NEWS

Identity Theft

nbc24.com

5/1/2008 - What is fraud? Fraud is a crime that involves deception and misrepresentation in order to make money. What is identity theft? Identity theft is when a criminal uses another person's personal information to take on that person's identity. It can extend far beyong misuse of a SS#. What is phishing? Phishing is the act of sending an e-mail to a user falsely claiming to be an established legitimate enterprise in an attempt to scam the user into surrendering private information to be used for identity theft. How crooks deceive: Steal mail from private, curbside mailboxes "Dumpster diving": dig through gardage for cancelled checks, bank statements, preapproved credit cards Lift names and social security numbers from personal documents (driver's license, employee badge, check, etc) Pretend to be government official or legitimate business person in order to gather personal information "Shoulder surf": watch or listen as someone speaks on a phone and punches in or says credit cards numbers Use cell phone camera to photograph someone's credit card at ATM or store counter "Phish": send legitimate looking e-mail directing you to phony website that asks for personal information 'Pharm": taking control of entire domains on web to gather personal information of users "Skim": a merchant secretly copies the magnetic strip on back of your credit card in order to make a counterfeit card Facts and Figures: 10 million incidents of identity theft in 2004 Identity theft cost consumers $5B in 2004 Most identity theft takes places offline, not online Theft of online info accounts for only 11.6% of identity fraud cases Half of all identity thefts are committed by someone the victim knows Average loss for Internet-related identity theft victims: $1,440 Credit card fraud is most common form of identity theft (28% of thefts reported) Best ways to prevent ID theft: Always use USPS mailboxes for outgoing mail or bill payments Put you mail on hold when out of town or have someone you trust pick it up everyday Make sure no one is standing behind you while using the ATM Do not give out your credit card number on the Internet unless it is encrypted on a secure site Examine your credit reports at least once a year Shred all financial and billing statements, as well as all preapproved credit card offers before throwing in trash Cancel all credit cards you have not used in six months Examine bank and credit card statements each month for unfamiliar charges Know when your monthly bills normally arrive. If one is late, call to find out why Be alert if someone calls claiming to be from the bank and asks for personal data to update your "records". This is almost always a scam. Never give out personal info over the phone or Internet unless you have initiated contact with person. Don't exchange personal information for prizes. Treat your Social Security number as confidential information Destroy the hard drive of your computer if you are selling or disposing of it