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Health & Fitness

How to Stay Safe From an Identity Thief

Identity thieves prey on people not paying attention to their own private information. This blog gives you tips on safeguarding your private information.

The Federal Trade Commission estimates that as many as 10 million Americans have  their identities stolen each year. Below are a couple of alarming ID theft situations that have taken place in the last couple of weeks in the US. 

On Friday, Oct. 7, 111 bank tellers, retail workers, waiters and alleged criminals were charged with running a credit-card-stealing organization that stole more than $13 million in less than a year-and-a-half in Queens, NY. The crime rings used electronic skimming devices and reverse skimming devices to steal private information from consumers and then used the private information to produce American Express, MasterCard, Visa and Discover Cards with forged security numbers, logos, and fake ids such as New York drivers' licenses. The ID
theft ring involved 5 NY criminal organizations with links in Asia, Africa, Middle East and Africa.

So how can you best protect your credit or debit card against Identity Theft?  Well first off make it a daily ritual to check your accounts. If you see any questionable transaction on your account immediately call your bank or credit company to dispute the transaction. If someone does get your credit or debit card nformation, what you may see on your statement is a small purchase of a dollar or less.  This is how many thieves check if the account number they stole works.  If it goes through, the thief will then start using that card until the cardholder figures out that their card has been stolen.  It is very important that you act quickly and call your service company to report the fraudulent transaction so they can freeze your account and start an investigation.  Here are some  tips:

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  • Watch your mail. Ensure you receive all your bank and credit statements monthly and make note of what part of the month they normally arrive. Failure to receive these could indicate an address change was made on your behalf from an identity thief.
  • Receiving credit cards that you did not apply for. If you didn’t apply for them, who did? Contact the credit card company immediately.
  • Credit denial for loans, mortgages, credit cards, etc., for no apparent reason.
  • Receiving notices or calls from creditors or debt collectors for goods and services you did not purchase nor receive.
  • When using a credit or debit card at a restaurant or check-out line, always pay attention to what the employee is doing with your card.  If you see them swipe your card in anything but the scanner on the store scanner, that may be a sign that they have a portable scanner.
  • Make sure a company has a real need for your personal information before you give it to them.  Example, does your doctor/dentist really need your social security number?  Less people handling your private information the better!

According to a Minneapolis police report, on the night of July 28, a laptop filled with thousands of patient records was stolen from a contractor who left his laptop in his car outside a downtown bar in Minneapolis. The laptop contained information on 14,000 Fairview patients and 2,800 North Memorial patients.  It was reported that the laptop did not have encryption.

In my last job with one of the biggest financial advisor companies in the world, I
investigated all laptop thefts for the company. In every laptop theft case, the first question I asked the victim was if the laptop was encrypted?  If it was encrypted, I felt a lot better because it would take a pretty high tech hacker to extract the private information from the laptop.

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The majority of thieves who are breaking into cars are not hackers, but are just looking at selling the laptop or pawning it.  But if the laptop was not encrypted, it sent red flags everywhere because the information would be much easier to extract from the laptop making it a computer breach and emergency procedures need to begin immediately. For this consultant to be carrying a laptop in his car and not in the trunk or even cable locked to a fixed object is unacceptable. 

We as consumers must demand that companies who make it mandatory to have our private information, have in place the proper security measures to adequately safeguard our information. If your private information gets into the hands of somebody who has the desire and capabilities of stealing your identity, you could be cleaning up your credit and personal life for years. Here are some ways thieves may use your personal information: 

  • They may call your credit card issuer to change the billing address on your credit card account. The imposter then runs up charges on your account. Because your bills are being sent to a different address, it may be some time before you realize there's a problem.
  • They may open new credit card accounts in your name. When they use the credit cards and don't pay the bills, the delinquent accounts are reported on your credit report.
  • They may establish phone or wireless service in your name.
  • They may open a bank account in your name and write bad checks on that
    account.
  • They may counterfeit checks or credit or debit cards, or authorize electronic
    transfers in your name, and drain your bank account.
  • They may file for bankruptcy under your name to avoid paying debts they've incurred under your name, or to avoid eviction.
  • They may buy a car by taking out an auto loan in your name.
  • They may get identification such as a driver's license issued with their picture, in
    your name.
  • They may get a job or file fraudulent tax returns in your name.
  • They may give your name to the police during an arrest. If they don't show up for their court date, a warrant for arrest is issued in your name.

If you have had personal information stolen from you, taking certain steps quickly
can minimize the potential for identity theft.  Here is how you may want to handle your affairs:

  • Financial  accounts: Close accounts, like credit cards and bank accounts, immediately. When you open new accounts, place passwords on them. Avoid using your mother's maiden name, your birth date, the last four digits of your Social Security number (SSN) or your phone number, or a series of consecutive numbers.
  • Social Security number: Call the toll-free fraud number of any of the three nationwide consumer reporting companies Transunion, Equifax and Experian and place an initial fraud alert on your credit reports. An alert can help stop
    someone from opening new credit accounts in your name.
  • Driver's license/other government-issued identification: Contact the agency that issued the license or other identification document. Follow its procedures to cancel the document and to get a replacement. Ask the agency to flag your file so that no one else can get a license or any other identification document from them in your name.

Once you've taken these precautions, watch for signs that your information is being misused. If your information has been misused or if another crime was committed for example– your purse or wallet was stolen or your house or car was broken into– report it to the police immediately.

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