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Adriano Aurelio AraujoThe state of Texas ranks No. 5 nationwide for the number if identity theft complaints last year. Among large cities throughout the country, Houston ranks No. 43 for these crimes.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) said that identity theft was the most common consumer complaint in 2010, accounting for 19% of total complaints. Debt collection complaints ranked second at 11%, followed by internet services, prizes and lotteries, catalogs, scams and internet auctions. Houston was not listed among the top 50 metropolitan areas for fraud. This list was topped by Dunn, North Carolina, which also ranked third nationwide in identity theft. Texas ranked No. 29 overall for fraud among US states, while Colorado topped that list. The Texas border cities were especially prone to identity theft, with Brownsville at No. 2, McAllen at No. 4, Laredo at No. 11 and El Paso at No. 15. However, the top city in the country for identity theft was Miami-Ft. Lauderdale.
TopTenReviews has reviewed some of the best identity theft protection services of 2011. LifeLock has been ranked the number one in this category. LifeLock was awarded an overall rating of four stars and they have split their identity theft protection services into two plans: LifeLock ($10 per month and $110 per year) and LifeLock Command Centre ($15 per month and $165 annually). This identity theft company has been reviewed as having the best service that continues to get better. ProtectMy ID has been ranked in the second position in the best identity theft protection services. The reviews indicate that the identity theft protection services are good but lack additional features. Identity Guard Extra Caution has been ranked in third position. It has great security and recovery assistance features and is perfect for those that don't need a lot of features.
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Ivan Walsh
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Don HankinsA new survey conducted by Harris Interactive found that nearly 13 million Americans are prone to identity theft because of their willingness to accept friend requests from strangers of the opposite sex on social networking sites. 18 percent of men and 7 percent of women said they'd accept friend request from member of opposite sex they didn't know; they were not too worried about identity theft.
Most said they did not believe their personal information was safe on the internet, but they did not connect it to identify theft. The respondents admitted to leaving their information section 'mostly public'-something that makes identity theft easier. Identity theft criminals can use the personal information section to build dossiers and use them to beat challenge questions.