Latest News

March 15th 2012 - My Security Plan founder Neal O'Farrell will be speaking at an identity theft seminar in Palo Alto California, hosted by Santa Clara County Supervisor Liz Kniss in partnership with the Santa Clara District Attorney's office. The event will be taking place at La Comida at Avenidas, 450 Bryant St., Palto Alto, from 7pm to 8:30pm on Thursday March 15th. The event is open to the public and we encourage you to attend and learn from a great panel of speakers.

February 7th 2012 - The Identity Theft Council appears on BankInfoSecurity.com to discuss the growing number of hacking and hacktivist attacks against financial institutions, and offers recommendations on how these institutions can minimze their exposure. Read more.

February 3rd 2012 - The Identity Theft Council discusses the growing problem of IRS and tax-related identity theft with the Fort Worth Star Telegram financial columnist Teresa McUsic.

January 19th 2012 - The Identity Theft Council will be providing training to law enforcement officers at the regional meeting of the California Crime Prevention Officers Association (CCPOA) to be held at the San Ramon Police Department, San Ramon, California.

January 6th 2012 - Neal O'Farrell, founder of the Identity Theft Council, is interviewed by BankInfoSecurity.com on the latest data breach at Wells Fargo and the release of some customers' Social Security Numbers. More.

January 5th 2012 - Neal O'Farrell, founder of the Identity Theft Council, appears on CBS5 in the bay area to discuss the impact of the Lucky/SaveMart Supermarket skimming incident, and how many victims are being turned away by their banks. Stay tuned for a link to the video.

December 12th 2011 - The Identity Theft Council is working with Lucky Supermarkets to provide free counseling to Lucky customers who may have been affected by the recent skimming incident at 24 Lucky stores across the bay area. If you have been affected by this incident, or are worried about falling victim to identity theft, please call our Victim Assistance Hotline at 1 888 771 0767.

December 9th 2011 - The Identity Theft Council is proud to announce that we have partnered with the Alameda County Consumer Affairs Commission to provide free supprt and education to consumers and businesses across the county on issues of identity theft and fraud.

The Consumer Affairs Commission (CAC) was created by an order of the Alameda County Board of Supervisors on February 11, 1975. The purpose of the Commission is to promote and protect the best interests of the consumer public, to encourage the highest standards in the business community and to develop a high level of consumer awareness. In establishing the CAC, the county seeks to create an environment in which the highest standards of fair and honest market practices prevail and are enforced, and in which the consumer public is assured the fullest value in products and services.

The CAC provides literature to businesses and consumers, and gives educational presentations on consumer issues to community groups. Visit their new web site.

July 27th 2011 - Identity Theft Council founder Neal O'Farrell has joined the Working Panel of the Federal Communications Commission's Cybersecurity Roundtable, convened by FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski with leading industry executives and government experts in cybersecurity and information technology. Learn more.

July 1st 2011 - SC Magazine - Debate: A federal breach notification law should replace existing state laws. While a single national data breach law is a good thing, President Obama's version is barely a good start. I can't tell if this law is designed to protect data breach victims or to protect breached entities from serious consequences. Worse than just a slap on the wrist, it is almost a pat on the back. Read more.

July 2011 - Community Policing Dispatch, from the Department of Justice COPS Program: "I don't think I've seen a crime like this in more than 20 years in law enforcement." That was just one comment from a recent security conference in California. And it echoes what many in law enforcement, the security industry, and even banking feel about the surge in identity theft over the last decade. It's left many in law enforcement struggling for answers over how to deal with this tidal wave of crimes. And in many cases it's left victims blaming law enforcement for not coming up with those answers. Read more.

June 10th 2011 - CU InfoSecurity: How much good will a national notification law really do? That's debatable. Privacy experts like Neal O'Farrell, founder of the Identity Theft Council, a grassroots network that provides support for victims of identity theft, says proposals for national breach notification, like the one recently offered by the Obama administration, won't have much impact. "It's very vague," O'Farrell says, and lacks any mention of consumer education and support, as well as a way to classify breaches. Read more.

June 10th 0211 - CU InfoSecurity: Neal O'Farrell, founder of the Identity Theft Council, a support group for victims of identity theft, says the "slow drip" of breach information and facts is really what most hurts reputation, because it adversely affects the consumers and companies affected by the breach. Read more.

May 10th 2011 - BankInfoSecurity.com: In the wake of all this breach news, some industry experts fear that consumers and employees alike will start exhibiting signs of "breach fatigue" and treat such incidents apathetically - especially if they believe there's nothing they can do to prevent future breaches.

"The thing about fatigue is, it's contagious," says Neal O'Farrell, founder of the Identity Theft Council, a national grassroots network that provides support for victims of identity theft. "I don't think there's any easy answer. There are so many breaches; it's just so easy for one breach to disappear in the cloud when a new one emerges. And I think companies are kind of viewing it the same way." Read the full article.

April 28th 2011 - BankInfoSecurity.com - Sony Corp.'s announcement that hackers may have accessed personal information it stores on 77 million users of its PlayStation Network and Qriocity online service follows a long line of recent breach announcements. And Neal O'Farrell of the Identity Theft Council says that string of incidents has led to consumer "breach fatigue." "The hackers understand the apathy and are taking advantage," he says. Read the full article.

April 26th 2011 - Identity Theft Council founder Neal O'Farrell discusses the impact and implications of the Sony Playstation network data breach, on the bay area's NBC11. See a quick excerpt.

April 22nd 2011 - Bank Info Security: Spear phishing is quickly emerging as one of the cyberworld's greatest threats. On the heels of the highly publicized Epsilon e-mail breach, which is known to have affected more than 100 companies and brands, the Oak Ridge incident proves e-mail security risks far exceed what most industries are prepared to handle, says Neal O'Farrell, executive director of the Identity Theft Council, a grassroots support network for victims of identity theft. Read the full article.

February 15th 2011 - The Identity Theft Council is honored to have been selected as winner of the Editor's Choice Award for the 2011 SC Magazine Awards, at the SC Awards Gala in San Francisco.

·October 27th 2010 - Save the Date! Join us at the Fort Mason Center in San Francisco, on October 27th 2010, to celebrate the launch of the San Francisco Identity Theft Council and the biggest response to the epidemic of identity theft in the nation's history. Learn more.

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Events

January 19th 2012 - The Identity Theft Council will be providing training to law enforcement officers at the regional meeting of the California Crime Prevention Officers Association (CCPOA) to be held at the San Ramon Police Department, San Ramon, California.

October 17-19th 2011: Identity Theft Council founder Neal O'Farrell will be speaking at the Online Trust Alliance 6th Anniversary Online Trust Forum at the Washington Plaza Hotel in Washington DC. Learn more.

September 12th 2011: Identity Theft Council Founder Neal O'Farrell will be speaking at the 2011 High Tech Crimes Investigators Association (HTCIA) International Conference in Indian Wells, California. Learn more.

August 23rd 2011: The Identity Theft Council will be making a presentation on small business identity theft at Urban Solutions, a non-profit organization in San Francisco that strengthens underserved neighborhoods by supporting small businesses, job creation, diversity and sustainability, in San Francisco CA.

August 17th 2011: The Identity Theft Council will be making a presentation to the Santa Clara County Law Enforcement Association.

July 12th 2011: The Identity Theft Council will be participating at "Stolen Futures - A Forum on Child Identity Theft" hosted by the Federal Trade Commission in Washington DC. Learn more.

May 20th 2011 - The Identity Theft Council will be providing training at the California Financial Crimes Investigators Association (CFCIA) 2011 Annual Conference, from May 18th to 20th 2011 in Monterey California. Learn more.

May 5th 2011 - Join us at the 3^rd annual Identity Management Summit, hosted by the Center for Identity at the University of Texas.  The Summit will take place from 8:00 AM until 3:00 PM on Thursday, May 05, 2011 at the AT&T Executive Education and Conference Center.

This year’s Identity Summit brings together academia, business, law enforcement, and government agencies to discuss therole "trust" plays in establishing a secure identity and a secure transaction in all areas of contemporary life.   Leaders from education, financial services, consumer services, healthcare, energy, homeland security, and law enforcement will discuss current capabilities and predictions regarding identity management threats, vulnerabilities, risks, and solutions. Learn more.

April 30th 2011 - Join us at Lincoln High School in San Francisco's Sunset District for a Youth Financial Empowerment event organized by San Fransicso Supervisor Carmen Chu and Congresswoman Jackie Speier.

March 29th 2011 - Join us as we celebrate the Elder Financial Protection Network's 8th Annual Call To Action Summit, at the Mission Bay Conference Center, UCSF, San Francisco. For more information please visit the EFPN's web site at www.bewiseonline.org.·

March 28th 2011 - The Identity Theft Council will be presenting at the Sonoma County Police Chiefs Annual Meeting, at the Marine Memorial Hotel, Union Square, San Francisco CA. Stay tuned for more information.

February 24th 2011 - Join us at Spectrum Federal Credit Union in San Francisco for our next round of volunteer counselor training. Training is free and everyone's welcome. If you'd like to take part, please contact Neal O'Farrell at neal.ofarrell@identitytheftcouncil.org.

January 24th 2011 - The Identity Theft Council will be making a presentation on protecting the elderly from identity theft, at the Baywood Apartments Senior Complex, 41st Street, Oakland CA, at 11am.

November 5th 2010 - Join us at Spectrum Federal Credit Union in San Francisco for our next round of volunteer counselor training. Training is free and everyone's welcome. If you'd like to take part, please contact Neal O'Farrell at neal.ofarrell@identitytheftcouncil.org.·

October 14th 2010 - Identity Theft Council founder Neal O'Farrell will be speaking at the International Association of Financial Crimes Investigators, at the Sonoma County Sheriff's Department, in Santa Rosa, CA.

October 9th 2010 - Identity Theft Council founder Neal O'Farrell will be speaking about identity theft at Patelco Credit Union in Pleasanton, California, from 10:30am to 12:30pm. The address is 4515 Rosewood Dr #800 Pleasanton, Ca 94588

August 19th 2010 - Join us at Patelco Credit Union, 2nd Street, San Francisco, from 11am to 1pm for free identity theft counselor training. If you'd like to attend, please contact Neal O'Farrell at (925) 914 0248

July 28th 2010 - The Identity Theft Council will be providing free volunteer counselor training at the headquarters of Patelco Credit Union, on 2nd Street in San Francisco. The training will take place from 1pm to 5pm and refreshments will be provided. Trainers will include Neal O'Farrell, founder of the Identity Theft Council; Inspector Anne Madrid of the Hayward Police Department; and Karen Lodrick, a victim of identity theft and a vocal advocate and blogger on the topic.

For more information please call Neal O'Farrell at (925) 914 0248.

July 2010 - The Identity Theft Council founder Neal O'Farrell will be appearing in the "Costco Connection" magazine, from Costco, discussing identity theft prevention. Stay tuned for an exact date.

June 2010 - The Identity Theft Council founder Neal O'Farrell discusses Facebook safety for kids in the June edition of Good Housekeeping magazine.

June 30th 2010 - The Identity Theft Council will be speaking at the Oakland crime prevention fair at the Oakland Police Department, 455 7th Street in Oakland.

June 10th 2010 - The Identity Theft Council will be presenting to the California High Technology Crime Advisory Committee (HTCAC) in Sacramento California.

June 3rd 2010 - Join us at the headquarters of Patelco Credit Union as organizations from around California come together to discuss the launch of an Identity Theft Council in San Francisco. The meeting will be attended by financial institutions, law enforcement, and victims from around San Francisco and across the bay area. It will also be attended by representatives of the Mayor's office, the District Attorney's office, and a number of Supervisors.

Thursday, June 3, 2010
11:30am – 1:00 pm
Patelco Credit Union – Mezzanine Level
144 Second Street (between Mission & Howard Streets)
San Francisco

Lunch will be provided compliments of Patelco. Please call Neal O'Farrell at (925) 914 0248 if you'd like to attend.

June 2nd 2010 - Sponsored by Patelco Credit Union, Elder Financial Protection Network (EFPN) will present "Be Wise: Avoid Scams, Fraud and Identity Theft," a free community education workshop for elders to learn how to protect themselves from becoming victims of financial exploitation. Neal O'Farrell, founder and Executive director of the Identity Theft Council, will be amongst the speakers.·

The workshop, open to the public, will be offered to a group of 60-100+ seniors during a regularly scheduled monthly senior group at Saint Dominic's Church ("SDC") in San Francisco, California. Refreshments, sponsored by Patelco Credit Union, will be provided at no charge to attendees.

Door prizes, also sponsored by Patelco Credit Union, will be offered throughout the program and will include a shredder and two $25 gift cards. Learn more.

May 26th 2010 - The Identity Theft Council will be presenting to the Contra Costa County Police Chiefs Association. Contra Costa County is one of the San Francisco bay area counties. It has approximately 20 cities and a total population of more than 1 million.

May 18th 2010 - Neal O'Farrell, founder of the Identity Theft Council, will be presenting a webinar for the Credit Union National Association (CUNA) on educating your employees and customers about identity theft. Learn more.

March 3rd 2010 - The Identity Theft Council will be interviewed by Tom Field, Editorial Director of Bank Info Security at the RSA Security Conference in San Francisco.

RSA is the leading global conference on all things cyber security, and it was a great opportunity to remind a very wide audience that while technology plays a key role in protecting against identity theft, the best technology is still located right between your ears!

You can hear our interview by clicking here – scroll down to the Security Vendor interviews – we're not a vendor but I think they couldn't resist the chance to talk to us.

March 4th 2010 - The Identity Theft Council will be attending a seminar on identity theft hosted by Senator Ellen Corbett. The location will be the Pleasanton Senior Center at 5353 Sunol Boulevard, Pleasanton from 1:30 to 3:30pm.

Everyone's welcome to attend this free seminar featuring numerous experts on identity theft and protecting seniors from scams.

April 28th 2010 – Neal O'Farrell, Executive Director of the Identity Theft Council, will be leading a webcast on educating your employees and customers about identity theft. The webcast is being hosted by the Credit Union National Association (CUNA) as an education service for its nearly 8,000 credit unions. To find out more visit CUNA.