SECU Credit Union Identity Theft

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SECU Credit UnionIdentity Theft
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Could this happen to you?

• Missing mail/bank statements
• Unauthorized credit card charges
• Collection calls
• Telephone call concerning approved or denied
  credit

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You could be the victim of Identity
Theft.Did you know that 60 of victims
dont know how their identity was stolen?
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What Will They Do??

• Change your address
• Open new credit cards, bank accounts
• Cell phone
• File Bankruptcy
• Buy a Car
• Get a Drivers License
• Get a Job/ file a tax return
• Give your name during arrest

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Then What Happens?

• Job Opportunities
• Loans (education, housing, car)
• Get Arrested!

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How is your identity stolen?

• Mailbox
• Family and Friends
• Co-workers
• Your home
• Credit card offers
• Stolen purse or wallet
• Trash

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How is your identity stolen?

• Sharing personal information
• Info obtained through telephone solicitations
• Phishing- Thieves pretend to be financial
  institutions or companies and send spam or pop-up
  messages to get you to reveal your personal
  information.

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How are you affected?

• Unsuspected bills
• Bad credit
• Monetary losses
• Time and stress

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What you should do if you become a victim

• File police report
• Contact credit union/bank
• Contact credit card companies
• Contact local post office

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What you should do if you become a victim

• Contact Social Security Administration Fraud
  1-800-269-0271 (Open 10-4)
• Contact the major credit bureaus and add either a
  90 day fraud alert to your credit report or an
  extended fraud alert which lasts for 7 years (you
  may need to provide more info)
• File a complaint with the Federal
  TradeCommission (FTC.GOV) 1-877-FTC-HELP

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What happens if the thief is caught?

• Penalties Federal Crime
• Identity Theft Assumption Deterrence Act (1998)
• Imprisonment for up to 25 years, fines
  forfeiture of property
• Identity Theft Penalty Enhancement Act (2004)
• Consecutive sentences for aggravated Identity
  Theft without probation

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How to Protect Your Identity

• Promptly remove mail from mailbox
• Order free credit report annually
• Stop newspapers and mail when on vacation
• Reconcile bank/credit card statements (know your
  billing cycle)

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How to protect your identity

• Do not give out pin numbers
• Stop telemarketers (donotcall.gov)
• Be careful of disclosing personal info over the
  phone, via the Internet, on applications or
  through mail (scams)
• Store items that have account numbers in a secure
  place or shred (Diamond Cut shredders are the
  best.)

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How to be prepared

• DO
• Be aware of scams. Be cautious of any calls
  asking for personal information
• Limit the amount of mail received by using direct
  deposit and online banking
• Do not leave your personal information sitting
  out for others to see
• Use Strong Passwords (1LFHA6c) I love Felix,
  hes a good cat

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FYI

• In cases where the method of identity theft was
  known, 79 of information was obtained offline
  versus only 11 obtained online.
• Derived from Card Services for Credit Unions

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How to be prepared

• DO
• Make copies (of both sides) and keep in a safe
  place
• credit cards
• drivers license
• financial institution's information
• medical cards- sometimes have SSN
• any personal identifications

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How to be prepared

• DO NOT
• Leave receipts at teller/store counters, ATMs,
  gas stations
• Include your SSN or drivers license number on
  checks Have only your initials (instead of
  first name) and last name put on them. (If
  someone takes your checks they will not know how
  you sign your checks but your financial
  institution will know because they have your
  signature card.)

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How to be prepared

• DO NOT

• Place outgoing mail in unsecured boxes
• Carry more credit cards IDs than
• necessary
• Carry your Social Security Card in your
• wallet
• Write your complete credit card or account
• number in the For or Memo line instead
• but the last four numbers

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College Students

• Nationwide survey results conducted by Impulse
  Research on behalf of Chubb Group of Insurance
  Companies found
• 49 of college students receive credit card
  applications on a daily or weekly basis
• 30 of college students throw out these
  solicitations without destroying them

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College Students

• When asked how often they reconcile their credit
  card and checking accounts Nearly 58 of
  students said rarely or never.
• Although federal law prohibits the practice,
  almost half of the respondents (48) said that
  their teachers still publicly post grades using
  social security numbers for identification.

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Seniors

• Nearly 1/3 of all telemarketing fraud victims are
  age 60 or older
• AARP studies show that older telemarketing fraud
  victims dont realize that the voice over the
  phone could belong to someone who is trying to
  steal their money.

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For Everyone

• Red Flags
• A promise that you can win money, make money, or
  borrow money easily
• A demand that you act immediately or else miss
  out on this great opportunity
• A refusal to send you written information before
  you agree to buy or donate
• An attempt to scare you into buying something
• Insistence that you wire money or have a courier
  pick up your payment
• Derived from Fraud.org

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For Everyone

• You must dispute billing errors within 60 days
  after the bill containing the error was mailed to
  you. Complain by certified letter, return receipt
  requested and mail it to the issuers address for
  billing inquiries not the payment address.
• If you have disputed an item on your credit card
  the issuer cant impose finance charges on it so
  only pay the charges not in dispute.

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For Everyone

• Avoid filling out contest entry forms
• Ask companies you do business with not to share
  your information with other marketers.
• Pick up boxed checks, do not have them mailed.
• Derived from Fraud.org

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Helpful Phone Numbers

• Credit Bureau Opt-Out-Line for credit and
  insurance related offers 888-567-8688
  www.optoutprescreen.com
• Experian Opt-Out for non-credit offers
  402-458-5247
• Credit Bureaus
• Equifax 1-800-685-1111 or Fraud 1-888-766-0008
• Experian 1-888-397-3742
• TransUnion 1-800-888-4213
• www.annualcreditreport.com 1-877-322-8228

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More helpful information

• Direct Marketing Association
• Remove your name from telemarketing and mail
  lists of major companies (youll still hear from
  them if you are current customer).
• For telemarketing lists, write to Telephone
  Preference Service, DIRECT MARKETING ASSOCIATION,
  P.O. BOX 282, CARMEL NY 10512 or go to
  http//www.dmaconsumers.org/cgi/offtelephonedave.
  Include your phone number.
• For mail lists, write to MAIL PREFERENCE
  SERVICE, DIRECT MARKETING ASSOCIATION, P.O. BOX
  282, CARMEL NY 10512 http//www.dmaconsumers.org/c
  gi/offmailinglistdave.
• National Fraud Information Center
• Get advice about telemarketing offers and report
  suspected fraud through this hotline operated
  M-F, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., by the National Consumers
  League, 800-876-7060, www.fraud.org.

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Helpful Websites

• www.consumer.gov/sentinel
• www.ftc.gov
• www.fraud.org
• www.privacyrights.org/
• www.oag.state.md.us/Consumer/index.htm (Consumer
  Protection Division in Maryland)

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Thank you! SECU Credit Union SecuMd.org 1-800-879-
7328