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Identity Theft

What is ID Theft

Identity theft occurs when someone uses your personal identifying information such as your name, social security number, credit card number, or other financial account information without your permission and most of the time without your knowledge, in order to commit fraud or other crimes. Identity theft is serious. Not only is this a nuisance for the victim, it is a costly crime both for consumers and for businesses.

While identity theft occurs using low-tech methods such as dumpster diving, address changes, and old-fashioned stealing the wide-spread use of the Internet has increased ID theft at an alarming rate through the increasing practices of credit card skimming, phishing, smshing, and vishing. The FTC estimates that as many as 9 million Americans have their identities stolen each year. 

Arizona is #1!

According to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), Arizona has had the dubious distinction of being the identity theft capital of the United States for several years.  Out of 100,000 Arizonans, more than 147 will have their identities stolen (the next closest state is Nevada with 120 per 100,000).  As a result, ua.InfoSec especially wants to raise awareness on the risk of identity theft, and what measures can be taken to reduce that risk. 

Preventing Identity Theft

  1. Watch for shoulder surfers. When entering a PIN, credit card number, or password be aware of who is nearby and make sure nobody is peering over your shoulder to see.

  2. Require photo ID verification. Rather than signing the backs of your credit cards, you can write “See Photo ID”.

  3. Shred everything. One of the ways that would-be identity thieves acquire information is through “dumpster-diving”, aka trash-picking. Buy a personal shredder and shred all papers with PII on them before disposing of them.

  4. Destroy Digital Data. When you sell, trade, or dispose of a computer system, hard drive, recordable CD, DVD, or backup tape, you need to take extra steps to ensure the data is completely destroyed. See our Data Cleanup page for information on how.

  5. Be diligent about checking statements. You will be aware if there is something wrong or something doesn’t match up with your records so that you can quickly identify and address any suspicious activity.

  6. Pay your bills at the post office. Never leave your paid bills in your mailbox to be sent out. A thief who raids your mailbox would be able to acquire a slew of critical information in one envelope.

  7. Limit the information on your checks. It may be convenient to have your driver’s license number or social security number imprinted on your personal checks, but if it falls into the wrong hands it reveals too much information.

  8. Analyze your credit report annually. The big three credit reporting agencies (Equifax, Experian and TransUnion) joined forces to provide free credit reports to consumers. Make sure the information on it is accurate and that there aren’t any accounts on there that you aren’t aware of or any other suspicious entries or activity.

  9. Protect your Social Security number. You should never use your SSN as any part of a username or password that you establish and you should never divulge it to telephone solicitors or in response to spam or phishing scam emails.

  10. Online shoppers beware. If you are buying something online you need to know that the company you are doing business with is legitimate and that they take the security of your personal information as seriously as you do. When you do make online purchases, read the companies online privacy policy to ensure you agree with it and make sure you are on a secure or encrypted web site.
    • Use virtual credit cards for iffy online buys. Most major banks, PayPal, and Discover offer a one time, secure, online credit card for those types of purchases.

Stolen Identity

While there are many ways to help prevent your identity from being stolen, the best way to find out is to monitor your accounts and bank statements each month, and check your credit report on a regular basis. If you check your credit report regularly, you may be able to limit the damage caused by identity theft.

If it is already to late for prevention measures and your identity has been stolen, the FTC recommends taking the following steps:
 
Immediate Steps:
  • Place an Initial Fraud Alert - Call one of the three credit reporting companies and ask them to put an initial fraud alert on your credit report. An initial fraud alert can make it harder for an identity thief to open more accounts in your name because your identity must be verified before any company issues credit in your name.
  • Consider a Credit Freeze - A credit freeze means potential creditors cannot get your credit report. That makes it less likely an identity thief can open new accounts in your name. 
  • Order Your Credit Report - Contact each credit reporting agency (Equifax, Experian, TransUnion) and explain that you placed an initial fraud alert or credit freeze. Order your free copy of your credit report and make sure that each company only shows the last 4 digits of your SSN on your report.
If you KNOW your identity has been stolen, you should also:
  • Create an Identity Theft Report - An Identity Theft Report is the FTC Affidavit and a police report. This will allow you to get fraudulent information removed from your credit report, stop a company from collecting debts that result from identity theft or from selling the debt to another company for collection, get information from companies about accounts the identity thief opened or misused, and to place an extended fraud alert on your credit report.

For more information on what to do if you suspect or know that your identity has been stolen or compromised check out the FTC's Taking Charge Guide.

 

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