Robert Siciliano is a NextAdvisor.com Expert Guest Blogger
representatives Government show our social security numbers on the web, but the companies are required to keep them locked.
Congressman Robert Wexler was recently the target of a Ghanaian extortionist who have obtained the number Wexler, AOS Social Security and his wife, AOS , from a public folder displayed at the Virginia Watchdog. Betty Ostergren, founder of The Virginia Watchdog, has spent the last seven years trying to end the public display of our Social Security numbers, which are often posted online by state government officials elected or appointed. Virginia and other states apparently want these personal information online because they have yet to pass laws mandating the elimination of social security numbers.
civil servants positions in these online records because they are public documents. This is already happening in every state. Folders containing extensive personal information is available on the Internet, and elected officials that display this information put people at risk by failing to remove or black out social security numbers and other sensitive data.
The fact that the member of Congress Wexler and his wife have been extracted should not be the big story. The big story should be that these documents with Social Security numbers exposed, are made available on the Internet, through elected.
Betty Ostergren recently found the same documents for a major US company and their top brass twelve government websites of the different state. The same list of Social Security numbers and home addresses for executives appeared on government websites in Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Michigan, Mississippi, New Hampshire, North Carolina and South Dakota. And every year, the company filed a report in the states, the same 40+ Social Security numbers shown on the documents, which are available to anyone in the world. (North Carolina has unsuccessfully attempted to redact the numbers.) The Social Security numbers of many executives many companies are available on the Internet, public records published on the websites of the State. And so are the social security numbers of good old Joe Shmoes, too. But most of them realize that gift, AOT, and when their identities are compromised, They, Äôll wonder how their social security numbers are entered into the wrong hands.
We live in an ignorant country, where people pay more attention to sports and entertainment that the actions of our legislators.
Go to the Virginia Watchdog to become fully informed about the crisis of identity theft, which is fed by public documents. Protect yourself against the new account fraud. Get a credit freeze. Go to ConsumersUnion.org and follow the steps for your particular state. This is an absolutely necessary tool to secure your credit. In most cases, it prevents new accounts from being opened in your name. This makes your Social Security number useless to a potential identity thief. And invest in identity theft protection. All forms of protection against identity theft can be prevented, but identity theft protection services can dramatically reduce your risk.
Robert Siciliano, identity theft speaker, discusses Social Security numbers on Fox News.
Robert Siciliano is CEO of IDTheftSecurity.com, an expert on identity theft, professional speaker, security analyst, published author and television news correspondent. Siciliano works with Fortune 1000 and start-up companies as a consultant on product launches, branding, messaging, representation, SEO and media. thoughts Siciliano, AOS and advice on these issues often appear in both television and print media news, including CNN, MSNBC, CNBC, FOX, Forbes and USA Today. He has 25 years of safety training as a member of the American Society for Industrial Security. He is the author of two books, including The Safety Minute: Living on high alert; How to take control of your personal safety and to prevent fraud . He, OSA is also associated with Uni-Ball to help raise awareness of the growing threat of identity theft and provide tips on how you can protect yourself.