| FEATURED ARTICLE |
| Identity Theft – Are You One of 9 Million? |
| The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) estimates that as many as 9 million Americans have their identities stolen each year. In recent months there has been a rash of businesses and business owners whose identities have been stolen. |
 A real life example: (name changed for their protection) A group of miscreants stole the identity of Mr. Clark. The criminal called a merchant service provider and opened an account. Using stolen credit card numbers the team then processed transactions through the “business.� The business was funded for those transactions because everything seemed legitimate on the surface. By the time the fraudulent business is realized the thieves had made off with thousands of dollars. While all of this is occurring Mr. Clark is completely unaware his identity was stolen. None of his cards were charged and no money was missing from his accounts. There were no warning signs to alert him that his identity had been stolen. |
| Many people do not realize they are victims until long after the crime occurred. Identity thieves will hide the crimes for as long as possible so they can obtain more money and services. |
| If you store personal information (such as passwords or credit card numbers) on your computer or personal digital assistant make sure the information is encrypted. The FTC also recommends keeping an electronic record, like a writable CD, of the information and store it in a secure place whenever you are not using it. |
| Thieves will use various methods to obtain your information, including: |
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Dumpster Diving: Rummaging through trash looking for bills or other paper with your personal information on it. |
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Skimming: Using a special device when processing your credit card to steal credit/debit card numbers. |
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Phishing: Pretending to be financial institutions or companies and send spam or pop-up messages to get you to reveal your personal information. |
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Changing Your Address: Diverting your billing statements to another location by completing a change of address form. |
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Old-Fashioned Stealing: Stealing wallets and purses; mail, including bank and credit card statements; pre-approved credit offers; and new checks or tax information. They steal personnel records, or bribe employees who have access. |
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Pretexting: Using false pretenses to obtain your personal information from financial institutions, telephone companies, and other sources. |
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| To help prevent your identity from being stolen: |
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Shred financial documents and paperwork with personal information before throwing them out. |
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Protect your Social Security Number. Do not carry your social security card with you, do not write it on your checks and only give it out when absolutely necessary. |
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 Don't give out personal information on the phone, through the mail, through email, or over the Internet unless you know who you are dealing with. When using public wireless connections avoid disclosing personal financial information. Never email your personal information, credit card number or checking account number to anyone – ever! |
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Use strong passwords. Do not use obvious ones like your birth date, your mother's maiden name, or the last four digits of your Social Security number. A strong password includes a combination of letters, numbers and at least one symbol such as a # sign. |
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Keep your personal information in a secure place at home, especially if you have roommates, employ outside help or are having work done in your house. |
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| Detect suspicious activity by routinely monitoring your financial accounts, billing statements and credit report. |
 Defend against identity theft as soon as you suspect it by placing a Fraud Alert on your credit report. The alert tells creditors to follow certain procedures before they open new accounts in your name or make changes to your existing accounts. Placing a fraud alert entitles you to free copies of your credit reports. Look for inquiries from companies you haven't contacted, accounts you didn't open, and debts on your accounts that you can't explain. |
| The three nationwide consumer reporting companies have toll-free numbers for placing an initial 90-day fraud alert; a call to one company is sufficient: |
| Experian: 1-888-EXPERIAN (397-3742) |
| TransUnion: 1-800-680-7289 |
| Equifax: 1-800-525-6285 |
| If you feel that your identity was stolen. There are a few steps you should take. |
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Place a Fraud alert on your credit report |
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Close any account that has been tampered with or opened fraudulently |
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File a complaint with the FTC 1-877-ID-THEFT (438-4338) |
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Notify your local police and/or the police where the theft occurred |
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| Millions of Americans have their identities stolen each year. Contact the FTC for more information on how to prevent, detect, or report identity theft. |
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| TECH TIP |
| Better Safe than Sorry – Code 10 Authorization |
| Thieves are always coming up with new ways to steal. The most recent scheme involves using faxed, emailed or operator assisted calls (hearing impaired relay). The fraudster will order large quantities of items such as mulch, tile, lumber, etc. and request the charge be spread out over several cards. The cards will have nearly identical numbers. The thief may even go so far as to ask for the authorization to make sure the charge went through. |
 It is always better to be safe than sorry, if you receive suspicious or unusual orders please contact the voice authorization department and perform a code 10 authorization. A code 10 Authorization is an “additional verification step� obtained for a suspicious or questionable transaction, card or cardholder. |
| For Visa/MasterCard/Discover: |
| 1-800-834-0409 |
| For Amex: 1-800-528-212 |
| DID YOU KNOW? |
| Dynamic Currency Conversion (DCC) can no longer be offered. Effective May 1, 2010 Visa prohibits the ability to set merchants up with DCC. Therefore NTC Texas will stop selling DCC to new or existing merchants, including additional locations of merchants currently offering DCC. |
| Effective July 1, 2010, all Elavon merchants using ViaWarp product are required to upgrade to minimum version 2.015 in order to be PCI Compliant. There is not a fee to upgrade. |
| Effective July 1, 2010 all Elavon merchants using ViaKlix product are required to upgrade to Virtual Merchant. |
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| NTC Texas recently attended the Texas Bones conference and hosted a dinner for the attendees. Thank you to all that attended. |
| NTC Texas recently attended the Texas Medical Association and the Texas Medical Group Management Association (TMGMA) conferences. |
| Congratulations to Brad Bortz, Practice Administrator, Endocrinology Associates of Houston for winning the drawing for an Apple iPad! |
| ABOUT NTC TEXAS |
| An Elavon Payment Partner, NTC Texas enables your business with all the transactional capabilities of the processing network rated #1 by MasterCard for reliability and availability. Whatever size your business is now, together, we can make it grow. |
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| CONTACT US |
| NTC Texas |
| 106 Decker Court Suite 260 |
| Las Colinas, Texas 75062 |
| Email: Info@NTC Texas.com |
| Web: www.ntctexas.com |
| Tel: 972.406.8111 |
| Toll Free: 877.877.6511 |
| Fax: 972.406.8611 |
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