Identity Theft and How to Avoid It
What is "identity theft"?
"Identity theft" or ID theft is the common name given to the practice
of
pretending to be someone else without their consent, usually for
illegal
purposes. The practice can range from unauthorized use of
someone's
credit card to completely assuming their identity, buying goods or
obtaining
credit in their name, and even giving the victim's name when
arrested.
In spite of the fact that the Identity Theft & Assumption
Deterrence
Act of 1998 makes ID theft a federal crime, recent studies indicate
that
millions of people are victimized every year with damage in the
billions
of dollars. Businesses suffer the greatest losses, but consumers
also lose countless dollars and hours trying to clear up the mess.
Note to businesses: the Texas Identity Theft Enforcement &
Protection Act (2005) includes punishment for actions that expose
others to risk. For example, employees at a Radio Shack
store near Corpus Christi got in trouble for dumping sensitive customer
records in the trash in April 2007.
What you can do to avoid trouble:
- never give out your social security number, birthday, mother's
maiden
name,
account numbers, or other private information to anyone who calls or
e-mails you.
Legitimate businesses already know that information if you are a
customer.
If you are not a customer but want to be, you should contact the
company. E-mail scams asking for your personal information
are very common and are called "phishing."
They look like a
legitimate
message from your bank, but they aren't!
- new threat: "pharming."
This term refers to one of several techniques to re-direct your attempt
to log in to a legitimate site (particularly a bank or other financial
institution) to a fake site that looks like the real thing but
isn't! If you fall for the scam, your account, password, and
possibly other information will be harvested and used to log into the real site under your
name--and steal your money! Most commonly, these occur when your
computer is infected with a virus that modifies your browser favorites
to direct you to the fake site. See the web page Tips for Avoiding Computer Viruses for the
best prevention. There have also been cases of DNS (domain name
system) servers being infected, resulting in re-direction of everyone
whose browser accesses that server (even though their computers are not
infected). Tip: if
you aren't 100% sure whether the site you are entering is actually your
financial institution, type in an incorrect account and
password. If you are at a real site, it will tell you that your
information is incorrect. If you are at a fake site, it will let
you in (since it doesn't actually know your account and password).
- avoid giving out the above personal information under any
circumstances,
although some will obviously be required to establish credit cards,
bank
accounts, etc.
- avoid carrying your social security card or anything that has the
number
on it with you. Unfortunately, some businesses and government
agencies
use the SSNO for your account number, so this can be hard to do.
More responsible organizations are shifting to non-SSNO ID numbers.
- never pay credit card bills without closely checking the
charges.
A common technique is to charge a small amount that is easy to go
unnoticed.
- when you receive your annual Social Security statement, make sure
that
all the wages reported are for jobs you know about!
- if you are denied credit, obtain a copy of the applicable credit
report ASAP (see below).
The report must be provided free if you have been denied credit.
- even if you are not denied credit, obtain a copy of your credit
reports occasionally (more often is better, of course).
- don't let mail sit in your mailbox, and consider getting a post
office
box or other locked mailbox. Some identities are stolen by
opening
and checking mail.
- sign up for the federal Do
Not Call
list at http://www.donotcall.gov
and/or the equivalent state list for your state. The Texas
signup is at http://www.texasnocall.com/
. Logic: if you get fewer calls, you are less likely to
fall for a scam. And, if you do get a call while you are on the
no call list, you know right away that it is suspicious.
- have the Direct Marketing
Association
remove you from its mailing lists.
- have the national credit reporting agencies block your account
from providing information for pre-approved credit offers. You
will still be able to get credit, but you will (eventually) stop
receiving unsolicited offers for credit, which could be stolen from
your mailbox. You can notify all of the agencies by
filling in a form at one
web site: https://www.optoutprescreen.com/
- keep at least two credit cards but use only one of them
routinely.
That way, if an ID thief maxes out your card, you have something else
you
can use while you get the mess straightened out.
- use credit cards, not debit cards, for most or all of
your
transactions.
Two reasons: (1) if there is a dispute over the transaction, it
is
much easier to get your money back from a credit card transaction; and
(2) if an ID thief steals your debit card, your checking account can be
wiped out, thereby making all your checks bounce!
- be careful what information you post on Facebook and similar web
sites, blogs, etc., and be careful in responding to people who contact
you via those sites. There are predators who use these sites to
find victims for identity theft and other (sometimes more serious)
crimes.
If you are a victim:
If you find an unauthorized charge or otherwise suspect ID theft,
contact
the affected financial institution(s) immediately. It's also a
good
idea to contact the three big credit
reporting
agencies
and let them know you have been a target (see
below). Update: the Fair and Accurate Credit
Transactions Act (FACTA) of 2003 allows you to contact any one
of the agencies, which must then contact the others for you. The
act
also allows a 90-day alert or a seven-year alert to be put on your
records. If there is an alert on your records, financial
institutions
granting credit in your name must take reasonable steps to ensure that
the credit is actually going to you and not to an imposter. And,
there is a procedure to get a FREE credit report once a year so you can
make sure that no unauthorized accounts have been opened in your name (see
below).
Important places to contact:
Credit reporting agencies. If you are denied
credit, the agency providing the credit report must give you a copy for
free. Otherwise you may have to pay a small fee. However,
the FACTA requires all credit reporting agencies to
provide a free report once a year. You can place a "fraud alert"
on your record if you suspect
your identity has been compromised, thereby requiring anyone granting
credit in your name to first contact you personally. The agencies
are:
Consumers Union's Guide to State Security Freeze Laws: www.consumersunion.org/securityfreeze.htm
This
site has details on state laws allowing consumers to have a "freeze"
put on credit records, which prevent identity thieves from opening
accounts in the consumer's name.
Federal Trade Commission ID Theft hotline: 877-438-4338 or www.consumer.gov/idtheft
Identity Theft Resource Center: www.idtheftcenter.org
Note: our server is Unix-based, so all url's are case
sensitive.
Send comments and corrections concerning this page to:
wfisher@sfasu.edu
Last updated January 16, 2008