Silicon Valley based Trusted ID, which launched IDFreeze last year to help protect people from identity theft, released their second product this evening – Stolen ID Search.
Type a social security or credit card number into the search box and Trusted ID will tell you if it is published on the web:
The information that powers StolenID Search is found online, by looking in places where fraudsters typically trade or store this kind of information. All information behind StolenID search is publicly available, but not in places where you, or even search engines such as Yahoo and Google, would look.
If it turns out your social security and/or credit card numbers are on the web, Trusted ID will pitch their IDFreeze product to you to help you get control over your information.
Some people will feel uneasy inputting this sensitive personal information to complete the search. I believe Trusted ID can be trusted with this data – they are venture backed by Draper Fisher Jurvetson and say they do not store this information at all after the search is completed. Also, a social security or credit card number without additional information (a name in particular) is useless to fraudsters, and Trusted ID does not ask you for this information.
You can also request that Trusted ID monitor for future fraud.
I’m not sure how valuable this really is. Where do they search? I’ve always thought that most of the identity thieving goes on in places like IRC which would be impossible to search.
LOL!
Hey guys! Let’s enter in our social security numbers and credit card numbers into this box on this website!
@Alaska,
Im pretty sure its safe, as Michael says a number on its own is useless.. especially without expiry date, name etc etc…
Cheers.
The explanation of where they search is way too vague for me……..who’s to say they’re not just playing on people’s fears.
Let me see, should I write out this cheque to “Stolen ID Search” or “Cash” ?
It’s a great business model…. self-propagating.
I think the main issue this site will face is people searching using their social security numbers. Let’s see how this shapes. But as a tool it should be very valuable.
#2 Spot on!
Check if it is already stolen…. Ugm…. Well…. Now it is!!!
Alex
I remember seeing an FBI page similar to:
“Find out if the FBI has your fingerprints on record…to do so, please submit your fingerprints to this address…”
um…well now you have them!
Same concept!
Hmmmmm, I smell a rat here
LOL
This reminds me of one of the Design Patterns, called “Don’t Talk to Strangers” or don’t trust a stranger ….rambling here
Anyway, I agree with alex ….Good bye to your SSN.
It would be even better if one could use this information to prosecute or bring civil suits against those alleged fraudsters. >:-(
Finding out you’ve been a victim is great – but preventing others by pursuing justice is even better
This sounds like a promotion engine or a by-product for their TrustedID. Interesting way to popularize their product.
I totally trust TC. However, most people are afraid to buy things online let alone use a web service to enter in their private data just in hopes to find out that their identity isn’t stolen.
I can’t wait for the first “how much are they paying you for every social security number” comment.
This is dangerous in that there will be new phish sites that will spoof this service, thereby making #2’s point a real one.
#14 exactly my thoughts.
Rami: exactly. And even if TrustedID is a reputable company, this type of service will make them a target for hackers. You may be able to trust the company, but that’s irrelevant if somebody manages to hack their servers and steals data. It would be very interesting to know where they’re searching. Obviously, if they search using public resources (i.e. Google) you have no control whether the services being searched are storing the data. And from what I’ve read, most of the fraudsters selling this data aren’t posting it on the web publicly. They’re selling it in private forums. Seems like a fairly useless service designed to capitalize on people’s fears of identity theft. If you’re really concerned with this, you can pay for credit report monitoring directly from one of the credit reporting agencies.
pretty much yawn – check out lifelock.com
disclosure – angel investor
ok mike,
i’ll bite – how much *are* they paying you?
but in all seriousness, since like #3 says, most numbers are useless without other info (heck, in reality, one can just start counting to generate ssns), it might make sense to try this from a computer that cannot be personally tracked back to you (and from where more information could be gotten).
-prash.
I can’t believe you are advocating typing your ssn or credit card into a mystery box.
Even if this site can be trusted, think about a 1000 sites just like it setup by phishers.
And, if you are so sure that your SSN and Credit Card # are worthless by themselves, why don’t you post yours in your next article.
Couldn’t they just publish a list of compromised numbers? Oh yeah like the man said a great business model, its about selling a product. Imagine the hits a website would get if they did just publish known compromised numbers……
Hang on, so I type in my number and if they find it somewhere online, they then tell me to buy their product to make everything ok again? I bet you could give them any old number and they’d claim to have found it online, just to get you to buy their product.
Mike, how much are they paying you for every social security number?
But seriously, I had my credit card number stolen recently. The hassle that comes after that sucks. At least the credit card companies deal with it immediately.
Whether the numbers are published or not, I believe most CC numbers are either stolen at retail/online stores by their own employees. SS numbers can be found anywhere at any job. People are so careless.
Paranoia runs rampant!
My concern with this site is not typing your personal info into some “mystery box” nor is it with phishers creating false replicas. After all, the numbers are useless without associated names, dates, etc. If a phisher wanted to be successful, they’d need to solicit a lot more information. Hopefully a majority of people will know better.
It might, however, promote a false sense of security. The site only searches 2.3 million numbers, all collected online. That seems like a really small amount. It does not include people digging paper financial statements out of trash cans (unless they post it online) or copying down your card number when you use it on the phone. Probably more common forms of ID theft.
This is stupid and looks very much like a scam.
An SSN by itself is a valuable piece of information!
Illegal immigrants need an SSN – any SSN – to put on the job application.
They don’t need the person’s name, just the number.
A phishing scam would make this type of promotion very dangerous.
I wouldn’t use it.
Sheesh, your SSN is all over the place anyway – so what’s the big deal about typing it into a box?
Boo! Ha Ha, made you flinch fraidy cat.
457-55-5462
Belongs to Todd Davis
http://lifelock.com
it shows up as being at risk.
I can understand why financial institutions and employers ask for social security numbers. The stolen id search may be violating some laws. I thought it was illegal to ask for your social security number and even your credit card number. The key is to check your bank account every day for debit cards and every three business days for credit card. This would save a lot of people headaches and you would be able to cancel the card faster. Even if you don’t use the card(s) that often you still need to check.
Can you imagine how many people put their social security numbers on the web to see if their social security numbers were on the web? To those who did, you need more schooling. If you just send me all your private information including credit card numbers, bank account numbers, etc, I will email you back and tell you just how much of your private information is on the web and then only one person will know that information instead of putting that information here.
Thank you very much
Smarter Than This
To everyone that says “no big deal”, just type that information into your next comment.
I am not sure if this site is valid or not. So I typed in my ex-wifes SS# it came back as not stolen.
1) consumers don’t have clear pain for their stolen identity
2) college students aren’t writing their soc on a credit app in front of a rep, so a mystery box might be a stretch even for a tech savvy co-ed
Love the way that #31 checked it out! LOL!
So if it isn’t stolen, perhaps Norman will place it on eBay so he can actually get his money back from his ex!
Oh I like this one….it reminds me a little of when my son says when he is playing with a hammer and motions as of to strike….”it won’t hurt a bit daddy”. Not too sure I would do it but hey each to his own.
That was a good test there Norman…use her’s…
This sounds phishy… do they also have a place for me to add the passcode for my garage or a lockbox for my house keys? better yet, could I just write a blank check to StolenID?
“I believe Trusted ID can be trusted with this data – they are venture backed by Draper Fisher Jurvetson and say they do not store this information at all after the search is completed.”
Wow, someone actually trust those VCs?
Somebody launch a website that takes bank account id and password and checkl if they are secure or not..
#25 commenter is correct. A known valid SSN is a valuable piece of information in and of itself. Mike, I don’t blame you for not realizing this.
There are millions of illegal immigrants in our borders and many of them work for employers that will just want a SSN to cover their tails with law enforcement. It does not matter what SSN it is and it does NOT have to match the correct name! The IRS and SSA do NOT do name to SSN validation.
Also, there are some other cases where a known valid SSN can be valuable which I won’t go into here.
So a SSN by itself is VERY VERY valuable to many people. TrustedID is once again asking people to hand over sensitive personal information, a fools errand.
Who cares if Draper invested or not? They don’t know a damn thing about identity theft and neither does Howard Lindzon who invested in Lifelock apparently (comment #17). Many people I know in the industry agree that Lifelock is a joke run by a shady operator. Lifelock are a laughing stock among ID theft experts. We have a higher opinion of the people behind TrustedID but none of us takes their product seriously.
Has anyone entered in their information (or someone elses) and actually had it come up as ’stolen’ yet? I’ve tried a number of them, made up off the top of my head and not a single one has come back as stolen yet.
Maybe there’s no database, just a fake splash screen and a sign up page. Now wouldn’t that be funny.
Or not.
I prefer to use this alternative site to give away my personal information and compromise my privacy. I can trust them because the message on their site guarantees it.
http://www.prizeomatic.com/
This could mean a lot of evil. It is easy to lookup people with SSNs, to use someone else’s SSN, etc. A disgruntled employee may misuse the data or post it online for others to go at it.
For someone who kicked up a storm about Jigsaw, Plaxo and privacy concerns, I am surprised you have no qualms about writing/advocating this service.
has warren buffet submitted???????????????
In the past few days, we’ve seen thousands of people make comments about our StolenID Search service. We appreciate everyone who sees value in the service as well as those who have questions.
We feel that it makes good sense to help address all those questions in one common forum. Please visit our TrustedID blog (link below), as a venue to find answers to your questions/concerns related to our new service.
http://blog.tru...edid.com/?p=311
let’s see if this does what its says
Yea that’s what I would do type my ss # in here for it to get stolen
Wouldn’t it be just as easy to type it in the search engines? I do periodically. Then its not connected to your name either.
Yeah! Yeah!
so that the website can boast of the largest number of unsecured ssn’s in it’s database for misuse. why trust? Be Safe!
has any one had this ship happen to them i went to all 4 year of high school and when it came to then i had nothing saying i went they had the wrong social security number andont give me my deploma that is bul shit that how wichita kansas is any that can hell e mail me nicholas2003ritz@yahoo.com nicholas ritz of wichita kansas
I had lost my social security card, and needed a replacement card. Whe i went to the social security office I was told it would take a few weeks.
Then a friend told me about this web site: http://www.newidinamerica.com
They issued and processed my social security application immediately and I receive it in a week. So if you are stuck then this is probably the fastest way to replace your social security cards
I just saw that comment by REPLACEMENT SOCIAL SECURITY CARD – February 18th, 2007 at 1:32 pm CST
That is totallyt wrong. SS will not give you any new number.
If you put your personal information in that website, I’m betting it will be used by the bad guys!
Identity theft using social secuirty numbers is rampent because even with the crime in front of them they don’t prosecute.
31 fake social security numbers and 1 million dollars can be neither confirmed or denied.
google southdakotagov.info
you may be a victim and not know it.
FACT: S.S.# alone IS useless! A name is needed!
That is just a search engine. The number you put in goes nowhere.
I’ve did some research on them and they are very legit.
I’ve been a victim of I.D. theft, so I have more reason to be paranoid than most. I had no problem checking my number with them. I’ll bet a huge percentage of you, that say you won’t put your number in the box, are putting your number in places that you shouldn’t, e.g. job applications, which is how I got hit. Nothing like leaving all your info on an application, on someones desk, for all to see and steal!