50 Ways to Protect Your Identity in a Digital Age

Steve Weisman hosts the radio show A Touch of Grey, syndicated to 50+ stations nationwide, including WABC (NYC) and KRLA (LA). A senior lecturer at Bentley College, he is a member of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys and is admitted to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court. The legal editor for Talkers Magazine and a monthly columnist for the American Institute of Economic Research, he writes for publications ranging from The Boston Globe to Playboy and earned an ABA Certificate of Merit for excellence in legal journalism. His books include The Truth About Avoiding Scams, featured on Dr. Phil and CNN. Weisman holds a J.D. degree from Boston College Law School. He also operates the website www.scamicide.com, which provides the latest information on scams and identity theft.

Introduction     1
Chapter 1: Identity Theft     3
Chapter 2: Making Yourself Less Vulnerable to Identity Theft     25
Chapter 3: Danger on the Computer and What to Do If You Are the Victim of Identity Theft     43
Chapter 4: Your Social Security Number--An Identity Thief’s Lucky Number     63
Chapter 5: Criminal Identity Theft, Taxes--And More Arresting Problems     81
Chapter 6: Technology, Business, and Government Fight Identity Theft     105
Chapter 7: Financial Privacy Please: The Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act     119
Chapter 8: Credit Reports     127
Chapter 9: Congress Deals with Credit Reports and Identity Theft: The Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act     151
Chapter 10: Protecting Your Privacy--A Key to Preventing Identity Theft     161
Chapter 11: ID Theft—Security Software     169
Chapter 12: The Dangers of Data Breaches     171
Chapter 13: Identity Theft Insurance--Worth the Price?     181
Chapter 14: Identity Theft after Death     185
Chapter 15: Identity Theft and the Elderly     189
Chapter 16: Identity Theft from Children     195
Chapter 17: Identity Theft Risks of Smartphones and Other Mobile Devices     201
Chapter 18: Identity Theft Threats with Credit Cards and Debit Cards     211
Chapter 19: Medical Identity Theft     219
Chapter 20: Identity Theft and Social Media     225
Chapter 21: Form Letters     235
Chapter 22: Steve’s Rules     273
Index     281