Identity Theft
HOW TO PROTECT YOURSELF
If you have read my “I Got Mugged In Istanbul” Part 1 and Part 2 you know that Identity Theft is a subject that is near and dear to my heart. Identity Theft is BIG business often occurring from outside the U.S. Unfortunately prosecutions are few and far between. It’s considered a non-violent crime and is very costly to investigate.
Sadly, the perpetrator is often someone you know, a relative, a friend, a child. It’s much easier to get the identity from someone you know than a perfect stranger. Then there are the people whose sole job it is to steal your identity. It can be easily sold for a mere $100-$200 on the black market. Then someone else reeks havoc on your financial life. It can cost you $1000′s to recover from that, if you ever do. This can all happen in a matter of minutes from the time your your identity has been stolen.
Even the most vigilant can become a victim of Identity Theft and once it has happened it can be very difficult to rectify. There are ways you can reduce your risk of becoming a victim. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
WHAT SENSITIVE INFORMATION ARE THIEVES AFTER?
Your Social Security Number – Your’s and your children’s!
Your Date Of Birth
Your Mother’s Maiden Name
Your Mailing Address
Your Driver’s License Number
Your User ID’s and Passwords
Your Bank Account and Credit Card Numbers
Your PIN
HERE ARE SOME EXAMPLES OF IDENTITY THEFT
Opening cell phone accounts in your name.
Opening internet accounts in your name.
Opening utilities (phone, cable, electricity, water, gas) accounts in your name. (This happened to Tiffany)
Opening bank account and credit card accounts in your name.
Applying for home mortgages, auto loans and personal loans in your name.
Getting a driver’s license with your information and their photograph.
Getting traffic tickets in your name. (this happened to Tiffany)
Getting medical services in your name.
Getting a job based on your name and resume.
Filing your tax return before you can and getting your tax refund.
Having your mail forwarded to a new address in order to get your information.
Unauthorized withdrawal of funds from bank accounts. (this happened to us)
Checks printed with your name and bank information and used without authorization.
Hijacking your eBay account, selling items under your name, collecting the money, not shipping the product and not paying seller and listing fees. (this happened to us)
These are just a few of the more common ways you can be victimized.
PROTECT YOUR SENSITIVE INFORMATION
DO NOT carry your Social Security card on your person. The only time I ever carry my Social Security card is when I am filling out paperwork for a job. Otherwise it is locked up at home.
DO NOT carry ALL your credit cards on your person. Only carry what you are going to use.
DO NOT give your Social Security number to people or businesses that don’t need it. I was filling out paperwork the other day for my grandson’s daycare and they asked for my Social Security number and Driver’s License Number. I didn’t fill that in. What do they need that for?
DO NOT throw bank statements, credit card statements, Social Security statements or anything with your name, address or date of birth in the trash. I have a crosscut shredder and I shred everything.
DO NOT mail out bills or anything with sensitive information from your mailbox. This is just ripe for the picking. Checks with checking account numbers are a coveted prize for Identity Thieves. Mail everything from a secure box or at the Post Office. We don’t receive or send out mail from our home box. We have a box at a UPS Store. 1 in 10 identity thefts occur at the mailbox.
DO NOT use a public computer, ie; the library, internet cafe, the shared computer at the office, to log into your bank accounts, credit cards accounts or any other account with personal information. Keystroke loggers are easy to install and can be difficult to detect and will capture all your log in information.
DO NOT leave your check book, credit card and bank statements, wallet, purse or other personal information lying around your home. I had checks stolen from my checkbook by an ex-boyfriend and it wasn’t until all my checks were bouncing that I realized what was going on. If you have contractors or vendors of any kind coming to your home make sure everything is secured.
DO NOT give out your personal information to anyone who calls you on the phone.
DO NOT order checks from a magazine or the internet. Only order checks from your bank.
DO NOT use the same password for everything. Do not use the same User ID and Password that you use for your email or myspace for your bank accounts. Keep your passwords “strong” by using upper and lowercase letters and numbers and change them often.
DO NOT make a list of User ID’s and Passwords and then print them or save them on an unsecure system.
DO NOT sign into any accounts using a link from an email. If you get an email that looks like it’s from PayPal, eBay or your bank telling you to sign into your account for some reason from a link in the email. DON’T DO IT!!! Go to their website and sign in there. This is called “Phishing” and this is a very common way Thieves get your information.
DO NOT ever send personal information via email.
DO NOT use an unencrypted wireless network in your home. Identity Thieves just drive up and down neighborhood streets looking for unencrypted systems. They can then access your entire hard drive. Does your wireless modem have a 26 character encryption key? If you’re not protected, it’s like sleeping with your doors unlocked and wide open!!! Get it!!!!
DO NOT open emails from sources you do not know. Do not open attachments or go to links from unknown emails. A Trojan Horse or viruses can be installed on your system without you ever knowing it. They can then capture everything you type. Including bank websites, user ID”s and passwords. These emails can be made to look very friendly. Using “Hi” “Long Time No See” “Haven’t Heard From You In Awhile” in the subject line.
DO NOT let the waiter or waitress run off with your debit or credit card. In less than a second it can be swiped and all the information on the strip can be captured and easily transferred to a blank card and used. In this day and age it’s difficult, but try to use cash whenever possible.
DO NOT buy from door to door salesmen, not magazines not anything. Sometimes these thieves even use children with sad stories to scam you.
DO NOT get sucked into “You Won The Lottery” or some wealthy foreign business man wants to deposit money into your account, or some exiled Prince or Princess needs help to hide their family fortune in your account. These scams are nailing people left and right. It just doesn’t happen like that!!!!
DO get yourself a lockable firesafe to store important insurance documents, Social Security cards, birth certificates, extra checks, unused credit cards, passports. This not only protects your documents from fire it protects them from theft. Just about everyone is carrying them now. You can get a small model at Lowes or Home Depot from $50 on up. It’s well worth the investment.
DO opt for on-line bank and credit card statements and cancel your paper statements. If your computer system is protected by a good firewall, anti-virus protection and encryption this is very very safe.
DO sign up for your banks on-line bill pay service. This is very convenient and is much safer than sending out checks. Depending on your bank, it may be a free service. Don’t forget to change your password on a regular basis. Again, make sure your computer is protected before doing this.
DO Opt Out of pre-approve credit card applications. Getting these applications by mail is very dangerous and are easily stolen. If you want a new credit card you can go to www.creditcards.com to compare rates, terms and even apply.
I got the following information from the Federal Trade Commission website:
If you decide that you don’t want to receive prescreened offers of credit and insurance, you have two choices: You can opt out of receiving them for five years or opt out of receiving them permanently. Call toll-free 1-888-5-OPTOUT (1-888-567-8688) or visit www.optoutprescreen.com for details. The telephone number and website are operated by the major consumer reporting companies. When you call or visit the website, you’ll be asked to provide certain personal information, including your home telephone number, name, Social Security number, and date of birth. The information you provide is confidential and will be used only to process your request to opt out.
DO get a shredder. A good CROSSCUT shredder from Office Depot or Staples starts at about $100. We found a nice powerful Fellowes crosscut shredder on craigslist.com for $30. So look around.
DO shred ALL bank statements, tax documents, check carbons, credit card statements, insurance paperwork and those damn blank checks credit card companies send you. Anything with one or more of the following: Name, Date of Birth. Address, Social Security Number, account numbers. Keep this in mind, they can get your name and address from one piece of paper, your date of birth from another, your bank account from another and so on. Pretty soon they have everything they need to go on one hell of a shopping spree.
DO get a secure mailbox. If you receive mail at the street in an unlocked mail box you may want to consider a secure box at the Post Office or at a mail center such as a UPS Store. Even locked clusters of boxes at apartment complexes and condos are easily broken into and the thief is getting more bang for their buck!
DO get a copy of yours and your children’s Social Security Statement. Compare the reported wages to your W-2′s. If there is more than what you reported to the IRS, someone is using your SS# to work in this country. If your children are not working then their report should show zero earnings. If this is not the case someone is using their SS# to work in this country. This happens a lot with the illegal immigration problem.
DO get a copy of your credit reports. Find out what’s on them. Correct any discrepancies. You are entitled to one free copy a year from each of the three major credit bureaus. Most people will be able to do it online. Go to www.annualcreditreport.com
DO contact your bank and credit card companies if you loose your wallet or discover you have become a vicitim of identity theft.
DO file a complaint with your local police department and the Federal Trade Commission if you become a victim of Identity Theft. This will make it much easier to fight the creditor’s and get this stuff off your credit report. Do it as soon as you have become aware you have been victimized. DON”T WAIT!
DO contact one of the three major credit bureaus if you even suspect you MAY become a victim. Have a fraud alert placed on your reports. You only need to contact one credit reporting agency. They will contact the other two. This does two things. 1. It helps to keep any new accounts from being opened. If they are opened anyway, it is easier to fight them. 2. It basically places a time stamp on your finances. It is much easier to convince a creditor that this is identity theft and not you.
To place a fraud alert with Experian click here or contact
Experian fraud division
888-397-3742
P.O. Box 1017
Allen, TX 75013
To place a fraud alert with Equifax contact
Equifax fraud division
800-525-6285
P.O. Box 740250
Atlanta, GA 30374
To place a fraud alert with TransUnion contact
TransUnion fraud division
800-680-7289
P.O. Box 6790
Fullerton, CA 92634
DO sign up for on-line credit monitoring if you become a victim. You will know a lot sooner if a new account is opened in your name and can contact the creditor immediately to close the account. Each of the three major credit bureaus has a credit monitoring program. There are many fraudulent credit monitoring and credit repair companies set up just to steal your information. Personally I recommend sticking with one of the “Big Three”.We use Experian Credit Monitoring. It has worked well for us but I’m sure the other two are good too. See the links below:
Experian – FreeCreditReport.com
Equifax This site has a cool feature where you can lock and unlock your credit report yourself.
Although you can do everything above yourself, there are companies such as LifeLock.com that will post fraud alerts, opt you out of pre-approved credit cards applications and request your Social Security Earning Statement. We are signed up with them. I like their $1million insurance policy if someone does steal my identity.
Don’t reply on someone else to take care of your business. Follow-up!!! Being proactive is the most important weapon against Identity Thieves. It’s a war people and knowledge is your only weapon!!!
If you think I have missed something that needs to be added PLEASE email me and let me know. If you have an Identity Theft Story (nightmare) you would like to share please email me.
