Share with your network!
March 9th, 2010
by Carol
In this age of online social networking, it seems like everybody wants to stay connected and in the know. Social networking really isn’t new: people have depended on trusted family members, friends, neighbors or colleagues for centuries to help them keep up with the latest news and information. For people who like to take a leadership role in their own networks or communities, the FTC has got a myriad of free resources to share – in both the real world and the virtual one. 
For example, you can host an event to alert others to some practical ways to mitigate identity theft. The FTC’s toolkit, How to Plan & Host a ‘Protect Your Identity’ Day, can help you alert your network to how to minimize the risks and consequences of identity theft. The kit includes a video featuring identity theft victims telling their stories, a guide to talking about the crime, and tips to deter, detect and defend against it. The guide features sample materials, including a speech, presentation and templates for materials in English and Spanish. Suggestions for how to organize an event, reach out to partners and promote the event to your local media are included, as well. Consider hosting a “Protect Your Identity” Day in conjunction with your local library, house of worship, PTA or neighborhood association, and — or — posting the video and the Deter-Detect-Defend tips on your blog or website.
Order or download a copy of the ID Theft kit today.
Tags: community outreach, identity theft, library, outreach
This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 9th, 2010 at 11:12 am and is filed under Identity Theft and Privacy, NCPW. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
A lot of people don’t yet get it. The power of the internet and social networking technology has made it infinately much easier for those with bad intentions to do do bad things. i just don’t understand why people post their innermost and intimate details onto a social network for all to see. I think it will be extremely difficult to prevent abuse by technology but technology has a duty to try to make it more difficult for the criminal
I can’t find on your site http://www.consumer.gov/idtheft. I have received letters from TransUnion and Experian which tell me to go to that side to apply for the seven year Extended Fraud Victim Alert. This site is invalid. How do I apply for the extended alert?? Thanks
Thanks for useful insights and discussions. I always love using Social Netowkrs to connect with people. But one thing, we have to be very careful of sharing our personal info on the web. Sometimes, people might misuse it.
Elur Worldwide
Hi, PatCR. Our ID theft website is http://www.ftc.gov/idtheft. You can also find additional resources at http://consumer.gov/ncpw/everyone/identity-theft-and-privacy/.
Does anyone know why companies like Intelius can post information about us such as name, city and age? And why they make the “opt-out” process so difficult? They expect us to make an image of our ID or drivers licence, and pay to fax it to them. It also take them 7 weeks to complete our “opt-out” request. Sure seems like the FTC or Consumer Affairs allowed them to set it up so that it is more work for consumers to “opt-out” …maybe to inhibit us from doing it in the first palce? Any comments or information regarding protecting our idenity on these sites?