Tips for avoiding identity theft

Identity theft should be looked at like warning and precaution signs - We see the warning but sometimes we decide to disregard it and keep going. You are not the exception of those rules and you’re at risk like everyone else.

According to the Federal Trade Commission, for the past 15 years, identity theft has been the number one consumer complaint in the United States. Identity theft might have been underestimated a few years ago but it has recently obligated for everyone’s attention with the latest company data breaches and the direct personal impacts of American citizens.

In 2013, Yahoo broke the story of the biggest data breach in history, affecting over 3 billion users- names, dates of birth, email addresses and passwords, and security questions and answers were compromised in that data breach.

There are a number of schemes to gather personal data:

• Phishing: Phishing is when someone is claiming to be somebody they’re not to gain something from someone else, like money, affection and attention, medical records…

“Hello, I am your great uncle from London. I understand we have never met before or you have never heard of me, but I helped raise your parents when they were little. I am struggling financially right now, but since we are family, would you send me $2,000 to the following bank account so that I could visit you and your family? I would love to visit your parents and surprise them.”

If you’ve received something that looks like this in an email, or letter, then delete it right away or don’t send the money, because that is most likely not true.

• Dumpster diving: Is when a thief goes into your dumpster and goes through your trash to find any sensitive documents you’ve thrown away and didn’t shred.

• Shoulder surfing: As you look at sensitive and private accounts on your phone, computer, or you pull out your social security number in a public setting then a thief can walk by and look over your shoulder to look. The thief can take a picture of the information in your hand and take it with them.

• Employees: Employees can take your debit/credit card as you’re purchasing something in their store, and when you’re not looking, they can write down your card number and security code of the card.

• Unsecure websites: There are websites that are set up with a virus that tracks your activity in your computer as you open that unsecure site. Then, as you go through other websites and log in to other accounts, it will record your activity and will be sent to the person that encrypted the virus in your computer.

• Wi-fi hotspot: Be careful with the public wi-fi you connect to. A thief can install a Wi-fi hotspot with a name that will lead you to believe it’s trustworthy, but the thief uses a special software that will eavesdrop on the information that you’re sending out.

• Pickpocketing: Now-a-days this may be considered the “old-fashioned” way of stealing. Pickpocketing is when a thief takes any of your possessions that is on you physically. They tend to commit this type of crime in a crowded place where you would be less likely to notice it.

By 2015, all major U.S credit card issuers switched to the latest chip cards, also known as EMV cards, which stands for Europay, Mastercard, and Visa. Europe was the first to use the EMV chip cards in the 1990’s, and the United States was one of the last countries in the world to enforce it. The U.S was compelled to start using the latest EMV cards after massive data breaches were taking place one after the other.

What is the difference between the EMV chip and magnetic strip cards? When you swipe your bank’s card using the magnetic strip to process your transaction, the information the store will use to transfer the money from your bank to the store is all your personal bank information that was read from the card. Therefore, when there is a data breach, the thief has access to your bank account information that the store withholds. The EMV chip uses the same system, except that it uses a code for every transaction you make without sharing your bank information with the store you made a purchase in. This keeps you safe from data breaches on companies that you’ve done business with.

Once the thief has what he/she needs, they have different purposes and options with what to do, such as:

• Obtain credit or credit cards from banks or retailers

• Steal money from the victim’s existing account

• Rent an apartment

• File bankruptcy

• Apply for loans

• Obtain a job

• Establish account with utilities

• Commit insurance fraud

Tax identity theft has different looks, such as a thief filing a tax return with someone else’s social security number, claiming someone else’s children as dependents, using a deceased taxpayer’s information, and earning wages under someone else’s social security number.

There are warning signs that hint that you are a victim of tax fraud, such as:

• Having a delay in receiving your refund

• You receive an IRS notification that informs you that you have duplicated tax filing

• Unreported income

• You receive a notification from the IRS that your dependents have been duplicated.

If you believe you are a victim of tax fraud contact the IRS ID Theft Protection Specialized Unit at 800-908-4490. The specialists on the line will help you with having your tax return filed, get your refund, and keep your account safe from future identity thieves.

To reduce risk of tax fraud:

• File your taxes early in the season

• Mail your tax return in the post office

• Respond to all the mail from the IRS as soon as possible (Note: the IRS will ONLY contact you through mail. They will not contact you through email, social media, or text)

For further information visit: ftc.gov/taxidtheft

Here are ways to protect yourself and reduce the risk of having your identity stolen:

• Install an anti-virus software on your computer and your smart phone. It’s important to treat your devices with care, especially if you withhold sensitive information in your computer and are logged into websites that a thief would want to get into.

• Take note on your calendar when you’re expecting important mail to come in. Follow up with companies if your bills don’t arrive.

• Be cautious to not click “save password” on public computers or any computer that isn’t yours. Always make sure to log out of your accounts when you are done using a computer or device that is not yours. Also, be careful on where you open websites that you are typing in information that someone could steal. A thief could be looking at the computer screen and take note or a picture of your activity.

• Cross-shred sensitive documents- this makes it almost impossible for a thief to put it back together.

• Review your credit report three times a year.

• Do not give out your social security number when you’re applying for a job. You don’t owe them that information until you receive the job.

• Do not carry your social security, passport, or birth certificate around with you unless you will be using it. If you will not be using those documents, then place them in a safe at home.

• Limit the cards you carry and don’t give the thief a bigger opportunity to take from you.

• Create strong passwords. Don’t make your PIN number “1234”, “1111”, “2222”. This applies to your other passwords.

Reporting your loss needs to be done in a timely manner. If you report your loss or theft of your debit card before there are unauthorized transactions, then you’re not liable for anything. Although, if you report the loss after there were unauthorized transactions, then your liability depends on how quickly you report it. Looking at the table below will explain how much you’re liable depending on how quickly you report.

A key tool to use to check if your identity is stolen is by looking over your credit report. Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, it requires credit reporting agencies to provide you with any information in your credit file, upon your request, once a year.

There are three credit bureaus that you can pull your credit report: Equifax, Experian, and Transunion. You can check these credit reports at annualcreditreport.com for free. It’s recommended that you distribute the times you check your report from one of the credit bureaus every four months, that way you keep tabs on your accounts and don’t have to pay.

It’s important to stay away from SPAM emails and unwanted phone calls, so here are some resources to get rid of those unwanted contacts:

• For unwanted emails go to: optoutprescreen.com

• For unwanted phone calls go to: donotcall.gov

If it’s too late, and your identity has been stolen, here are steps to correct it:

• Place an initial fraud alert on one of your credit reports. Then, the credit bureau you contacted must notify the other companies of your alert.

• Freeze your credit report. This way the thief can’t open any new accounts while you’re trying to resolve the issue.

• Pull out your credit reports to be able to notify the police, the debt collectors, and businesses which accounts were not opened by you.

• Create an identity theft report that will help you deal with the credit reporting companies, debt collectors, and businesses of the opened accounts in your name.

• Submit a complaint to the Federal Trade Commission

• File a police report

• Attach both these files and it this will be your identity theft report.