MySpace Identity Theft Protection Guide

Posted by Caitlin on June 18th, 2008

Our Facebook Identity Theft Protection Guide provides six tips to prevent Facebook users from being victimized by identity theft. These six tips concentrate on two areas in which users can be proactive in protecting their identity and personal information: limiting the amount of personal information available and restricting your Facebook profile to people you know and trust. Many of these tips are also applicable when using MySpace, but there are some significant differences between various social networking sites. While Facebook is primarily geared toward one on one interaction with people you know in real life, MySpace is more frequently used to establish a larger and more public online presence and facilitate contact with large groups of people. While we still recommend that users only accept friend requests from people they know, we realize that this is not necessarily realistic. If you do choose to make your MySpace profile visible to strangers, we strongly encourage you to be extremely careful when publishing any information about yourself. Presumably, you would not walk around in public wearing a t-shirt printed with your birthday, phone number and address. So use the same discretion on MySpace.

Tip #1: Decide how public you want your MySpace profile to be, and select your privacy settings accordingly.

MySpace does offer some privacy settings, although they are not nearly as comprehensive as the privacy settings on Facebook. You can access these settings by clicking on the "My Account" link near the upper right hand corner of any page on the MySpace website. From the "My Account" page, click the "Privacy" link. This will take you to the "General Privacy" page, where there are six options for restricting your visibility.

Online Now: Whether you choose to show people when you are online is up to you, but bear in mind that the more "time and place" data that you expose, the easier it will be for people to determine what your daily routine is like. That knowledge could be used to victimize you. (See Tip #3.)

Birthday: This is an important piece of personal information that can potentially be used by identity thieves. It is safest not to make it visible, particularly if you accept friend requests from strangers.

Profile Viewable By: Who you allow to view your profile is a very important decision, as it should determine how much information you decide to publish. If you choose to make your profile visible to everyone, or everyone 18 and over, you should treat it like a personal website and keep personal information to an absolute minimum. If you choose to make your profile only viewable by your friends, and only accept friend requests from people you know, then you can basically follow the six Facebook security tips.

Photos: It is almost never a good idea to encourage the circulation of personal pictures on the Internet. We suggest that you uncheck this option.

Block Users By Age: This is at your discretion, although you should seriously consider preventing users under 18 from contacting you if you are a teacher or work in some other profession where you are a figure of authority for minors. Also, bear in mind that many users' MySpace profiles do not reflect their actual age.

Block Users: While this may be a useful feature for you, it will not really help protect you from identity thieves, since you can't possibly know who they are ahead of time.

Tip #2: Limit the amount of personal information available on your MySpace profile.

If you do choose to make your MySpace profile visible only to your friends, and only accept friend requests from people you know, then the six Facebook security tips apply here as well. Many MySpace users, however, either make their profile visible to everyone, or accept friend requests from strangers, or both. If your profile is visible to strangers, you should be especially careful when publishing any information about yourself.

Exposing your full name, date of birth, phone number, email address, or home address to the general public is extremely foolish. Revealing personal information about your spouse or significant other can put you both at risk of having your identities stolen.

Identity thieves can use your phone number and home address to submit a change of address form with the United States Postal Service and have your mail forwarded, allowing the thief to gain access to financial or other sensitive information that would allow them to open a credit card or other accounts in your name. They might also use contextual information in your profile to deduce what your user names and passwords could be for various accounts, and hack into these online accounts with this information.

Our recommendation is to limit the amount of information available on your MySpace profile. Specifically:

• Do not list your full date of birth, phone number, or home address on your MySpace profile.
• Limit the amount of contextual password clues on your profile pages. Identity thieves know that many people use personal information, such as birthdays, a spouse or significant other's birthday or name, anniversary dates, mother's maiden name or pet's name as password on their personal account. It is also a good idea to refrain from using personal information in your online passwords, as this makes your personal accounts much more vulnerable to being hacked.

Tip #3: Limit the amount of "time and place" data that you expose through MySpace.

MySpace users often publish information about their schedule and whereabouts on their profile, or in MySpace's forums. Information about the exact location of your home, school, or office, as well as information about your immediate or upcoming plans can help criminals victimize you in a number of ways. Personal photographs can be even more revealing, since any number of seemingly insignificant details could be used to uncover information about your whereabouts or daily routine.

By revealing when you will be away from your home, even indirectly or unintentionally, you put yourself at risk. Criminals can use this information to determine when your home may be most susceptible to a burglary, which could open you up to any number of forms of identity theft or worse.

Tip #4: Remember that even people you know can be identity thieves.

Even if you do make your MySpace profile visible to only your friends, and only accept friendship requests from people you know, you should still be very cautious when revealing personal information online. Several recent studies show that a significant number of identity theft victims know the person that victimized them.

According to Javelin Research, 17% of identity theft crimes are perpetrated by people that the victim knows, such as friends or family members. The credit bureau Experian found that 55% of identity thefts perpetrated against children were committed by someone the victim knew.

Even if you believe that all your MySpace friends are people you know and trust, we strongly recommend that you still follow all of these security tips to avoid falling victim to MySpace identity theft.

Tip #5: Read and follow the safety tips provided by MySpace.

MySpace recently added an extensive section to the website dealing with safety. You can access this section by clicking on the "Safety Tips" link at the bottom of any page on the MySpace website. These safety recommendations are mainly directed at teenagers and their parents, but there is other information that should be helpful and valuable to any user.

Tip #6: Consider an identity theft protection service.

Identity theft, whether online or in the real world, is a real and growing threat. We recommend that all consumers consider using a proactive identity theft protection service to protect their identities. Two such services that we have reviewed and recommend are Identity Guard and LifeLock.

Each identity theft protection service is different, but most will:

• Set fraud alerts with the 3 major credit bureaus so that new accounts cannot be opened in your name without your knowledge.
• Provide you with identity theft insurance that will reimburse you on costs and expenses you incur as a result of being victimized.
• Provide you with copies of your credit report.

You can learn more about the various benefits of identity theft protection services and learn more about the specific services we have reviewed by visiting our identity theft protection service guide and comparison.

While social networks like MySpace can be fun and productive services, it is important for users to be aware of the risks that they pose. We believe that taking proactive steps to protect your identity on MySpace will only improve the amount of enjoyment you can get out of the service.

• Facebook Identity Theft Protection Guide: 6 tips to protect your identity on Facebook
• Your new Facebook friend just stole your identity
• Facebook phishing scams increase risk of identity theft on the popular social network
• Fake Facebook profile page victim awarded $43,000 in damages
• How to report a fake profile page on Facebook

Arizona identity theft protection guide: facts, trends and resources

Posted by Joe on March 14th, 2008

This is our third in a series of State Identity Theft Protection Guides.

Arizona has the dubious distinction of having more identity theft complaints per hundred thousand residents than any other state in the Union at 137.1. Additionally, six cities in Arizona made the top 50 list of cities with the most identity theft complaints in the Unites States. 3.4% of the nearly 256,000 identity theft complaints made to the Federal trade Commission (FTC) in 2007 came from Arizona residents.

We have compiled a list a list of identity theft facts, trends and resources for Arizona residents. If you know of any other resources, have additional information to add or simply want to give us some feedback, please leave a comment below.

Arizona Identity Theft Facts and Trends:

• There were 8,688 identity theft complaints in Arizona in 2007 which is up 48% from 2002.
• Arizona has the highest rate of identity theft complaints of any state with 137.1 identity theft complaints per hundred thousand residents.
• Six Arizona cities made it to the top 50 list of most identity theft complaints in the United States including Flagstaff (9), Lake Havasu (13), Yuma (15), Prescott (17), Sierra Vista (20), Phoenix (29) and Tucson (34).
• There were 3,122 employment fraud identity theft complaints in Arizona which makes it the largest and fastest growing segment of identity theft complaints in the state. Employment fraud in Arizona is up 71% from 2002-2007.

Arizona Identity Theft Protection and Recovery Resources:

Both State and Local Governments in Arizona provide a variety of very helpful identity theft prevention and recovery resources. Here are some of the most informative identity theft resources for Arizonians.

• State of Arizona Crime Victims Service AZVICTIMS Identity Theft Page
• Arizona Attorney General Stop Identity Theft Guide
• State of Arizona Identity Theft Legislation
• Maricopa County Attorney's Office Identity Theft Website

National Identity Theft Protection and Recovery Resources:

There are several excellent identity theft protection and recovery resources available from the Federal Government and national non-profit organizations. NextAdvisor.com has also created several helpful guides for consumers looking for more information on identity theft protection.

• Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Identity Theft Website
• Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Identity Theft Victim Online Complaint Form
• United States Postal Service (USPS) Identity Theft Tips and Resources
• Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Active Duty Military Identity Theft Protection Guide
• Child Identity Theft Protection Guide from NextAdvisor.com
• Guide to Identity Theft Protection Services from NextAdvisor.com

• California identity theft protection guide: facts, trends and resources
• Texas identity theft protection guide: facts, trends and resources
• Napa, California named worst town for identity theft
• NextAdvisor.com launches state specific identity theft protection guides
• Reader Question: Can identity theft really be prevented?

Texas identity theft protection guide: facts, trends and resources

Posted by Joe on March 13th, 2008

This is our second in a series of State Identity Theft Protection Guides.

Texas has both the second largest population and second highest rate of identity theft complaints in the United States. 10.1% of the nearly 256,000 identity theft complaints made to the Federal trade Commission (FTC) in 2007 came from Texans. This is the second highest number of identity theft related complaints of any state and fourth on the list in complaints per hundred thousand residents.

We have compiled a list a list of identity theft facts, trends and resources for Texans. If you know of any other resources, have additional information to add or simply want to give us some feedback, please leave a comment below.

Texas Identity Theft Facts and Trends:

• There were 25,796 identity theft complaints in Texas which represents a 44% increase between 2002-2007.
• Texas has the fourth highest rate of identity theft complaints adjusted for population at 107.9 complaints per 100,000 residents.
• Employment fraud is both the largest and fastest growing type of identity theft in Texas. There were 6,312 employment fraud identity theft complaints in Texas in 2007 which is a 63% increase from 2002.

Texas Identity Theft Protection and Recovery Resources:

Both State and Local Governments in Texas provide Texans with a variety of very helpful identity theft prevention and recovery resources. Here are some of the most informative identity theft resources for Texans.

• Texas Office of the Attorney General Identity Theft Victim Kit
• Texas Department of Public Safety Identity Theft Information Guide
• San Antonio Police Department About Identity Theft

National Identity Theft Protection and Recovery Resources:

There are several excellent identity theft protection and recovery resources available from the Federal Government and national non-profit organizations. NextAdvisor.com has also created several helpful guides for consumers looking for more information on identity theft protection.

• Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Identity Theft Website
• Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Identity Theft Victim Online Complaint Form
• United States Postal Service (USPS) Identity Theft Tips and Resources
• Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Active Duty Military Identity Theft Protection Guide
• Child Identity Theft Protection Guide from NextAdvisor.com
• Guide to Identity Theft Protection Services from NextAdvisor.com

• Arizona identity theft protection guide: facts, trends and resources
• California identity theft protection guide: facts, trends and resources
• Napa, California named worst town for identity theft
• NextAdvisor.com launches state specific identity theft protection guides
• Reader Question: Can identity theft really be prevented?

California identity theft protection guide: facts, trends and resources

Posted by Joe on March 12th, 2008

As the most populous state in the Union, California is a very large target for identity thieves. 17.1% of the nearly 256,000 identity theft complaints made to the Federal trade Commission (FTC) in 2007 came from Californians. This is the most total identity theft related complaints of any state and second only to Arizona in complaints per hundred thousand residents.

We have compiled a list a list of identity theft facts, trends and resources for Californians. If you know of any other resources, have additional information to add or simply want to give us some feedback, please leave a comment below.

California Identity Theft Facts and Trends:

• California has the second highest rate of identity theft complaints in the country with 120.1 identity theft related complaints per hundred thousand residents, or 43,892 total identity theft related complaints, reported in 2007. Arizona is first with 137.1 identity theft complaints per hundred thousand residents.
• Of the top 50 cities with the highest rates of identity theft related complaints in 2007 fifteen were located in California. Five California cities, Napa, Madera, Vallejo, Yuba City and Bakersfield, made the top 20 of that same list.
• Identity theft related complaints are up 30% over the last five years (2002-2007) in California.
• The most common identity theft crime in California is credit card fraud which accounted for 23% of all identity theft related crimes in California in 2007.
• The fastest growing identity theft related crime in California is employment fraud, which is up 53% over the last five years (2002-2007). The most common form of employment fraud is a criminal using a stolen Social Security number in order to obtain a job in the United States.

California Identity Theft Protection and Recovery Resources:

The state Government of California offers a wealth of information through their various websites. Here are a few of the best resources we found for Californians that are interested in learning more about how to protect their identities or victims that are looking for information on what next steps to take in recovering from identity theft.

• California Office of Privacy Protection Identity Theft Website
• How to use the California Identity Theft Registry
• California Attorney Tips for Identity Theft Victims
• California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) Identity Theft Protection and Recovery Guide
• California Identity Theft Laws from PrivacyRights.org

National Identity Theft Protection and Recovery Resources:

There are several excellent identity theft protection and recovery resources available from the Federal Government and national non-profit organizations. NextAdvisor.com has also created several helpful guides for consumers looking for more information on identity theft protection.

• Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Identity Theft Website
• Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Identity Theft Victim Online Complaint Form
• United States Postal Service (USPS) Identity Theft Tips and Resources
• Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Active Duty Military Identity Theft Protection Guide
• Child Identity Theft Protection Guide from NextAdvisor.com
• Guide to Identity Theft Protection Services from NextAdvisor.com

• Arizona identity theft protection guide: facts, trends and resources
• Texas identity theft protection guide: facts, trends and resources
• Napa, California named worst town for identity theft
• NextAdvisor.com launches state specific identity theft protection guides
• Reader Question: Can identity theft really be prevented?

NextAdvisor.com launches state specific identity theft protection guides

Posted by Joe on March 12th, 2008

Today we are launching our first in an ongoing series of guides covering identity theft facts, trends and resources on a state by state basis. Our goal is to help educate our readers to the level of risk that exists in their state as well as to offer up some state specific resources and tools for both identity theft protection and recovery that are uniquely available to them.

The ongoing list of states we profile will be available in the State Identity Theft Protection Guide section of the NextAdvisor daily blog.

We encourage you to not only keep an eye out for your state, but also to join in the conversation by letting us know of any state specific information or identity theft protection resources that you may find particularly useful that may not be included in our profile.

The State Identity Theft Protection Guides will be in addition to our ongoing coverage of identity theft protection services, breaking data breach alerts and related news.

• Arizona identity theft protection guide: facts, trends and resources
• Texas identity theft protection guide: facts, trends and resources
• California identity theft protection guide: facts, trends and resources
• 8 tips to protect your children from identity theft
• Data Breach Alert: Stolen laptop leaves thousands of Connecticut State students exposed