drop from a year earlier, while losses tied to that fraud fell 11% to $16 billion.

The crime itself is still rampant; the difference is as individuals and society as a whole are more aware of the issue and taking precautions to a greater degree. Banks and others are getting better at protecting customers’ data in the wake of breaches.

The decrease was attributable in part to the Target breach in 2013. After it occurred, 95% of affected cards were replaced.
Because the Target breach was so high-profile, banks went on the offensive, and the value of the stolen cards on the black market plummeted.

The measures taken by the government to increase awareness and culpability in the business community are working. Every state attorney general has the power to fine businesses that were breached and require businesses to provide identity protection to victims.

It’s only a drop in the bucket though. Identity theft continues to be a huge problem and a huge threat.

In a recent report, The Federal Trade Commission said identity fraud is the number-one type of consumer complaint it receives. Out of more than 2.5 million total complaints filed with the FTC in 2014, 332,000 (13%) were related to identity theft. The previous year, 2.2 million complaints were filed and 13% were of identity fraud. (The FTC’s data also show a sharp uptick in impostor scams, particularly those related to tax identity fraud.)

The bottom line is education and awareness remain key—as well as continued vigilance by individuals and businesses.

For more on best practices to prevent identity theft, please visit www.hvhsred.com

Sitting around the Seder table at this year’s Passover Seder telling the story of the Exodus from Egypt and the liberation of the Jews from the tyrant Pharaoh made me think about the small ways in which our on-site shredding service is also a liberation.

Not on biblical proportions–but on-site shredding service does free businesses of many frustrations and worries as well as providing the assurance of the certificate of destruction as well as the benefit of recycling shredded paper.

At HV Shred, we want to introduce the business community to a world with no security breaches, no removing staples and paper clips, no overheating or paper jams; no noisy shredding and dusty bags of shredded paper; a world where shredded paper saves trees and water and oil.

This is the world of on-site service with HV Shred.

In this world, we preserve and protect reputations as well as the environment. So far in 2015 we have shred and recycled enough paper to preserve and protect nearly 4000 trees!

For more information, please check out our website www.hvshred.com

Robocalls are not just annoying—they are also costing our economy money through lost productivity as well as some falling to the scams. Aiming to tap into the private business brain trust, the FTC is returning to DEF CON with a new robocall challenge.

Zapping Rachel, the FTC’s 2014 contest, challenged security experts to build tools that investigators could use to track and minimize illegal robocalls. For 2015, the agency is hosting Robocalls: Humanity Strikes Back, a contest that asks tech gurus to create tools people can use to block or forward unwanted robocalls automatically. Forwarded calls will go to a honeypot — a data collection system that researchers and investigators can use to study the calls. $50,000 in prize money is on the table for the best solutions, with $25,000 going to the first place winner.

Similarly, the FTC also that as part of the National Day of Civic Hacking on June 6, 2015, the agency is challenging the tech-savvy public to DetectaRobo. For this challenge, contestants will use call data to develop an algorithm that predicts which calls are likely to be robocalls. Submissions are due June 7, 2015.

Each contest has its own website with more information, including rules, criteria, and judges. Visit ftc.gov/strikeback for the DEF CON challenge and ftc.gov/detectarobo for the National Day of Civic Hacking contest.

These contests are part of the FTC’s larger efforts to combat illegal robocalls, a problem that has grown worse since advances in technology have made it easy for robocallers to send out thousands of calls every minute and to display fake caller ID information

We look forward to the contest generating some productive solutions.

For more on best practices in identity theft protection and general consumer protection, please visit www.hvshred.com

As the saying goes, the only truly consistent thing is life is that things change.  Unfortunately, one of the things that stayed the same in 2014 is that Identity Theft once again topped the IRS’ “Dirty Dozen Tax Scams” list.

As defined by the IRS, “Identity theft occurs when someone uses your personal information, such as your name, Social Security number, or other identifying information, without your permission, to commit fraud or other crimes.  In many cases, an identity thief uses a legitimate taxpayer’s identity to fraudulently file a tax return and claim a refund”.

As the current year tax season gathers momentum, our first post of 2015 is a reminder to be extra vigilant as tax documents begin to arrive in the mail and you start to gather your files to file personally or bring to your accountant.

Now that the IRS has specifically targeted this scam as the “leader” of the dirty dozen, taxpayers and tax preparers should be that much more alert.

The potential damage to both the individual tax payer and, especially the tax preparer as trusted professional is worth using this space as a reminder to be mindful of taking every step imaginable to protect personally identifying information.

Store the data under virtual and physical lock and key; distribute only through secure methods; and when it has completed its useful life, be sure the data is securely disposed.

For more on best practices and, in particular, on site shredding service, please visit www.hvshred.com