Never before with Instant Messaging (IM) has a more vital warning been needed for current and potential IM buddies who chat online.

180,000 credit card customers of Polo Ralph Lauren were warned of possible ID thefts due to a faulty POS system.

Reed Elsevier announced that LexisNexis had initiated a review on March 9, after it identified a number of incidents of potentially fraudulent access to information at its recently acquired Seisint unit.

Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) introduced an anti-phishing bill that would increase punishments for convicted offenders.

Residents in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and three U-S territories have been affected by criminals gaining access to ChoicePoint’s database.

Rockstar Games announced that Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas has shipped to retail stores in North America.

The Internet is getting to be a very scary place these days. You spend a small fortune for a computer and Internet Service so that you can run your business, shop or retrieve valuable information. Yet getting on the internet today, puts you at great risk. Identity Theft scams that enter your email disguised as mail form ebay or paypal aren’t your only enemy. Thieves have been trying to get you via your e-mail for many years and you probably know all about anti virus software and how to check for an authentic site.

Picture yourself walking down the street, all alone. It’s late at night. It’s a bit brisk, and the wind is blowing through the tall buildings on both sides of you. Suddenly, from out of nowhere, someone runs by you, knocks you over, grabs your wallet, and takes off.

1Pai.com.cn, a Chinese auction house jointly established by Yahoo and the Sina Corporation, has been accused by rival auction house Taobao.com of stealing database information. Yahoo China has stated that they would let the joint venture fight back without their help.

In a move worthy of the RIAA, news giant Reuters announced it would begin tracking copyright violations of its content using Fast Search & Transfer’s (FAST) software. FAST is a developer of enterprise search and real-time alerting technologies.

Con artists who wish to use online auction houses (usually targeting eBay because it is the largest) to bilk unsuspecting users for thousands of dollars usually follow a fairly straight-forward scheme. It generally preys on the unsuspecting or less savvy, aiming at their ignorance of technology and security to steal their money.

Chances are good that you know someone who has been victimized by the fastest growing crime – identity theft. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) reported that there were 10 million cases of identity theft in 2002 alone. It’s estimated that someone’s identity is stolen every 79 seconds.

The short and scary answer is, probably not!

A few short years ago the thought of someone actually capturing your identity and using it for wicked purposes was a rarity. But with the explosion of the Internet and on-line purchases in combination with so many other high-tech devices, identity theft is fast rising to epidemic proportion.

Every ezine I read these days, including my own, editors are having to waste valuable space reiterating the rules or tightening them up because of the variety of abuses that they suffer from unscrupulous subscribers.

While identity theft is nothing new, the Web has opened up whole new world of opportunity for identity thieves.

According the FBI, identity theft is the top online fraud. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission says that identity theft is it’s number one source of consumer complaints – 42 percent of all complaints, in 2001.

“Erase Bad Debt !” “Remove Negative Items From Your Report”

FACT: It takes 14 months, on average, before an Identity theft victim realizes their identity has been stolen.

Identity theft is a serious problem – make sure to keep all sensitive information from being acquired by any other people. That means – do not give out your name, social security number, bank information, credit card information, etc. Shred store receipts. Use heavy discretion when ordering from the Internet – order from secure sites and know whom you are dealing with.

A Microsoft manager accused of stealing $9 million worth of software to buy fancy cars, diamond rings and a yacht died from drinking antifreeze, the King County Medical Examiner’s Office reported.

You step outside to find your car has been repossessed and a foreclosure notice posted on the front door of your house. All because of delinquent loans “you” made. Or the police come to make an arrest because “you” used a fake prescription. Can’t happen to you?

There is a new thief on the block. An identity thief and YOU are at risk!