Identity
theft is when someone steals your identity and uses it for personal
gain. Generally someone will use your name and social security number
to open a bank account, take out personal loans, or credit cards.
Identity theft ranges from what we most hear about, which is when
someone steals our credit card information or “credit cars fraud”
to true identity which is when the thief succeeds in obtaining the
right information or “personally identifiable information” to
become “you”. Personally identifiable information is what I call
the type of information that could facilitate a criminal to pose as
you, such as social security number, date and place of birth,
physical address, even your school and university information.
Identity
theft has become a plague in our digital world and there are no signs
of this going away. With the growth of social networking groups such
as Myspace, Facebook, Linkedin and others, if we are not careful a
thief lurking around these sites could obtain valuable information
about you. Identity theft can be a crippling event. It can take
months or even years to fully recover of the effects of it.
According
to the “Federal Trade Commission – 2006 Indentity Theft Survey
Report”, approximately 8.3 million US adults discovered that they
were vitims of some form of ID theft in 2005 (See report at
http://www.ftc.gov/os/2007/11/synovatefinalreportidtheft2006.pdf
).
The
target of identity theft is personal information that will enable the
thief to assume another’s identity. Although identity theft is in
itself a criminal act under both federal and most state laws, the
crime is almost always a stepping stone to other crimes such as
credit card fraud, bank fraud, computer fraud, internet fraud,
mortgage fraud, and other scams designed to enable the criminal to
profit from the original theft.
How
can you prevent the risk of identity theft? Here are a couple of
suggestions:
1.
Watch for shoulder surfers. Be aware of who is around you when you
are entering sensitive information in your computer or ATM machine.
2.
Shred everything that contains personal information before you
discard them.
3.
Destroy digital data before disposing of it. Use software like
ShredXP to make sure that data on hard drives are completely
destroyed.
4.
Don’t carry your social security card with you or write your social
security on your checks. Give it only when it is absolutely
necessary.
5.
Don’t use obvious passwords like your social security number and
date of birth.
6.
Don’t use the same password for everything.
7.
Keep your personal information in a secured place, specially if you
have roommates.
8.
Although it is more secure now, be careful when giving out personal
information on the internet.
9.
Make a point to check your credit report rating with all three
beaurus at least once a year. Any conflicting information should be
questioned immediately.
10.
Use a postal box to receive your bank, credit and mortgage
information. Anything that may contain personal information should be
sent to a P.O. Box. One of the very popular and oldest techniques
used by identity thieves is to search through your mailbox for
information. Also be diligent about reviewing your statements.
11.
When using your credit card in a shop or restaurant, watch as it is
swiped, to ensure the clerk doesn’t try to run it through a
“skimmer” that stores your information. Always take the receipts
with you and don’t throw it into your garbage.
12.
If someone calls you claiming being your “bank” or “credit card
company” never give out any personal information over the phone.
13.
Beware of those file-sharing programs. You might be able to download
a movie or music, but others can also reach inside your computer.
14.
Watch our for those debit cards. A thief who steal a debit card could
wipe out your entire bank account.
15.
Watch out for “phishing” emails. The sending of bogus emails from
a company that appears legitimate in hopes of collecting your
personal information.
It
is one of the goals of this blog to protect our wealth. It is up to
us to take the necessary steps to mitigate the rick of loss due to
identity theft. It is up to us to empower ourselves with knowledge on
how to protect ourselves and what to do if we suspect of being
victims of this crime.
Here
are a couple of link you may find helpful:
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