Identity Theft

Identity theft occurs when someone appropriates your personal information without your knowledge to commit fraud or theft.

In a typical identity theft, someone gets your name, address, social insurance number and credit card or other information, and uses them to run up debts, pretending they're actually you. In other cases, soemone may send e-mail in your name, sign a web site visitor book, or sign you up for (or remove your name from) some service.

In the case where debt is made in your name, companies who made the loans often assume that you are the one who actually incurred the debt, and are trying to avoid payment. They can be very aggressive in their collection tactics. In other cases, there can be serious professional or social embarresment or even threats of civil litigation.

In less severe cases, someone might steal your NSID password with a convincing email and use your account to send out spam, or fraudulant emails in your name (Note: Never give out your username and password to anyone).

How Does This Happen?

Anyone who has access to the basic info needed to apply for credit, or even telephone or cell phone service, could potentially use that info to steal your identity. On the Internet, even less is needed. E-mail addresses especially are very easy to forge and in general unconfirmed e-mail should not be considered a trusted source of communication.

The most common methodsto gain personal information are non-technical. Lost (or stolen) wallets and purses are a good start for the information needed to gain new credit and are often targets for this reason. Some thieves will even return your wallet quickly so you will not cancel critical identification.

Online scams such as tricking children in chat rooms to provide information are also not uncommon -- be sure to instruct children about the danger in exposing family information to strangers. A typical 'chat room' example is to trick a child into giving out a credit card number with some statement like "I can tell you are a just young child" -- and when the child indignatly types -- "no -- I'm a teenager" -- suggesting they prove it -- by entering a credit card number (you must have a credit card if you're a grown up -- right? Forgot your card? You can find the number on the bill if you don't have your card with you -- go get it -- we will wait ....)

How To Reduce Your Exposure.

Only carry the info with you that you need for day-to-day dealings. For example, don't carry that gold card to do your grocery shopping. Do not carry a passport or birth certificate unless you need this identification.

Keep an eye on your mail. Don't wait till the end of the day to pick it up. Better yet, get a mailbox that's harder for thieves to get into. And never allow your mail to build up while you're out of town. Stolen mail is one of the easiest ways to get personal information about some one.

Know your payment cycles on your credit cards. If the bill is late, call and ask why. It's not unusual for identity thieves to request a change of address for your credit card billing and run hefty charges up before you notice that you're not getting your monthly statements. Of course, if someone gets a new card in your name, you may not get a bill -- especially if they have 'arranged' a new address.

Be sure that you only pass out information to people who have legitimate reasons to ask for it. Before you give out that information, know why they need it, and only give them what they actually need to complete the transaction. Information such as date of birth or Mother's maiden name is often used to verify identity. Use a shredder or soem other method to insure to destroy credit card bills and purchase receipts when no longer needed.

Never give personal info to strangers. A good example of this is a recent email spam with the return address AOLbilling@aol.com. The sender claims that your credit card info with AOL is out of date or lost, and that you need to email them details to avoid service interruptions. Note that this con could be applied to a variety of other "bills" such as research accounts or routine personal bills. Another typical example is to attempt to get more personal information such as name and address by getting you to reply to spam messages (this is a good way for the spammer to keep address lists up to date as well).

How Can I Know When I've Been Hit?

You need to be able to track your credit history. You should frequently review your own credit hiostory and records to ensure that new cards have not been inssued in your name. You may look at your own credit record by contacting your bank or Credit Union or by directly contacting each credit reporting service. You should also review your detailed statement to see all charges made to every credit card.

You may also be victimized by a person making small purchases on your card number that might not be noticed (for example, a $5.00 fee added to your card to view pornography on the Internet may not be obvious right away -- 'merchants' in this area seldom use "pornographic" company names). Such purchases do not require the actual card, just the card number and expiration date -- so be carefull in handling receipts such as gas bills etc. that may carry this information. (A typical method of gaining card information is to look in your vehicle glove box for old gas receipts. If you throw the credit card receipt into the trash, you are sending an invitation to "dumpster-divers" to use your card for their purchases!)