KANSAS CITY, Mo. - According to former FBI agent Jeff Lanza, identity theft cases spiked 25% between 2007 and 2008. He says the recession is fueling the fire. But he says people's personal information, specifically their social security numbers are just too accessible. Whether it's online or their company doesn't do a good job of keeping it confidential.
Early Thursday, 110 Jackson County Circuit Court documents were found on Oak Street near Truman in downtown Kansas City. Court officials say their recycling company dropped the records during a collection in the area. No further details were provided.
Many of the documents had names of defendants, their charges and birthdays. A few had addresses, phone numbers and even social security numbers. According to Lanza, addresses and phone number can typically be found online. Social Security numbers, however, are tough to find and can be the key to stealing someone's identity.
Jackson County officials say they are reviewing the mishap and will decide if they need to change they way they destroy documents. Until now, they've been shredding some documents in-house and taking others (i.e. non-confidential documents) to an off-site facility to be shred.
Lanza says that's a common practice among companies. He says it's acceptable as long as the recycling company carefully boxes the documents and secures them inside the truck. But he prefers shredding in-house.
"(It's) always better to have it controlled on site so it's under the control of the organization so they can watch them be shredded and so they don't have to be moved somewhere else. More steps in the process create more security risks..." said Lanza.
Anyone who is concerned their identity could be compromised should call any of the three credit agencies (TransUnion, Experian or Equifax) and have a Fraud Alert placed on their account. It will last for 90 days but Lanza recommends renewing it for a year.
"Having your identity stolen is not an easy thing to correct. In fact, it can be a gigantic mess that can last weeks, months or even year. People who have had their identity stolen say they are still dealing with the aftermath years later. It's a gigantic problem and that's why you want to avoid it," said Lanza.
