Identity theft. Those two words can strike fear in the hearts of card holders everywhere. It seems like you can't trust anyone these days. Even friends and co-workers can access your information and open a line of credit in your name. Worse, businesses that drop the ball on their security measures have been breached by hackers to the tune of hundreds of thousands of dollars. Victims of identity theft usually do no wrong, but suffer the consequences anyway.
Here are three of the highest-profile identity theft schemes from the past year.
The Jetsetters
Jocelyn Kirsch and Edward Anderton were young, nice-looking, and had bright futures ahead of them. But they chose to use their powers for evil when they started taking the identities of friends and neighbors to pay for trips to the Eiffel Tower and other exotic locales. These college-aged fraudsters used their ill-gotten funds to finance a $3,000 a month luxury apartment and other high-dollar purchases. They were arrested in December when they went to retrieve a parcel of expensive lingerie that had been ordered in a neighbor's name. Now the two are headed to court to enter guilty pleas. The moral of this story? If you steal identities, you will get caught. If you steal identities from people you see every day, you will get caught fast.
The Hannaford Breach
This incident was a costly lesson in security measures, and why stores should be ever-vigilant. Hackers installed Trojan software and packet sniffers on computers at 300 of Hannaford's locations. Thousand of shoppers were potentially affected by this breach. Hannaford issued a warning to customers who used credit or debit cards in their stores between December of 2007 and March of 2008. Card numbers and expiration dates were stolen, and the total damage from the incident hasn't yet been totaled. What can we learn from Hannaford? Keep your security up to date. If you have to cut costs somewhere, don't sacrifice your customers? safety to do so.
No Rest in the Southwest
Arizona had the dubious distinction of being the very worst place in America for identity theft. The rampant fraud affected almost 300,000 residents last year. The financial damages totaled $147 million. Why did this happen? An investigation has been opened to answer that question. Called ?Identity Theft 911?, this study wants to know why 25% of Arizona residents have fallen prey to identity theft in the past six years. Some possible reasons include lack of government action, the increasing market for methamphetamines, and illegal or fraudulent employment.
In many cases, identity theft victims haven't done anything wrong, except place their trust in people who abuse or neglect it. Do your part to protect your identity by enrolling in a credit monitoring service. Use online banking to keep real-time tabs on purchases made with your accounts. If you notice anything odd, contact your credit card company immediately. Many of them have measures in place to keep identity theft damage to a minimum.
Identity thieves will open credit card accounts in your name, steal from your bank accounts and ruin your credit rating and reputation. Victims of identity theft have been refused loans, turned down for jobs and in some cases arrested for crimes they didn't commit.
HOW IT OCCURS
Identity thieves can gain access to your sensitive personal information in several ways.
They can obtain information from businesses and other institutions, such as schools, by stealing records from their employers, bribing employees to steal it and by hacking into computers.
They can "dumpster dive," that is, rummage through your trash can or the trash of businesses.
They can use a technique known as "skimming" to steal your credit card number when your card is processed at a store.
They can use their employer's access to credit reports to get your confidential information. Or, they may contact credit reporting agencies and pose as an employer or landlord.
They steal wallets and purses, which usually contain driver's licenses, credit and debit cards.
They will steal your mail, looking for bank and credit card statements, tax documents, new checks and offers for pre-approved credit cards.
They steal personal information from your home.
HOW TO PROTECT YOURSELF
The first thing to do is order a copy of your credit report from each of the three major credit bureaus.
Contact:
Equifax www.equifax.com 1-800-685-1111
Experian www.experian.com 1-888-EXPERIAN
Transunion www.transunion.com 1-800-916-8800
If there are no unauthorized activities on your credit reports, there is a good chance that you have not been a victim. Yet. So you must be diligent and cautious about when and how you reveal any information about yourself.
Here are some other steps to take:
Put passwords on your bank accounts, credit cards and phone accounts. It's best not to use information that can be easily obtained such as your birth date, your mother's maiden name, the last four digits of your social security number or your phone number
Make sure that all of your personal information in your home is in a secure place, especially if you have roommates or if you have outside people such as contractors or cleaning service staff work in your home.
Do not give out any information over the phone or on the internet unless you are the one who initiated contact and you know who you are dealing with.
When filling out applications, ask how your personal information will be used and secured, and if it will be shared with others. Ask if you can have the info be kept confidential.
Protect your mail. Don't put outgoing mail in your personal mailbox to be picked up. Instead take it to the post office or drop it in an official mailbox
Buy a shredder. Shred all mail and other pieces of paper that contain personal information before putting it in the garbage. This includes mailing labels on magazines, receipts, insurance forms, doctor's statements, bank statements, checks and credit card statements. If you aren't able to obtain a shredder, thoroughly tear up all of these items.
Only give out your Social Security Number(SSN) when absolutely necessary and keep your Social Security card in a safe place. Ask to use other ways to identify yourself. Often, employers and financial institutions will want your SSN for tax reporting purposes so you will probably have to give it to them.
When you leave home, keep on your person only those credit cards and types of identification that you will need with you.
Stay on top of your billing cycles. If your bills don't arrive on time, contact your credit card companies to see if there has been unauthorized use of your card.
Both Janna Weiss & Danek Kaus are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Janna Weiss has sinced written about articles on various topics from Finances, Free Credit Report Score and Credit Cards. This article is courtesy of CreditorWeb.com, where you can compare offers and apply for. Janna Weiss's top article generates over 27100 views. to your Favourites.
Danek Kaus has sinced written about articles on various topics from Finances, Legal Matters and Recruiter. Danek S. Kaus is the co-author of ?Power Persuasion: Using Hypnotic Influence to Win in Life, Love and Business? (David R. Barron and Danek S. Kaus). To learn more winning ways, visit. Danek Kaus's top article generates over 1600 views. to your Favourites.