Finding Your ID

Recently there have been a flurry of requests not only to search records, but also to tell people how we search records. I never know if this is so they can do it for friends and family members, have been ID Theft victims and afraid to offer personal info for me to do it, want to cash in on the privacy industry, or stalk an old girlfriend. Whatever the reason, we're careful with our info. If you'd like to know what your county website is broadcasting about you, be prepared to share some informtion so that we can search properly - and know that you're who you say you are.

www.FindMyID.com

Merry Christmas to All

Eddi's Service

EDDI, priest of St. Wilfrid
In his chapel at Manhood End,
Ordered a midnight service
For such as cared to attend.
But the Saxons were keeping Christmas,
And the night was stormy as well.
Nobody came to service,
Though Eddi rang the bell.

“Wicked weather for walking,”
Said Eddi of Manhood End.
“But I must go on with the service
For such as care to attend.”

The altar-lamps were lighted,—
An old marsh-donkey came,
Bold as a guest invited,
And stared at the guttering flame.

The storm beat on at the windows,
The water splashed on the floor,
And a wet, yoke-weary bullock
Pushed in through the open door.

“How do I know what is greatest,
How do I know what is least?
That is My Father’s business,”
Said Eddi, Wilfrid’s priest.

“But—three are gathered together—
Listen to me and attend.
I bring good news, my brethren!”
Said Eddi of Manhood End.

And he told the Ox of a Manger
And a Stall in Bethlehem,
And he spoke to the Ass of a Rider,
That rode to Jerusalem.

They steamed and dripped in the chancel,
They listened and never stirred,
While, just as though they were Bishops,
Eddi preached them The Word,

Till the gale blew off on the marshes
And the windows showed the day,
And the Ox and the Ass together
Wheeled and clattered away.

And when the Saxons mocked him,
Said Eddi of Manhood End,
“I dare not shut His chapel
On such as care to attend.”

Rudyard Kipling

Michael Chertoff, Sleep Well...

I woke up in the middle of the night and CNN was replaying a speech by Michael Chertoff, Secretary of Homeland Security.

What irony. I had fallen asleep with Chertoff on my mind. Is he a real sort of guy, one who's earnest and hardworking and truly concerned and if the answer is yes, why is he allowing the land registries, court recorders, and clerks to broadcast our private information to the world? Could it be that he, like lots of other people I speak with every day, is truly unaware of this situation, thinking it so ridiculous that it just couldn't happen? I sincerely believe the answer is yes to all of the above.

Chertoff could have quoted blind statistics and while he did a little of that it was explained in detail so common that the most uneducated would have nodded and responded with, "I see" at the end. It was plans, plain talk, accountability, and near the end of his speech there was plenty more where that came from:

People ask me sometimes, what is the -- causes you to lie awake at night? And truthfully, it all -- no matter how I express the answer to that question, it all boils down to this: If there is an attack in this country, I'm going to have to look the American public in the eye, I'm going to have to look Congress in the eye, and I'm going to have to, most important, look in the eye of the people who lost family members in that attack and account to them about whether we have done everything we reasonably could to prevent that.

So I have a very keen, personal sense of responsibility that I share with all of my colleagues in the Department of Homeland Security, and all across the United States, to make the right decision, the sensible decision, not one that simply says, protect everything in a way that's unrealistic, but one that recognizes the real dangers that we face and advances real solutions to address those real dangers.

So that's, in a nutshell, what keeps me awake at night -- my responsibility to do my job, and the responsibility which I share with everybody else in the Department of Homeland Security. It's about balance, it's about clarity, and it's about being sensible.

If Homeland Security ignores the real, constant danger our registries pose by maintaining online records, that will be the one thing undone and the thing that keeps Chertoff awake. I hope you'll join me in making him and all of Homeland Security aware of this danger.

Chertoff ended his speech with this:

This can't be an issue of party, it can't be an issue simply of ideology. It's got to be a personal issue to every American, because we will all live with the consequences of the decisions we make in the couple of years to come.

Amen, brother.

If you'd like to voice your opinion and/or support to Homeland Security, send a letter to them at the following address:

Honorable Secretary Michael Chertoff
U.S. Department of Homeland Security
Washington, D.C. 20528

Telephone: 202-282-8000
Comment Line: 202-282-8495

You can also send a note online by clicking 'Contact' on www.dhs.gov

Be a part of the solution. It only takes a minute.

www.FindMyID.com

Take It Off -- Take It All Off!

That's the battle cry of Americans across the nation who are discovering the root of identity theft - their county's online records.

In a story by USA TODAY, Donna Leinwand reported the arrest of illegal immigrants in numbers so large it shut down nearly all Swift & Co. meat packing plants in six states. But the Swift employees weren't arrested solely as illegal workers. Calling it "a massive identity fraud scheme", Immigration and Customs Enforcement reports the illegal workers had "stolen the identity of hundreds of people".

One of the arrested used the identity and social security number of a North Carolina man who died in 2005. The deceased man's sister recently filed a complaint with the FTC after Social Security records showed her brother was currently employed with Swift. Court records did not specify how the man's ID was stolen.

Here's a clue: He clicked.

Everything from death certificates to mortgages, marriage records, deeds, wills, and more are available online in North Carolina and most other states, and all for the taking. Full document images that can be altered with cut and paste options on any computer.

Cabarrus County, NC offers full records without so much as a registration. So does Travis County, Texas, and many states beyond and between.

That's the complaint and concern I shared with Homeland Security after reading the USA TODAY story. Over 1,000 officers, countless hours, and hundreds of thousands of dollars went into planning the massive arrest at Swift & Co. plants. Why aren't our land registries being held responsible as parties to the offense?

"That's a good question," stated an employee in Michael Chertoff's Office.

County recorders and clerks across America would be wise to reconsider posting personal information online before they cause any further damage and are finally held accountable; a costly lawsuit no county can afford.

Take it off. Take it ALL off!

www.FindMyID.com

Find My ID

It's been nearly a month since the last update but there's a good reason - the requests to check records have increased substantially and between that, work, sleeping and eating, my 24 hours are up.

Often I'll check email late at night and there will be someone else who can't sleep, worried, and wants to know what's been printed online about them. How can you leave that until morning and just drift off?

More often than not, the email requests are containing horror stories of stolen identity and resulting nightmare consequences. These people want to know how and where. And more often than not, their information is found right there in their own county on the land registry website.

I heard an interesting story yesterday from a friend who mentioned a previous job as a fraud investigator with a cell phone company. "A .. what?" I asked? Why would a cell phone company need fraud investigators?

So as not to perpetuate any more crime than criminals have already thought of, I'll limit sharing our (incredible) conversation to ID theft related information.

"Oh, you know," he started, "like when people set up service by either making up a social security number or just swiping one off public websites."

I wanted to dial every register of deeds in America and ask him to repeat that statement to our elected officials who swear there is nothing wrong with what they're doing. But as I've stated many times before, they already know they're front men in this crime. They just don't care.

To catch a thief you have to think like a thief. Thank God the majority of us will never catch up to that line of thinking. The claim of my friend astounded me, though it shouldn't have. If there's a way to abuse personal information, it's being done. I just hadn't thought of cell phone accounts.

Some of you have been kind enough to speak with interested attorneys and I thank you sincerely. Understandably, people who have been victims of ID theft want to remain under the radar after such an incident, but we need to prove that this does happen and how it happens. If your land registry is posting your personal information online, they aren't blameless. They're just as guilty as the guy in the dark alley with his brief case open on the hood of his car and they should, and will, be punished.

If you notice unusual activity on your cell account or any unusual credit activity or new accounts, get in touch. We still check records free of charge and report only to you what we find. Email: FindMyID@mindspring.com

www.FindMyID.com