Identity Theft

What can you do to prevent it from happening to you?  

By: A. Webster Hewitt – Financial Discovery

 “Regard your good name as the richest jewel you can possibly be possessed of - for credit is like fire; when once you have kindled it you may easily preserve it, but if you once extinguish it, you will find it an arduous task to rekindle it again.”                                                                     Socrates

             Identity theft is a growing problem in the United States costing people and businesses over $60 billion last year.  The most frequently victimized individuals are high income, highly educated families.  The reason is these groups have more financial assets at risk.

   A recent guest on Oprah related how he was a victim of identity theft.  What made his case unusual was that he was the Vice President of Identity Theft of a major financial institution.  The bottom line is that no one can completely protect themselves against identity theft.  However, if you spend a little time understanding the problem and taking steps to protect yourself, you can greatly reduce the likelihood of an occurrence and the potential cost to you as a victim.

             Protect your Personal Information.  A lot of identity theft is a crime of opportunity.  We are not talking about constantly looking over your shoulder.  Just some simple steps that will make your information more difficult to obtain.

 1.      Make your Driver’s License number different than your Social Security number. We cannot stress this enough.  If you lose your wallet, then you have provided a potential criminal with valuable information.  The Department of Motor Vehicle will make this change for you by visiting one of their centers or when you go to renew your drivers license.  

2.      Pre-approved for the shredder.  All of us receive junk mail from financial companies and other service providers who legitimately hold our personal information.  A good example are the checks that credit card companies send you to transfer balances.  Shred them, burn them, pour toxic chemicals on them; just be sure that no one digging through the trash can obtain this kind of information.

3.      Leave your checkbook at home.  This may seem somewhat surprising to most of us.  Today’s high tech criminal can obtain a lot of sensitive information just by acquiring your checkbook.  Checks usually have your account number, address, and often your telephone number.  Many security professionals now recommend that you do not include your telephone number on your checks.

4.      Be cautious when using an ATM Card.  Often thieves develop schemes to obtain peoples Personal Identification Numbers (PIN) and the account numbers to which they are tied. Be aware of your surroundings before you type in your PIN.  Be sure to take your receipt with you.

5.      Monitor your billing cycles.  Who wouldn’t like to stop receiving bills for a couple of months?  However, if you are not receiving your bills, then a thief may have found a way to obtain your credit card number and may have changed your billing address.  Also, you should review your credit card statement every month for purchases you don’t recognize.

6.      Be careful of providing information on the internet.  Kind of obvious here, but you should be very cautious about ANY information you provide to a web site or within an email.  “Phishing” internet scams use legitimate looking web sites that ask you to provide information for what looks like a legitimate purpose.  Do not do it unless you are certain of the legitimacy of the web site.  

What to do?  If you are ever a victim or think you are a victim, then act quickly.  Call the credit card company, bank, or other provider and make them aware of your situation.  Some people believe credit card fraud is not their problem since they are covered for amounts over $50.  This is wrong because an unreported identify theft issue may still adversely affect your credit and credit score.  If you think you are a victim of identity theft, contact at least one of the three major credit-reporting bureaus to obtain a copy of your credit report.   Fortunately, two-thirds of people who recognize that they are victims of identity theft within six months, incur no out-of-pocket expenses.  The most devastating cases are when identity thieves have had a long period of time to use your information. 

 Any good news?  A new amendment to Fair Credit Reporting Act requires each of the nationwide consumer reporting companies to provide you with a free copy of your credit report, at your request, once every 12 months.  For consumers in Georgia , this will be available on June 1.  We recommend that you order reports from all three providers; however you should stagger the ordering of the reports over several months so that you can compare the consistency of the scores, monitor the rating accuracy, and verify the completeness of the reports over time. 

 

Additional Information:  

The web address to order your free credit score is: https://www.annualcreditreport.com/cra/index.jsp  ( Georgia ’s available June 1st)

 Have you registered for the Do Not Call List?  Go to:

http://www.ftc.gov/donotcall/

 Receiving fraudulent and misleading e-mails?  Forward these to:

spam@uce.gov