Stolen ID Tool: Social Security and Credit Card numbers

TrustedID (www.trustedid.com), a relatively new company in the field of consumer ID fraud detection services, has launched a free online search service called StolenID Search (www.stolenidsearch.com).  This free service allows consumers to conduct their own online searches to validate whether or not their social security and/or credit card numbers have been stolen and being transmitted over the Internet.   

A consumer can enter their own social security and/or credit card numbers on the www.stolenidsearch.com website and in seconds find out if their information is being misused. Data is provided by a database of over 2 million compromised social security and/or credit card numbers.  There is a back end offer for TrustedID's Identity monitoring services after you search database.

The problem with offering this service for free and anonymously to anyone who wishes to use this, is the fact that criminals could potentially use the StolenID Search database to screen for social security and/or credit card numbers that haven't been flagged as being stolen or misused. 

Final Thoughts:  Empowering consumers is a good thing for companies to do. TrustedID is providing a free service other companies see fit to profit from. That is admirable.  However, there also comes a great responsibility for TrustedID to do the right thing in protecting their systems from being used a tool for abuse by anyone.  TrustedID and consumers should each know their responsibilities and act appropriately.

For more information:

StolenID Search
http://www.stolenidsearch.com

TrustedID
http://www.trustedid.com

Disclaimer:  The above blog post is not an endorsement or recommendation for anyone to use the services of TrustedID.com or StolenID Search.com.  The information presented herein is for informational purposes only.