Identity Theft, Fraud To Be Discussed Live On PalTalk TechNow Interactive Social Networking Series

By Helen Levy
Israel News Agency

Jerusalem --- February 27, 2009...... Paltalk, a pioneer in live interactive, global social networking video chat applications, will be hosting a program dedicated to identity theft, risk and fraud. The show, to be broadcast on March 3 at 3 p.m. EST, will be a part of PalTalk's new TechNow series dedicated to informing the Web 2.0 community to the latest developments in high tech.

“Your Digital Identity – Manage it or Lose it”, will be moderated by two leading figures in the hi-tech industry, Melih Abdulhayoglu, CEO of Comodo and Internet commentator and CEO of Silicon Alley Insider, Henry Blodget. The PalTalk video chat show program will focus on the various measures that Internet surfers should be aware of in what can be done to lower the risks of online identity theft.

Based on recent US Federal Trade Commission and security data, the scope of online identity theft and fraud has become epidemic. In 2007, every minute of every day another 28 people in the United States became victims of identity theft. Fully one third of all consumer complaints reported to the FTC in 2008 were related to identity theft. This represents by far the single largest complain area.

“Paltalk has been serving the Web community for over 10 years,” said Judy Shapiro, Paltalk’s Senior Vice President of Marketing. “Paltalk is vividly aware of the real and growing risk of identity theft on the Net. We will do all that we can to protect the members of our on-line community and millions of others on other Web 2.0 communities such as Facebook, Twitter and MySpace. We hope to serve as an example to other leading Web 2.0 applications on the Net in providing solutions to prevent this epidemic crime."

PalTalk's platform powers the largest collection of video based communities on the Internet. Paltalk has continued to expand since it was launched in 1998. Paltalk now today has over 4 million active members from New York, London and Paris to Chicago, Tel Aviv and Tokyo with nearly 100,000 people simultaneously chatting in Web 2.0 rooms engaged in lively dialogues, meeting new friends, breaking news, trading stock tips, politics, dating, sports, business, singing karaoke, and attending family and school reunions.

“Identity theft cost U.S. businesses and consumers $56.6 billion in 2006,” said Shapiro. “Paltalk will be part of the solution in addressing identify theft through an effective and powerful awareness campaign.”

Catalogers, the second largest complaint category represents only 8 percent of all consumer complaints. In addition that same year, data breaches of lost consumer data increased dramatically by 47 percent! Fraud perpetrated within online interactions (versus stealing information in the real world) now accounts for a third of all identity theft issues broken down as follows (Javelin Research): 19 percent while conducting a transaction, 11 percent in online activity, and 11 percent in data breach. Sadly, most ID theft is never reported to police: 65 percent of victims did not file a police report, 27 percent of victims did file a police report which was accepted by local law enforcement, and 8 percent of victims tried to file a police report and it was not accepted.

"Identity theft has become a very serious problem for the commercial, governmental and home personal use of the Internet," said a security analyst to Israel's Ministry of Defense."It is relatively easy today to secure personal information such as birth dates and addresses of individuals from a variety of Web 2.0 applications such as Facebook, MySpace and Twitter. And then to compound the problem you have professional hackers using a system called Phishing which is implemented the use illegal use of fraudulent e-mail or instant messaging. Phishing links often direct users to enter details at fake websites whose look and feel are almost identical to the legitimate one. Email masquerading to be from popular social web sites such as YouTube, Facebook, MySpace, Windows Live Messenger, Skype, auction sites such as eBay, online banks - Wells Fargo, Bank of America, Chase) and online payment processors such as PayPal are commonly used to lure the unsuspecting surfer.

The marked increase in identity theft complaints is significant in that the number of these reports had stayed mostly flat from 2006 to 2007, says Tom Rusin, president of Affinion Security Center, which provides personal data security services for consumers and businesses. Rusin says the jump may be due to several factors, including the high number of enterprise breaches last year, as well as fallout from the financial crisis. "As banks consolidate today, consumers expect to get more information [electronically] from their bank," Rusin says. "That's an opportunity for identity thieves to do Internet phishing attacks."

In 1998 the US Congress created a new federal offense of identity theft.

As the US and global economy continue to enter deeper into a recession, thieves are turning a large profit. Criminals are taking advantage of the fact that many are looking for work or losing your homes. They prey on your mail, hacking into your Internet, and even stealing your debit card information.

"There is a scam going on right now where they are sending out notification that there is a stimulus package offer available to them and to qualify for it they have to give certain information. Well, that's a scam," said US ID theft investigator Wayne Ivey.

 

Investigators say technology is making the problem worse. In Las Vegas, there has been a 20-percent increase in the last quarter of identity theft cases. One of the biggest problems in town is skimming. Thieves are attaching devices to ATM's and gas station pumps that steal your debit card information.

Restaurants are another hot spot where thieves are hard at work. But the easiest method for grabbing one's identity remains the Internet where personal details are common and false links lead to a hacker hijacking your hard drive and credit card details.

Another area to be wary of is having your laptop stolen. Containing your personal details, one's social security number and passwords to on-line banking accounts has created nightmares for thousands. Social Security numbers are the keys to the kingdom of financial fraud. There are more than 15 million victims of identity theft in the US every year. Identity theft is the fastest-growing crime in the US, and it shows no sign of abating.

And as the identity theft crimes increase, many courts are striving hard to keep up and interpret the many varied methods. According to the New York Times, a federal identity-theft law that had become a favorite tool of the government in immigration prosecutions appeared imperiled last Wednesday after the Supreme Court heard arguments about it.

Prosecutors have relied on the law to seek or threaten two-year sentence extensions in immigration cases against people who used fake Social Security numbers that turned out to belong to real people.

“There’s a basic problem here,” said Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr.. “You get an extra two years if it just so happens that the number you picked out of the air belonged to somebody else.” Kevin K. Russell, a lawyer for a defendant, said that ordinary usage requires the government to prove that people accused of identity theft under the law knew the numbers they used belonged to someone else.

To make matters ever worse for the victims of identity theft, several US Supreme Court justices appeared persuaded on Wednesday that the identity-theft law was at least ambiguous enough that the “rule of lenity” ought to apply. That rule, as Justice Antonin Scalia summarized it from the bench, is that “the tie goes to the defendant.”

At least some relief appears to be on the way for the general public as many insurance companies are now willing to provide insurance policies for identity theft.
Identity theft is now becoming a big business for both criminals and commercial institutions. And the legal industry is also taking in a huge profit, with attorneys from both sides securing lucrative case retainers.

Those who are 20 to 39 year-olds still bear the brunt of identity theft fraud, with around 49 percent of complaints from this demographic, according to the FTC report. This is a trend that has been consistent during the past three years. Interestingly, 65 percent of identity theft victims last year did not contact the police. "This just shows that most people don't know where to turn," Rusin says.

“Identity theft cost U.S. businesses and consumers $56.6 billion in 2006,” said Shapiro. “Paltalk will be part of the solution in addressing identify theft through an effective and powerful awareness campaign.”

As a pioneer in Web 2.0 social networking, Paltalk has taken the lead in introducing a new paradigm of digital community interaction.

In addition, Paltalk delivers original programming geared to the interests of the community. Paltalk Interactive events have hosted entertainment personalities including William Shatner and radio personalities Opie and Anthony. Paltalk supports both IM pals on AOL, Yahoo, and ICQ and is available as a free download.

To join the show on any show date, simply go to TechNow.Paltalk.com. For more information on the show, please visit TechNow.Paltalk.com/Crashdummies

The above news content was edited and SEO optimized in Israel for the Internet by the Leyden Communications Internet Marketing SEO Group - Israel, London, New York.

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