December is Identity Theft and Prevention Awareness Month! The FTC reports identity theft as the top consumer fraud in the US and that consumers have lost more than $1.6 billion to fraud in recent years. The holiday season is a prime time for identity thieves to strike so take this opportunity to learn more about how to protect yourself!
Presenter(s): Carol Kando-Pineda, Federal Trade Commission
About the Session:
IdentityTheft.gov is the Federal Trade Commission’s one-stop site where victims can get a personalized recovery plan, sample letters and forms to mitigate the damage caused by identity theft (IDT). Learn about specialized forms of the crime: tax ID theft and child ID theft. Additional, the presenter will focus on strategies for what to do in the event of a breach and best practices for protecting your information. The session will share trends on the issue and provide the latest tips on how to deal with the theft.
After the session, attendees will be able to:
- Use IdentityTheft.gov to file a report of IDT and get a recovery plan;
- Use the site's sample letters/forms to contact businesses where information was compromised;
- Describe the steps to take immediately in the event of a data breach;
- Explain how and when to get your child's credit report to confirm that they are/aren't a victim of identity theft; and
- Implement best practices to protect information to minimize the risk of its misuse.
About the Presenter(s):
Carol Kando-Pineda is Counsel in the Federal Trade Commission’s Division of Consumer and Business Education where she leads teams to create and distribute free online articles, social media content, print publications, and videos to help people spot scams and manage their money. She heads up the Military Consumer initiative as well as outreach to consumers through public libraries. Carol, who has been with the agency for over 27 years, began her FTC career as a staff attorney bringing false advertising cases; she then became the agency’s Legislative Counsel, serving for several years as a liaison between the FTC and Congress. In 2014, she worked on consumer issues while on temporary assignment to the U.S. House of Representatives’ Committee on Energy and Commerce. She earned her A.B. from Harvard College and her J.D. from Suffolk University School of Law.