Identity Theft 101: Keep Your Identity To Yourself

Posted on 19. Oct, 2009 by HarryWells in Identity Theft

ID_theft_deter-detect-defend

Arizona is ranked number one (#1)  in identity theft! Maricopa County 93% of the cases. These figures are as of February of 2007 and include identity theft and forgery. There were 9,113 victims in Arizona in 2006.

Victims report spending 30 hours, on average cleaning up after an identity crime at an average cost of $500. You read it in the newspaper everyday and hear it on the evening news every night. You worry that someone will steal your identity and run up your credit card bill or fleece you out of some of your other assets. There is reason to worry. All the thief needs to steal your identity is your Social Security Number, birth date, and address, any two will do, to commit identity theft.

This crime is relatively easy to commit, but researching and procuring information is time consuming. Armed with the facts, taking some preventive measures you can win the fight against the identity thief.

Identity thieves commit their crime in several ways:

  • They steal credit card payments and other outgoing mail from private, curbside mailboxes.
  • They dig through garbage cans or commercial dumpsters in search for cancelled checks, credit card and bank statements, and pre-approved credit card offers.
  • They hack into computers that contain personal records and steal the data.
  • They file a change of address form in the victim’s name to divert mail and gather personal and financial data.
  • They “skim” your credit card info directly from your credit card at ATM’s or Restaurants (see video below).

Demonstration the credit card skimming equipment crooks (a.k.a. Carders) use to steal your credit card number, how they use your credit card, ATM and debit card numbers and what to look out for in order to protect yourself.

Steps to take to prevent ID theft.

  • Report lost or stolen credit cards immediately.
  • Watch very closely how many times your credit card is swiped. The skimmer must make two passes, once  to make the legitimate charge from your credit card, a second for themselves.
  • Check ATMs for “out of place” skimming devices & always cover your hand while entering in your pin just in case a pin hole camera is in use to see your pin. (see above video)
  • If you applied for a credit card and didn’t receive it when expected, call the financial institution.
  • Sign new credit cards immediately–before someone else does.
  • Memorize your Social Security number and passwords. Don’t use your date of birth as your password and don’t record passwords on papers you carry with you.
  • Never leave transaction receipts at ATM machines, on counters at financial institutions, or at gasoline pumps.
  • Don’t carry your Social Security card or birth certificate–leave them in a secure location.
  • Don’t disclose credit card or other financial account numbers on a Web site unless the site is a secure site.
  • Closely monitor the expiration dates on your credit cards and contact the issuer if you don’t receive a replacement prior to the expiration date.
  • Beware of mail or telephone solicitations that offer prizes or awards–especially if the caller asks you for personal information or financial account numbers. NEVER RESPOND TO THESE OFFERS, HANG UP ON THE PHONE CALLS, GIVE NO INFORMATION.
  • Match your credit card receipts against your monthly bills and check your monthly financial statements for accuracy.
  • Watch for your monthly financial statements and bills. If you don’t get them when expected, contact the sender.
  • Use a GEL PEN when writing checks.
  • FREEZE your CREDIT.
  • Secure your wireless computer network.

What You Should do If You become a Victim:

  1. If the crime involved the U.S. Mail, contact your nearest U.S. Postal Inspection Service Office and report it.
  2. File a Police Report.
  3. Call the fraud units of the three Credit Bureaus and request a “fraud alert” be placed on your credit file. Check your monthly financial statements for accuracy.
  4. Order copies of your credit report from the three Credit Bureaus to check whether any fraudulent accounts were opened without your knowledge or consent.
  5. Contact your banks and creditors, by phone and in writing, and report the crime. You may be advised to close some or all of your accounts. At the least, change your PIN codes and passwords immediately.
  6. Record the names and phone numbers of people with whom you discussed your case and retain all original reports and supporting documents. Keeping accurate and complete records are a big step toward helping you resolve your problem.
  7. Contact your financial institutions and request they flag your accounts. Instruct them to contact you immediately if there is unusual activity on your accounts.
  8. File your complaint online with the Federal Trade Commission, or call their Identity Theft Hotline at 1-877-IDTHEFT. The FTC has counselors to assist identity theft victims with resolving financial and other problems that can result from this crime.
  9. As difficult as it may seem to do the things it the first list outlined it is much easier than the things outlined in the list “What you should to do if you become a victim.”

Check Washing: Protection Against.

Protect yourself Buy a $2 pen! All it takes to clean out your bank account is a signed check swiped from your outgoing mail and the chemical acetone commonly found in nail polish remover, says Frank W. Abagnale Jr., the former check forger and identity thief depicted by Leonardo DiCaprio in the movie Catch Me If You Can.

It works like this: The crook steals outgoing paid bills from your mailbox and places a piece of cellophane tape over the front and back of your signature on the check. Then he or she places the check into a pan of nail polish remover for about 30 minutes-which lifts anything that’s not printer’s ink, except for vour tape-protected signature. The check is then blow-dried and flattened in a book, and the tape is carefully removed. Voila! A blank check, signed by you.

Only one type of ink, the kind in gel pen, is counterfeit-proof to acetone or any other chemical used in “check washing.” “I recommend the uni-ball Gel Impact pen, which sells for about $2 each at any office supply or drug store,” says Abagnale, who now consults law enforcement and corporations on the art of the steal. “I personally sign all my checks and important documents with one.”

Fraud Alert!

Remove Your Personal Information From Marketing Lists and Check Your Credit Report

One of the best and easiest ways to protect yourself from Identity Theft and telemarketing fraud is to remove your name and other information from marketing lists.

Don’t play direct mail sweepstakes or talk to telemarketers as some can be fake, printed to get you to a website to capture personal information- If you do play call the company and make sure they have such a sweepstake.

Sign up for the national DO NOT CALL registry for both your home and cell phones at 1- 888-382-1222 or  www.donotcall.gov.

Tell phone companies and others with whom you do business to put you on their DO NOT CALL lists. This is your right under a federal rule established in 1986.

Contact the credit reporting agencies to opt out of unsolicited credit card offers: 1-888-567-8688 or www.optoutprescreen.com.
(It’s safe to enter your Social Security Number.)

Call the customer service numbers for your credit card(s) and ask to opt out of marketing programs, including convenience checks.

Opt out of e-mail and direct mail by contacting the Direct Marketing Association at, or by writing to:

Mail Preference
Service, P.O. Box 643,
Carmel, NY 10512.
Include any version of your name used in mailings and your complete address with a letter requesting your name be removed.

Make an annual charitable giving plan and donate to just a few charities. Ask that your name not be shared with other organizations.

It is also recommended that you check your credit report regularly. Under federal law, you are entitled to one free credit report from each of the three reporting agencies. To order a free credit report, go to www.annualcreditreport.com.

This www.annualcreditreport.com site was established by the credit reporting agencies and it is safe to enter your social security number. If you don’t use the internet, contact the reporting agencies at:

Annual Credit Report Request Service,
P.O. Box 105281,
Atlanta, GA 30348-5281

or call  1-877-322-8228.

More information can be found via:
the Office of the Attorney General
1275 W. Washington,
Phoenix. AZ 85007
602-1542-3702
www.azag.gov

Protecting Yourself Against ID Theft is NOT Easy But It is Easier than you May Think!

In Summary, There are five (5) things you can do to protect yourself against Identity Theft. If you do these even though you will not be bullet proof you will be much safer than you are today.

  1. Sign up for the national DO NOT CALL registry.
  2. Sign up for OPT OUT of unsolicited Credit Card Offers.
  3. Sign up for OPT OUT of e-mail and direct mail.
  4. Put a FREEZE on your CREDIT REPORT.
  5. MONITOR your CREDIT!

Do the above and you have just become proactive in your fight against the ID Thief. All of the information you need to do these things is provided below. Read, understand and follow these instructions and you will be one step ahead of the thief.

You gained a major tool in your fight against ID Theft on Nov. 1, 2007, when the three major credit-reporting bureaus decided to let all Americans voluntarily freeze or lock access to their credit files. Even though there is a modest fee for the service it is well worth it. Since credit-card companies, other lenders and various businesses won’t open new accounts without checking a person’s credit report or score, a freeze essentially blocks crooks from opening accounts in someone else’s name.

In the past the thief armed with your name, date of birth and Social Security number could open new accounts in your name. NOT NOW if you FREEZE your CREDIT.

If you want to lift your FREEZE temporarily for a mortgage, new insurance policy, or credit account you can do so with a personal identification number supplied by each of the credit bureaus.

The freezes block new-account applications without disrupting existing accounts. Voluntary freezes can be good but they don’t make sense for everyone.

For starters, there are costs involved. Arizonans pay $10 per credit bureau to apply for a freeze and $10 per credit bureau to permanently stop or temporary lift a freeze. Those costs can add up, especially if you regularly freeze and unfreeze your files. This $10 fee is for each person, so for two people the fee would be $20 per credit bureau or $60 to freeze your credit and $60 each time you unfreeze it to obtain credit or shop around for insurance.

Fees are lower, and sometimes free, in many states. People who are ID-theft victims can freeze or unfreeze their accounts at no cost, in Arizona and elsewhere.

Even though you FREEZE your CREDIT you absolutely must continue to shred unneeded personal documents and take other precautions. Even though you are careful not to give out information, and are not one to lose credit cards or ID, you have saved some money, own your home debt free, and therefore you are a prime target of the ID thief.

Seniors make good candidates for a freeze because they often have ample assets to protect, face minimal credit needs, and don’t monitor their credit reports regularly. Laws now allow us to monitor and “FREEZE” our credit, simple enough.

If we do FREEZE and MONITOR our credit there is NO need to pay for one of those services with a monthly fee.

We are often targets of phone, and e-mail scams trying to extract information necessary to steal our ID and as we age we increasingly fall prey to these scams.

Applying for a freeze involves effort. All requests must be in writing and must list your name, address, Social Security number and other personal information, while including that $10 payment. But the three credit bureaus don’t require the exact same information, so it’s critical to read the instructions posted on their Web sites:

•Equifax (www.equifax.com, search for “state security freeze reports and fees”).

•Experian (www.experian.com/consumer/security_freeze.html).

•TransUnion (www.transunion.com, click on “security freezes” on home page).

Send your freeze requests via certified mail to:

Equifax Security Freeze
P.O, Box 105788
Atlanta, GA 30348

Experian Security Freeze
P.O. Box 9554
Allen, TX 75013

TransUnion
Fraud Victim Assistance Department
P.O. Box 6790
Fullerton, CA 92834

How to order a FREE Credit Report: www.annualcreditreport.com.

You can also contact the Central Source to request this FREE annual disclosure by calling toll free (877) FACTACT. This will get all three credit reports.

Be careful, some free credit report services require you to sign up for expensive monthly services, which you can cancel later.
USE THE ONE ABOVE!

Clearly it’s a hassle to freeze and then temporarily open up your credit files. Then again it’s nothing compared to the effort you’ll need to repair a stolen identity.

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