Identity Theft: It Can Happen to You.

Who steals my purse steals trash;

‘Tis something, nothing;

T'was mine ‘tis his

and has been slave to thousands

But he that filches from me my good name

Robs me of that which not enriches him,

And makes me poor indeed.

-Othello, III, iii, 157-61 (Iago).William Shakespeare.

Identity Theft: It Can Happen To You

Edwin T. Scott Jr.

It can happen to anyone. It can happen to you. It happens when a criminal or unscrupulous person gets enough of your personal information to successfully impersonate you over the phone, online, or in person. Identity theft is one of the fastest growing criminal activities in the United States. It is estimated that approximately 10 million people per year fall victim to identity theft.

The first half of this decade saw a growth of nearly 40% per year in reported cases of identity theft. The last half has seen some decrease in cases reported, thanks mainly to the increasing wealth of resources and information available to the consumer. So, why has Identity theft been so expansive? It is because it is:

1. a relatively low-risk crime,

2. with a potentially very high payoff,

3. that can be relatively easy to pull off,

4. while enforcement is uneven at best, despite

5. the potentially devastating impact on the victim.

While anyone can be a target of this heinous crime, there are ways to reduce the likelihood of becoming a victim, with the right information.

How they get your ID.

There are low tech and high tech methods of stealing your information. Some of these include social engineering, stolen mail, dumpster diving, shoulder surfing, and electronic methods. Conventional means of identity theft can take months, sometimes years to detect, and take just as long to clear up. Electronic media offers a way to reduce those times substantially.

While many people are hesitant to utilize electronic media to conduct their personal business, for fear of identity theft, experts actually recommend doing so because of the increased number of tools that are available to monitor, detect, and repair damage caused by the identity thief.

Social engineering is a term coined by computer hackers, but it doesn’t always relate to technological methods of identity theft. Social engineering is often described as the “traditional con game.” A criminal or other malicious person poses as someone they are not and tricks you to obtain your confidence. Then when you trust them, they take what they want from you. A social engineer might approach you in a number of ways. Common methods include posing as a sales person or representative from your bank or a credit card company. They require you to “verify” your information.

Stolen or diverted mail is one of the most frequently used methods of gaining your personal information. They intercept your bank statements, bill payments, credit card statements, pre-screened credit offers, and then use the information contained in those sources to obtain credit and merchandise in your name. It is a simple matter for them to put in a change of address notice to the Postal Service and have your mail diverted to their address or a temporary mail drop so they can pick it up. Some criminal even go to the extent of purchasing uniforms and mail bags so they can impersonate your mail carrier and pickup entire neighborhoods worth of information.

Dumpster diving brings to mind images of a bum crawling in a public dumpster for food or something to drink. Identity thieves do the same thing, only they are after your information contained in discarded records of businesses. They can net thousands of customer’s names, addresses, and financial information in a short period this way. Businesses often obtain not only their own customer’s names, but may also obtain lists from credit bureaus of potential customers. They may also comb through your personal trash at home or at a public landfill and raid your information.

“Shoulder surfing” is the act of listening in over your shoulder to capture your information. It is an old technique and very effective. When you are on the phone-booking hotel or rental reservations, making a credit purchase, or using your ATM, the thief can be just a few feet away from you, looking over your shoulder or listening in as your personal information being exchanged, including bank accounts, credit card numbers, and PIN numbers, etc.

A modern version of “Shoulder Surfing” is done with cell phone cameras. Thieves can actually film you enter your PIN number and just watch to get access to your accounts. In another high tech version of “Shoulder Surfing,” professional thieves can “clone” your cell phone, by copying the SIM card in your phone to one in a cheap, pay-as-you-go phone. With the phone cloned, they can pick up and listen, sometimes even record your conversations so that they can obtain your personal information you exchange over the phone.

Similarly, credit card cloning is one of the most common forms of identity theft. In the majority of these cases, the credit card is not stolen but rather, an identical copy is manufactured by the thief. Usually these thieves are only caught when the victim realizes that there are purchases on their credit card statement that they did not make. The thief may obtain the information from you card by swiping it through an electronic card reader when pay with your card or they may have their reader secretly attached to your ATM, “skimming” the information.

How they use your ID

In about half of all identity theft cases, the victim usually knows the thief. This not only includes friends, family members, relatives, neighbors, and in-home employees, but this can include acquaintances, co-workers, and employees. The most common type of identity theft is parent/child or child/parent theft. In these cases, they may apply for and obtain government benefits or commercial loans in the other’s name because they are unable to get them under their name.

The next most common use of stolen identity is when the thief uses it to avoid prosecution. This can be as simple as a person giving a fraudulent name to the Police when stopped for a traffic violation to avoid being arrested. Usually the thief makes up a name, date of birth or Social Security number and at least one of which often matches a person who legitimately possess the information. Sometimes, thieves may be acting in a larger criminal enterprise, and using the stolen identity to mask who they are, should their scheme be revealed.

Some common uses of stolen identity by thieves:

1. They call the victim’s credit card company and, pretending to be the victim, ask to change the mailing address on the credit card account. The imposter then runs up charges on the account. Because the bills are being sent to the new address, it may take some time before the victim realizes that there’s a problem.

2. They open a new credit card account using the victim’s name, date of birth, or social security number. When they use the credit card and don’t pay the bills, the delinquent account is reported to the victim’s credit report.

3. They establish phone of wireless service in the victim’s name.

4. They open a bank account in the victims name and write bad checks on that account.

5. They file of bankruptcy under the victim’s name to avoid paying debts they’ve incurred, or to avoid prosecution.

6. They counterfeit checks, and drain the victim’s bank account.

7. They buy cars by taking out auto loans in the victim’s name.

8. They steal checks form the victim’s home, office, or mailbox and forge the victim’s signature on the check. Stolen checks do not have to be blank. Perpetrators often remove the ink on the checks by “washing” them with a cleaning solvent, or alter what is already written on the check, e.g., by changing the payee name. A counterfeiter can also make new checks in the victim’s name using a home computer and a printer. Consumers are advised to keep their checks in a secure place and write checks using a pen with thick, dark ink. It is also important to draw lines to fill in gaps in the payee and amount spaces so that the information cannot easily be altered. Consumers are also advised to order checks that have built-in security features that make them tamper-resistant to check washing or counterfeiting.

9. They obtain employment using the victim’s identity.

10. They file false tax returns in the victim’s name.

11. They obtain a driver’s license in the victim’s name. [Either because they are under age and using the fake id to get into clubs or buy beer, or so they can present the fake id if stopped by a police officer to avoid prosecution.]

12. They use the victim’s identity if they are arrested for stopped for a traffic violation. When they subsequently fail to show up in court a warrant is issued in the victim’s name.

Your best Defense against ID Theft.

So how can you guard against Identity Theft? Well here are some steps to take:

1. Guard your Social Security number (SSN) It is the key to credit reporting and banking accounts, and is the prime target of criminals.

2. Any credit report will include your SSN, present and prior employers, and a listing of all account numbers, including those that have been closed. A lender or rental manager needs to retain only your name and credit standing. After applying for anything that requires credit standing. After applying for anything that requires a credit report, request that your SSN be deleted, and the original report returned to you as soon as possible.

3. Shred all old bank and credit card statements and “junk mail” offers before trashing them.

4. Remove your name from the marketing lists of credit reporting bureaus.

5. Add your name to the name deletion lists of Direct Marketing Association’s Mail Preference Service and Telephone Preference Service, which are used by banks and others.

6. Do not carry extra credit cards or identity documents, except when necessary.

7. Photocopy all contents of your wallet, both sides, so that you have the numbers if your wallet or purse is stolen

8. Do not mail bill payments and checks from home, as they can be stolen from your mailbox. Take them to the post office.

9. Do not print your SSN on your checks.

10. Order your Social Security Earnings and Benefits statement regularly to check for fraud.

11. Always examine your credit card statements before paying them.

12. Cancel unused credit card accounts.

13. Never give your card number or personal information over the phone unless you have initiated the call and trust the contact.

14. Subscribe to a credit report monitoring service that will notify you if anyone applies for credit in your name.

Additionally, you should secure your personal information on your computer. Only give out your social security or credit card numbers to businesses that you know are legitimate. Only submit them over secured and encrypted web pages. Utilize firewalls and security software on your computer and your network router. AVG Free is a freeware antivirus package that is recommend by many computer security experts. For a small fee, you can also purchase commercial antivirus software such as Norton or McAfee.

There is third party software that can secure your usernames, passwords, and account information in an encrypted area of your computer. Billeo is a freeware password vaulting software that protects your information in an encrypted vault and automatically enters your information for you when you visit websites. This prevents hackers from obtaining your information with a special virus program called a “key logger,” which essentially creates a log file of every time you touch a key on your computer and sends it to the hacker who can then decipher your information with algorithms.