IdentitySweep.com Offers Identity Theft Protection for 40 Million Victims of T.J. Maxx Security Breach

ARLINGTON, VA -- (MARKET WIRE) -- January 31, 2007 -- MyPublicInfo, Inc., the leading provider of identity scoring and identity theft monitoring solutions for consumers, is offering its signature IdentitySweep protection service (www.identitysweep.com) for the estimated 40 million victims of the T.J. Maxx data breach. Dating back to 2003 at T.J. Maxx, Marshall's and other TJX stores, this breach has left millions of consumers potentially vulnerable to identity theft. While the full extent of the breach is still uncertain, it is believed that the number of exposed cards could reach or exceed 40 million consumers across the United States and Canada, and as far away as Hong Kong and Sweden, making it the largest breach of consumer card information yet. The exposed debit card and PIN information is particularly hazardous, as debit cards are not protected from liability for fraud charges, and debit card fraud is not detected by credit monitoring.

Numerous banks and credit card issuers are already reporting instances of fraud as a result of the stolen card information, leading to mass cancellations and reissues of credit and debit cards to thousands of customers. An audit of TJX's company computers found that hackers had broken into the system and potentially accessed financial information on credit and debit cards as well as transactions for returned merchandise. Martin Bosworth, MyPublicInfo's Senior Copywriter and a noted expert on identity theft, was among the consumers affected by the TJX breach.

"While credit card fraud is protected to a certain extent, the real problem is going to be the millions of debit cards users, whose debit card number and PIN information are now up for grabs," Bosworth said. "I was personally affected by this breach, but was able to prevent my information from being compromised due to my enrollment in IdentitySweep.com. Incidents such as this prove that identity scoring succeeds where credit monitoring fails."

"Concerned consumers should look to MyPublicInfo's IdentitySweep service. IdentitySweep is the first real-time identity management service specifically designed to combat crimes such as the T.J. Maxx breach. The service empowers users to proactively protect their personal information and avert identity crimes through innovative software tools that 'sweep' the Internet for their personal information. IdentitySweep.com searches databases and chat rooms for Social Security numbers, credit card numbers, and other consumer information that has been hacked, stolen or breached," said Dr. Harold Kraft, founder and CEO of MyPublicInfo.

About MyPublicInfo

MyPublicInfo, Inc. was founded in Arlington, Virginia in 2004 and is the leading provider of consumer identity scoring and identity management services. MyPublicInfo sells the most comprehensive consumer products available through www.IdentitySweep.com and www.MyPublicInfo.com, partner web sites, and other marketing channels. For more information or orders, please go to www.mypublicinfo.com.

Contact Information: Media Contact: Xenia von Wedel and Jennifer Tartaglione Terpin Communications Group 415.595.2030 Email Contact