Cora and I promised to give you information about economic "elasticity" in this article, but something happened this past week that prompted me to change our itinerary. I was informed through an obtuse letter sent from the Secretary of Veterans Affairs that my personal information - including name, Social Security number, and birthdate, among heavens knows what else - was stolen from a private home in May 2006. You might guess, then, what I want to write about today?

I wrote an article about IDT (Identity Theft) for BUYandHOLD in 2005, and in that article I explained that chances of your identity being stolen were less than 1%. But, that number just increased, since over 26 million names were included on that stolen VA database (reduced to 17 million as of 22 June due to "deceased vets and duplications"). Additionally, within the past three weeks more thefts and hacks have been reported:

• 26,000 Washington-area employee and contractor identities were hacked from a server at the U.S. Agricultural Department
  
  
• 17,000 Medicare beneficiaries may have had their identities compromised when an insurance company employee called up Health and Human Services data through a hotel computer and then failed to delete the file
  
  
• 1,500 people working for the National Nuclear Security Administration may have been compromised when a hacker gained entry to its computer system last fall (officials learned about this breach on 12 June)
  
  
• The Federal Trade Commission, responsible for protecting Americans from fraud and identity theft, reported on 22 June that two of their computers were stolen, and that 110 people were affected by this theft

Outside the 17 to 26 million affected vets, the total of government database thefts above comes to 44,610, or a little over 1/8 of the 246,570 total number of IDT complaints lodged in 2004. Add the vets, and that 2004 number has been increased at least 69 times. Add other recent thefts reported in the past few days at corporations and other government strongholds, and the number of people affected by identity theft is now out of control.

While the VA consoled me slightly with free credit monitoring for one year (a consolation that has been publicized but that has been curtailed due to class action lawsuits), I wasn't happy about the amount of legwork that I had to complete to notify my financial institutions. And, I'm not surprised to see that all these data breaches and thefts have put a fire under an industry geared toward making profits from victims of IDT victims.

Security insurance agencies, business located outside the three credit agencies listed below, may offer credit monitoring for a fee. But you might be wary of some offers, because they may not supply what you need to protect your identity. Additionally, you may end up doing all the legwork yourself despite the use of their security offers. The three credit bureaus that you need to know about are as follows:

• TransUnion: P.O. Box 6790, Fullerton, CA 92634; (800) 680-7289
  
  
• Experian: P.O. Box 9530, Allen, TX 75013; (888) 397-3742
  
  
• Equifax: P.O. Box 740250, Atlanta, GA; (800) 685-1111

While the credit agencies listed above do charge for extended services, they offer one free credit report per year. Additionally, if you feel that your personal information has been compromised, you currently can place a fraud alert at any one of the three agencies with a phone call. The call is automated, but it's simple to use and intuitive as well.

Once you have placed a fraud alert at one agency, the other two agencies are informed by the first agency. You will receive letters from all three agencies within ten days (mine arrived within four days). If you call a number supplied by each of the three agencies, you can receive a free credit report from each agency, even if you've already received a free report within the past year.

This fraud alert is good for 90 days, and you need to place another fraud alert on your accounts to continue the service for another ninety days. An extended fraud alert, one that lasts for seven years, can be placed on your accounts; however, you need to supply proof that you are, indeed, a victim of identity theft. The only way that you can prove this is file a report to prove that you have been victimized.

Unfortunately, the VA waited three weeks to report the theft to the public on 22 May, and then they waited another two weeks to begin sending letters to their vets. Granted, no one - not even a federal government agency - has 26 million envelopes on hand. But, that space of time between 3 May (when the theft occurred) and 3 June (when the first letters were received by vets) gave theives a good deal of time to be creative with that personal information.

I did a little more legwork, and I discovered that most security insurance firms ask about $100 per year for credit and identity insurance. It seems that this is an average price for individuals who want to keep tabs on their information. Accordingly, this price is a pittance when it's compared to what it may cost to repair any damage done with IDT. But, I would follow the advice offered by Connie Thompson in an article that she wrote for KOMOTV online. She states that:

"The identity theft problem is so bad that many employers are even buying ID theft protection as an employee benefit. But before you buy be sure to compare all your options: banks, credit card companies, insurance companies, private data companies and credit bureau. With insurance, read the fine print about deductibles and proof of expenses. Make sure any monitoring includes all the major credit bureaus, not just one. Ask about extra fees or penalties for canceling the service. And remember, you can do most of this yourself for free, if you have the time."

Trust me, you'll make the time when you learn that your identity has been "compromised"?

Until next week,
Linda Goin