What Can You Do to Prevent Identity Theft?

Are you familiar with the expression “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure”? This is absolutely true in regards to protecting your identity from being stolen rather than dealing with the trauma and cost of being a victim.

It must be stated here that there are no guarantees that the steps you take will prevent your identity from being stolen. Personal information is available from sources (including government, employment and other business records) that we are not in a position to personally protect.

Taking steps to limit the use of our personal information makes it more difficult to become a target. Proper disposal of personal records and other common sense steps will also thwart any opportunistic thieves.

Here are some steps that every individual should incorporate into the management of their personal information. What you choose to implement will depend on how much time or energy you want to use in protecting your information. Making conscious decisions as to how or when our personal information is shared will give us more control and should become a lifelong habit.

Monitor Your Credit Reports

If you are entitled to one free credit report each year you can request a report every four months by requesting one from each of the three credit agencies in turn. It is wise to check your credit report at least once every year even if you must pay to receive it. If you suspect your identity has been stolen or have received notice of information that has been stolen you may be able to get free reports throughout the first year of the incident.

Don’t Carry Your SSN in Your Wallet

Social Security Numbers, birth certificates, passports or any other personal identification should not be carried in your wallet. The same goes for extra credit cards and store or gas credit cards. The less you carry the less risk if your wallet is stolen or lost.

Stop Pre-Approved Credit Offers

You can stop the mailing of pre-approved credit offers by calling toll-free
888-5OPTOUT (888-567-8688). Ask to have your name removed from the list as pre-approved credit offers can be easily abused by thieves.

Shred Personal Documents

If you do throw away pre-approved credit offers or other personal information (such as old tax forms, bank statements or expired credit cards) you must shred the information before disposing it.

Pick Up the Mail EVERY Day

Don’t allow mail to sit overnight in the mail box or you give thieves an easy target. Credit card offers, bank statements and possibly information with your SSN can be used to open new credit in your name or steal from you.

Don’t Respond to Email Requests

If you are contacted by a bank or service provider through email you must never submit any personal or financial information to them. These attempts to ‘trick’ you into believing they are a legitimate business is called phishing. If an email claims that you must validate your information and provides you a link to the form DO NOT OPEN THE LINK! If you are concerned that the request may be legitimate close the email and enter the URL to the actual business in your browser window. If your account looks fine contact their customer service department to verify the email. A fraudulent email is called a ‘spoof’ and the company will likely want you to forward it to them.

Don’t Give Information to Phone Callers

Unless you initiate a call to a business you should never give personal or financial information to a caller over the phone. Your bank or Credit Card company will not ask for your card or account number if they call you. They have that information on file.

If a caller portrays themselves to be representing a charity or offering a prize or trip you can ask for a phone number to call back. Verify the phone number and hang up. If they are with a reputable organization you will be able to check the number and call back.

Telemarketing scams that ask for credit card deposits, account information or personal information such as your mother’s maiden name, your SSN or other information are common. If you wish to donate it is better to call the organization yourself.

Put Passwords on Your Credit Cards

Credit card companies like Visa offer added protection by allowing you to create a password along with the card number when making a purchase. Even if your card is stolen you can prevent thieves from using it by having it password protected.

Be Aware of Who Has Access

Don’t give passwords to credit cards or other personal information to friends and family. According to a survey done by www.idtheftcener.org the victim respondents indicated that 43% of them thought they knew the imposter. About 34% were aware that the thief had a history of needing money to support a drug, drinking, gambling or shopping addiction.

Online Shopping

Only shop at merchants you are familiar with or contact the Better Business Bureau. Look for secure shopping sites with identifying marks such as https appearing in the browser window or a lock icon appearing below the webpage on your browser.

Never give PIN numbers or passwords to the merchant. Verify your bank statements immediately online or over the phone to check the transaction was made for the proper amount and no other charges were made. Be sure to have anti-virus and anti-spyware programs running and always print out the transaction record, log out and close the browser when completed.

Always Ask or Opt-Out

Whenever you are asked for personal information you have a right to know why it is needed and how it will be used. Online you may find that information in a Privacy Policy (read about that in the chapter ‘How to Read a Privacy Policy’).

Limit the use of your personal information by requesting financial institutions not to share your information with affiliates. This is called ‘opting-out’ and the financial institution must allow you to do so. Once you have requested to opt-out, either on the phone or in writing, they must never share your information unless you specifically request they do so.

Sign Your Cards Immediately

When you do receive a new credit or debit card sign it immediately and never carry it unsigned.

Don’t Save Passwords

Don’t save passwords to personal information (such as online banking) in a program that ‘remembers’ your information. Remove cookies from your computer and have your hard drive professionally ‘wiped’ before disposing it.

Use strong passwords – that means a combination of letters and numbers that can’t be easily guessed. Never use information such as your mother’s maiden name or birth date that can be figured out by thieves.

Protect Your Computer

Set your browser security settings to Medium or higher. Install a firewall to prevent unwanted access from hackers and install anti-virus and anti-spyware programs. Never download software when you don’t know where it’s from and never click on pop-ups or spam email.

How to Identify a ‘SPOOF’ Email

Along with the convenience of the internet has come a new wave of predators looking to steal from innocent victims. This often occurs through ‘spoof’ emails.

A ‘spoof’ email is an email that appears to be from a legitimate organization or business – often banks or service providers – but is really a fake email sent from a con artist.

These thieves construct emails that use the logos and styles of the bank or business and attempt to convince the recipient to reply or click on a link to a website and submit personal and financial information that can be used to commit identity fraud.

While these emails are extremely common they can be difficult to identify unless you know what to look for. Here are some signals that an email may be a fraud as well as some general warnings about dealing with ‘spoof’ emails.

Not Using Your Name

Spoof emails will likely not have your name in the message. They may be addressed ‘Dear Customer’, ‘Member’, ‘Friend’ or other ambiguous title. Real emails from institutions or business you have accounts with will use your name or a name you created for your account.

No Account Number

Companies that you have done business with will have account numbers and passwords on file. If you are ever contacted by a business that asks you to verify your account number or password do not respond. Only give information to businesses if you have initiated the contact.

Improper Grammar or Spelling Errors

A surprising amount of these ‘spoofs’ will have grammar or spelling errors. Whether this is because the con artist is not a native English speaker or it was done in a hurry is immaterial. A legitimate business email will not likely have these glaring errors.

Warnings to Close Your Account

Often the ‘spoof’ email takes the form of a warning that your account has been illegally accessed, that you have been a victim of fraud or that your account will be closed unless you respond to the email. They will ask you to click on a link in the email and verify your information. In reality you are giving the information to the thief who will use it to access your real accounts.

Always be suspicious of emails that ask for personal information. Contact the business through their official website and find out how to forward the fraudulent email to them. If you have opened any links or provided personal information you should immediately contact the business about the account and watch for unauthorized activity. Change all passwords or close the accounts and open new ones with different access codes.

‘Phishing’ Emails

‘Spoofs’ are also called ‘phishing’ emails. ‘Phishing’ refers to any email that attempts to get you to share personal or financial information that can be used to commit fraud.

While ‘spoofs’ pretend to be a known business or institution, ‘phishing’ emails also include offers to collect prizes, requests for help, charity donations or false notices that you have won a lottery or a trip. They tell you that to reserve your prize you must give them a credit card number for verification or as a deposit.

Some emails request your help by offering you a portion of a fund that will be deposited into your bank account. These are often sent as requests from rich foreign (particularly Nigerian) nobility or government officials. They are dangerous groups and should never be contacted or replied to.

Similar scams are also done over the telephone and are called ‘pretexting’. Always contact the organization or business directly if you are contacted for charitable donations or account information.