Consumer Credit Counseling Service of Delaware Valley to Provide ID Theft Prevention Workshop and Free Credit Report Counseling on October 23

2008-10-15 03:01:59 -

- Consumer Credit Counseling Service of Delaware Valley Maureen Keown, 215-563-5665 x.3338 mkeown@cccsdv.org or Buchanan Public Relations Shane M. Swisher, 610-649-9292 Shane@buchananpr.com More than eight million Americans had their identities stolen last year.

Recently there were more than 150 major incidents affecting more than 57 million people in the U.S. There have been breaches of secure information in nearly every sector of the business community, not just in the credit industry. ID theft has also reached into education, health care, banking, and even into government sectors. Anyone can be affected by identity theft.

National Protect Your Identity Week will take place from October 19-25, 2008, and Consumer Credit Counseling Service of Delaware Valley (CCCS) is taking the lead by offering an Identity Theft Prevention Workshop in conjunction with National Protect Your Identity Week.

The workshop will take place on Thursday, October 23, at the CCCS main office, 1608 Walnut Street, 10th floor in Center City from 6:00 to 7:00 p.m. and will feature special guest speaker Rick Link, Postal Inspector with the United States Postal Inspection Service and acting task force leader of the Southeastern Pennsylvania Identity Crimes Task Force. Topics will include commons signs of ID theft, common ways information is accessed, steps you can take to protect yourself, and how to recover from ID theft.

Seating is limited, and reservations are required. Reservations can be made online at www.cccsdv.org or by calling 800-989-2227. Be sure your credit report is accurate so you are not a victim. All participants will receive a certificate for a free one-on-one credit report counseling session with one of CCCS's Certified Counselors. This session - a $65 value - includes a tri-merge report and scores from the three main credit bureaus.

"The average victim's loss per identity theft incident is $5,720, but more than that, the victim of ID theft will spend an average of 600 hours and $1400 resolving the issues related to the crime," says Patricia Hasson, president of CCCS. "Prevention is the best answer to this growing problem, and through this workshop, we hope to bring awareness to the public of the steps they can take to protect themselves. CCCS exists to help everyone, and we urge people to seek us out proactively before they find themselves to be a victim of this crime."

About Consumer Credit Counseling Services of Delaware Valley (CCCS)

For the past 42 years, CCCS has positively impacted human lives and communities through comprehensive consumer credit education, counseling, asset building and debt reduction programs without regard to economic status. For more information, visit www.cccsdv.org.

For more information, visit www.cccsdv.org, or to set up an appointment call 800-989-CCCS.

National Protect Your Identity Week 2008