An individual might not know he has a problem until a credit purchase is rejected -- over the limit! -- because an identity thief has maxxed out the card. Or bill collectors might come calling because accounts have been drained without the victim's knowledge. Or he could be arrested on a warrant during a traffic stop because a thief, using the victim's name, is wanted for questioning.
Shannon offered examples, readily available to the curious and the criminal, of ways to pilfer for fun and profit. A Google search for "fake i.d.," for example, returns 575,000 hits. The sites range from the novelty to the sinister -- CIA cards, birth certificates, diplomas -- enough to create a whole identity based on deceit. And he suggested that institutions, such as banks and employers, are guilty of being an accomplice on two counts: They're careless and too quiet. They'd often rather settle with the victim than draw attention to their own culpability.
As for safeguards and remedies, Shannon had a few of those, too: monitor your accounts, daily if possible; report suspicious credit card activity immediately (your liability is $50); never give more than the last four digits of your Social Security number for identification purposes; report i.d. theft. And report white-collar crime to Shannon's office. There's a form at www.tarrantda.com Don't delay.
"The question isn't whether you'll become a victim," he said, "but when."
===================================================
PEOPLE & PLACES
GCG kept its win streak alive at this year's Advertising Club of Fort Worth awards, for the second year in a row being the most decorated agency with 39 Addys -- 16 gold, 15 silver and eight bronze. Witherspoon Advertising and Public Relations followed with 36 Addys -- 12 gold, 13 silver and 11 bronze. Circle R Group, the in-house agency for RadioShack, scored 33 Addys -- nine gold, eight silver, 16 bronze -- and received a Best of Show award, as did fusion29/visual communication. Student Best of Show honors went to UTA's Shirley Ruslim, and TCU's Dan Johnson took home a student Special Judges Award. HKT Design in Fort Worth also received a Special Judges Award. Other winners: the Fort Worth Convention and Visitors Bureau, four gold, five silver, one bronze; the Balcom Agency, one gold, six silver, two bronze; Concussion, one gold, seven bronze; and Blanchard Schaefer Advertising, three gold, four bronze. Also embracing the gold were Design Works Studio, Immotion Studios, Pinkerton Design, Red. a design group, Robeegraffix Advertising, the Star-Telegram and Williamson-Dickie Co. Winners of gold Addys advance to District 10 American Advertising Federation competition April 22-24 in Oklahoma City. Winners there make the national show June 12-15 in Dallas. ...
James O. Branch, a patriarch of the printing company that bears his name, will be presented with this year's Silver Medal Award, the top honor given locally by the American Advertising Federation, at a luncheon Wednesday, March 17. "Bestowing the Silver Medal is the highest compliment we can pay to anyone in our industry. It is truly a lifetime achievement award," said Advertising Club of Fort Worth president Scott Kirk. Branch is the third generation of a family business established in Fort Worth in 1910 by his grandfather, Aaron Smith. Now owned and operated by the great-grandchildren, Branch-Smith Printing specializes in the creation of publications, from the design stage through printing and distribution, for a range of enterprises. It produces four national horticultural business magazines. A former director and secretary of the Downtown Rotary Club, Branch also is a director and former chairman of Union Gospel Mission, a former senior warden of St. Andrew's Episcopal Church and a past director of numerous service organizations, including Executive Service Corps and Panther Boys Club. For luncheon info, contact Jennie Garcia, (817) 923-2582 or adclubfw@sbcglobal.net. ...
UTA Shorthorn ex Paul Buckley, since 1989 a prose and punctuation laborer in the service of The Dallas Morning News, is trading vineyards. A former slot editor and fill-in deputy and bulldog chief, then assistant religion editor, then back as a slot editor on the suburban copy desk, he is leaving the paper to finish his degree at Westminster Seminary in Dallas. ... Ben Noey is back on the Star-Telegram photo desk downtown after a year-long battle with cancer. He will work a limited schedule until he fully regains his strength.
Kudos & Contracts: Just Right Boots has hired Witherspoon Advertising and Public Relations to promote its online retail store for custom-embroidered logo boots. Witherspoon's marketing services will include PR, logo design and advertising. Just Right Boots is a direct boot retailer and uses a new technology that prevents boot leather from becoming pinched during the embroidery process. ... For the fourth consecutive year, the Associated Press Sports Editors named the Star-Telegram one of the top 10 daily sports sections in the country in the largest circulation category. A preview of Annika Sorenstam's appearance at the Bank of America Colonial was named best special section.
===================================================
GET A JOB
The UNT Health Science Center at Fort Worth seeks a news and information manager. Required: bachelor's degree in journalism, communications, PR or related field, plus at least five years experience with duties equivalent to the position; success in implementing media relations and publications programs that meet budgets, deadlines and communication goals; knowledge of traditional news values, public relations, advertising concepts, photography, AP style and graphic design. Experience in health care or higher education preferred. UNTHSC also has an opening for an associate director of development and alumni relations. Candidates should have a bachelor's degree; 3-5 years in related work areas, particularly fund-raising and donor/alumni relations; strong budget, program, event and volunteer management skills; proficiency in computer word processing, Internet usage and database management; and familiarity with an institution of higher education and/or the mission areas of public health, health care/medicine science, and community service. Plan to work after hours, with some travel expected. For both positions, contact Janet Zipperlen, (817) 735-5035. ...
A management company with several businesses in the manufacturing and building products industries is looking for a PR pro with experience in investor relations. Pay $55,000-$60,000, with an engineering/construction/manufacturing background preferred. This is not a technology or telecommunications company. Additional skill requirements: media savviness, plus the ability to write and to translate complicated financial concepts for the layman. Experience with an IPO or a public company is a must. Send a résumé and salary history to antje@paladinstaff.com.
===================================================
NEW MEMBERS
PRSA ... Kathleen Curtis, development officer, Masonic Home and School of Texas
SPJ ... UTA Shorthorn writer and Star-Telegram intern Caren Penland
===================================================
READING MATTERS
Reuters correspondents / Prentice Hall
To the many articles and books about journalists' experiences covering the Iraq war, add this wide-ranging collection. The stories offer a firsthand look "not just from the U.S. and British perspectives on the battlefield, but also from the hospital and the streets of Baghdad and throughout the rest of the country," Stephen Jukes, the former Reuters global head of news, writes in the foreword. Jukes observes that U.S. television showed "few images of dead Iraqis," but this book helps to fill this, and many other, gaps. Mike Collet-White describes the Kurds' celebration of Saddam's downfall, followed by their vengeful killing of Arabs. Caroline Drees writes of being in a great Arab city, Cairo, during the war: "When American soldiers briefly draped the Stars and Stripes over (Saddam's statue), it left a bad taste in the Arab world that overpowered any joy at the removal of a tyrant. One Arab TV commentator said, 'Everything that happens from now on will have an American smell.' " Reuters deployed more than 70 staffers inside Iraq during the war, but less than half were embedded with American or British forces. Fifteen of the correspondents tell their stories here, providing fresh insights of the war's toll on civilians -- and on the journalists themselves.
