Identity Theft

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Identity Theft

• How to avoid becoming a victim

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Outline
1. What is identity theft?
2. How to fight identity theft
3. Discussion and questions
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What is identity theft?

• Identity theft occurs when someone uses your
  personally identifying information, like your
  name, Social Security number, or credit card
  number, without your permission, to commit fraud
  or other crimes 1

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What is identity theft?

• Types include
• Financial Identity Theft
• Criminal Identity Theft
• Identity Cloning
• Medical Identity Theft 1

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What is identity theft?

• How many people here have been victims of
  identity theft?
• How many people here know someone else who has?

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What is identity theft?

• Fastest-growing crime
• The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) estimates that
  9-10 million Americans have their identities
  stolen each year 1
• Estimates of losses are as high as 5 billion for
  individuals and 48 billion for businesses per
  year
• Victims can be denied loans, leases, utilities,
  jobs, and even be accused (and convicted) of
  crimes they didnt commit.

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What is identity theft?

• According to a 2003 survey 1
• Identity theft is a high profit, low risk, low
  penalty crime
• Only 15 of victims find out about theft through
  proactive businesses
• Average time taken by victims to resolve identity
  theft problems is 600 hours
• Most involves credit card fraud

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What is identity theft?

• So how to the thieves do it?
• Fishing through garbage
• Stealing mail
• Cancelled, stolen, or lost checks
• Dishonest employees
• Use encoding equipment
• People posing as loan officers
• Phishing 1
• Randomly picking a SSN for fake ID

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What is identity theft?

• Once a victim, police and financial institutions
  are often not helpful
• While often not liable for fraudulent charges,
  many people still lose money and you may be held
  accountable until you prove your innocence
• Proving innocence can be difficult when you are
  told If you are not the person who opened the
  account, we cant provide that information to
  you.

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How to fight identity theft
DETER
DETECT
DEFEND
FIGHTING IDENTITY THEFT
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How to fight identity theft
DETER

• Shred documents containing personal info
• Protect your Social Security Number
• Dont write it on checks
• Ask if the person requesting it really needs it
• Be as protective of the last four digits as the
  full number 1

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How to fight identity theft
DETER

• Dont give out personal information unless you
  initiated the contact
• If in doubt of authenticity, call known number
• Never click on links in unsolicited e-mails
• Use firewalls, up-to-date anti-spyware and
  anti-virus software

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How to fight identity theft
DETER

• Dont use obvious passwords
• Birth date
• Mothers maiden name
• Last four digits of your social security number
• Dont use the same password for all of your
  online accounts

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How to fight identity theft
DETER

• Keep your personal information in a secure place
• Protect from roommates, people working on your
  house, pet-sitters, etc.
• File-sharing programs such as Kazaa, Napster,
  Limewire open your entire computer to the world.
  Keep tax records and other personal information
  on another computer 1

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How to fight identity theft
DETER

• Be careful with your mail
• Dont leave mail in an unlocked mailbox overnight
  or over the weekend
• Put checks or documents containing personal
  information in secured USPS mailboxes
• Be very careful about Free Wi-Fi
• Turn off file sharing
• Dont do banking or shopping

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How to fight identity theft
DETECT

• Be alert for
• Mail or bills that do not arrive as expected
• Unexpected credit cards or statements
• Denials of credit for no apparent reason
• Calls or letters about purchases you did not make

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How to fight identity theft
DETECT

• Check your credit annually at all three major
  consumer reporting companies
• Equifax
• Experian
• Transition
• Review financial accounts regularly, looking for
  purchases you did not make

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How to fight identity theft
DEFEND

• ACT IMMEDIATELY!
• Place a Fraud Alert on your credit reports and
  review the reports carefully
• Dispute unauthorized charges
• Close accounts
• File a police report and file a complaint with
  the Federal Trade Commission

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Resources

• Fighting Back against Identity Theft (FTC)
• File Sharing and Peer-to-Peer Software Activity
• ID Thief to Stars Tells All
• Identity Theft The Aftermath 2003
• Identity Theft Resource Center
• Info from the United States Postal Service
• Phish Pharming