There have been some high-profile security breaches and data losses in the news: banks and other financial institutions losing customer data, stores and retailers suffering data loss through hackers and in some cases, customer data just being thrown away.

Although it isn’t clear if this is a hoax or film of some janitors exhibiting an actual find, a video posted on YouTube has garnered a lot of attention in the news.

In the video, loan applications, account data and personal information on customers are found unshredded in the trash outside a J.P. Morgan Chase bank branch. Last year, Chase was in the news for accidentally throwing out tapes of sensitive data on 2.6 million customers who held Circuit City credit cards issued through Chase.

While the film is being called a hoax and a set-up by the SEIU (Service Employees’ International Union) which is currently trying to unionize security workers, the lesson about safe-guarding personal data is well-taken. Too often consumers themselves will dispose of sensitive bank receipts and credit card statements without first ensuring that they are shredded so that no personal information can be gleaned from them.

Americans continue to lose money to identity fraud and more victims lose more money each year.

The Federal Trade Commission has released its annual report on fraud complaints filed by consumers. As expected, identity theft tops the list at 36% of all complaints filed. But the actual number of instances of identity theft could be much higher, as for every reported instance and complaint, there may be a dozen others who have been victimized.

Here’s the top 5 listed complaints from the FTC’s Consumer Fraud and Identity Theft Complaint Data report.

1 Identity Theft - 246,035 - 36%
2 Shop-at-Home/Catalog Sales - 46,995 - 7%
3 Prizes/Sweepstakes and Lotteries - 45,587 - 7%
4 Internet Services and Computer - 41,243 - 6%
5 Internet Auctions - 32,832 - 5%

See the full list at The FTC website.

It’s tax season and a new crop of scammers are “phishing” across the internet. Many scams involve the scammer posing as representatives of the IRS. These scams have a higher success rate than some others. Not everyone receiving a scam email will have a Paypal or Ebay account nor do they bank at a particular financial institution. But everyone pays taxes (with a few exceptions).

Last year’s tax scam is still going strong. The taxpayer receives an email alerting him to a tax refund he is owed and directed to a site where he is asked to input personal information. The scammer then has what he was phishing for.

This year taxpayers are receiving emails stating that the recipient has been selected for an “e-audit”. Again, the purpose of the email is identity theft. The IRS states it does not conduct audits online and has no such program.

The IRS wants taxpayers to know that the IRS does not use e-mail to initiate contact with taxpayers about issues related to their accounts.

These scams are for the sole purpose of collecting sensitive personal identification about the recipient and often ask for social security numbers and credit card numbers. If you receive an email that purports to be from the IRS or if you have any questions regarding contact from the IRS, call 1-800-829-1040 to confirm it.

170,000 residents of the state of Wisconsin are being notified that their tax forms were mailed out with their social security numbers visible on the front.

State officials are now in a mad scramble to try to get as many of the forms back as possible before they are delivered to mailboxes.

The “computer error” leaves many residents open to possible identity theft as officials fear the numbers could be lifted from the forms by identity thieves who could then use the social security numbers to set up credit accounts.

Often victims of identity theft don’t know about these new accounts until they start to receive bills on the accounts opened by the thieves.

Beause it’s an extended weekend with the national day of mourning for President Ford following New Year’s Day, officials hope to recover any forms before they are processed through the post office.