ID THIEVES ATTACK OUR MILITARY

This is a scam that ranks right up there with the crooks that took advantage of Katrina victims. A supposed, young-sounding American calls a military spouse representing the Red Cross. The caller indicates the spouse’s husband (not using the actual name) was hurt on duty in Iraq, and is currently in the hospital. The slime ball says treatment can’t start until they have the husband’s Social Security number and date of birth. The Red Cross never does this, but in the obvious state of emotions the spouse is in, who thinks of identity theft connected to a wounded husband in Iraq who needs treatment. Read more from the Identity Theft Resource Center Web site. This once again confirms how advanced the crooks are, and how far they will go to steal your life. USA Today reports that the military is the latest target of data thieves, calling them the Achilles’ heel of the system. The reason: the Department of Defense uses their Social Security numbers for “…everything from dog tags to chow-line rosters.” That tops anything I’ve heard in private business and other government agencies as the stupidest trick imaginable. Until the TJ Maxx breach of 45.7 million personal records, the VA’s loss of 26.5 million military records was the highest. In that was included 1.1 active-duty personnel, 430,000 National Guard members, and 645,000 reservists, according to an article in the Washington Post. It has become clear that identity thieves will stop at nothing, nor any group, to accomplish their goals. That means that somehow, someplace, sometime, you could be in the cross-hairs. Think about it and back my movement to give consumers control over their names and private information, and compensate them when it is sold.