An event being held in Atlantic this (Tuesday) evening is designed to help you keep your private information, private. The event is being sponsored by the Nishna Valley Credit Union for its members and the general public, at no charge. Jeff Nelson, with the NVCU, says the guest speaker is a nationally certified identity theft management specialist, and a consultant to more than 200 companies in terms of employee security. Nelson says identity theft doesn’t just affect those who are online much of the time, or to those who own credit cards. It can happen in many different ways. He says 46% of identity theft comes back to your driver’s license. Once a thief gets a hold of that information, they have access to many additional forms of information. 

Identity theft can also come in the form of fraudulent tax returns. Nelson says he’s heard unconfirmed reports of a tax return scam that affected a couple of different individuals. The incidents reportedly involved someone filing a bogus tax return before the taxpayer filed their real tax return, and the refund was sent to the scammer. The result is much time and money will be spent clearing up the matter with the Feds. 

The program being held in Atlantic this evening is the only one of its kind in the nation, which has licensed investigators, who handle incidents of identity theft for you, and work to with authorities and creditors to clear your name, if you are the target of the crime. Tonight’s seminar will include stories about identity theft from the victims’ perspective, and representatives with the Atlantic Police Department, who will speak about local incidents of identity theft, including a computer hacking incident which occurred last year at the Nishna Valley Family YMCA, and how that affected some local residents’ financial transactions. Nelson said identity theft doesn’t just affect adults. It can affect children as well, when they apply for their first jobs or through other means. Tonight’s meeting takes place at the Atlantic 4-H/Community Center, beginning at 6:30-p.m. Refreshments will be provided.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – Iowa officials have launched a public education campaign to warn teenagers and their parents about the growing problem of synthetic drugs.

Examples of synthetic drugs

Officials representing law enforcement, public health and drug control policy unveiled the campaign on Monday in Des Moines. The Speak Out Against Synthetic Drugs campaign will provide public-service messages that could help adults talk to children about synthetic drugs and the dangers they pose. On Monday the state Senate passed a bill aimed at making it tough for manufacturers of the illegal, synthetic drugs to alter ingredients to get around Iowa laws. Last year the Legislature passed a law making several chemicals used to make synthetic marijuana and “bath salts” illegal, but manufacturers keep altering the recipes with different chemicals to stay ahead of state bans.