May 15, 2007

NEWS: Harvard Targets ID Theft

Harvard University alderman Scott Logan is no stranger to the ravages of identity theft. Not only does he claim that his e-mail inbox is jam-packed every day by what he estimates to be 70-80% content about the incidence of identity theft occurring on a day-to-day basis, but his wife was an identity theft victim five years ago. Now, he wants to be sure that no-one else’s life is ruined by the crime, at least, inasmuch as he himself can help it. Last week, Logan urged locals to attend an identity theft prevention workshop held at the school, for the purpose of teaching consumers how to protect themselves against the grievous indignity of identity theft.

In honor of the event, Harvard Savings Bank dubbed the event Identity Theft Awareness Weel, and planned two free community events. The first was a “For Your Safety” identity theft workshop at Harvard Diggins Library, where Harvard police planned to talk specifically about local threats. The police planned to use true stories of local residents who fell victim to identity theft via check scams, lottery fraud, and Internet phishing fraud. Police spoke about ways that residents could inoculate themselves against such threats to protect their identities. The second event was a community shred day, a type of event that is rapidly growing in popularity as municipalities rally with their residents to combat identity theft.


   Back to News Main Page