There’s a doppleganger lurking around. Hiding in the shadows, ready to come out of closet like a bogeyman from a child’s nightmare. Only this particular bogeyman isn’t a figment of a child’s overactive imagination. Intangible, but very real, this monster terrorizes its victims. It does not discriminate based on socioecnomic status. It has many faces, one of which could possibly be yours. Its first name is Identity and its last name is Theft.
As we all know (or should know), identity theft is a widespread problem. According to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), about 9 million Americans experienced identity theft each year. There are plenty of opportunities for this crime to take place:
In the course of a busy day, you may write a check at the grocery store, charge tickets to a ball game, rent a car, mail your tax returns, change service providers for your cell phone, or apply for a credit card. In each transaction, you reveal bits of personal information, like your bank and credit card account numbers; your income; your Social Security number (SSN); or your name, address, and phone numbers – a goldmine of information for an identity thief. Once a thief has that information, it can be used without your knowledge to commit fraud or theft.
These are just a few examples of how thieves can fraudulently use your information:
• Call your credit card issuers and change the billing address, freeing them up to charge thousands of dollars on your account. Since the bills are sent to a different address, you may not realize it’s a problem before it’s potentially too late.
• Obtain telephones and wireless/landline services in your name
• Open and write bad checks under your name
• Become gainfully employed or file false tax returns with your information
• Give your information to the police during an arrest. If they fail to appear for a court date, a warrant is issued under your name.
If the last scenario happens and you wind up in jail, please don’t drop the soap.
Personal information that falls in the wrong hands can do a world of damage, as you’ve read from the above. And I have seen the potential for abuse, first-hand. During the weekdays, I join the thousands of DC folks who commute to work using the Metro. You wouldn’t believe how blatantly people expose their information on the train, of all places. I’ve looked over the shoulders of important business-like types of people reading highly sensitive and classified documents, with “CONFIDENTIAL” stamped all over them. I’ve taken a sneak peek at a woman writing an extremely sappy and graphic love letter to her boyfriend. I’ve seen the account numbers and monetary balance of various savings accounts and credit card bills.
You might be saying, “Hey, Vikki! You have no business looking at other people’s stuff! Where’s your manners? How rude!” Those admonitions would certainly be valid in private settings, but the Metro is considered a public area. Therefore, anything and everything is subjected to inspection. Common sense, not manners, would dictate that personal information should not be displayed out in public. Hopefully, with more education about identity theft, people are becoming diligent about safeguarding their passwords, shredding documents with incriminating information, and just plain not giving information out like hastily scrawled phone numbers on a littered bathroom door in a seedy dive somewhere.
But what if your information is being displayed beyond your control? What if other people are giving away keys to your “home” and inviting them to steal your identity? There was a woman in particular that comes to mind. It was an extremely crowded train during the evening rush hour. This woman, who seemed to be in her 50s, sat on a seat near the center doors, leafing through personal leave requests that were submitted by company employees. Apparently, her job was in Human Resources (HR). Page after page, I saw information such as names, social security numbers, and street addresses pop out like giant sore thumbs. I could even read written reasons for requests, ranging from an ill parent to rehabilitation purposes. She was oblivious to the prying eyes (I wasn’t the only one) of the people surrounding her. It’s akin to a driver on the open road picking out boogers from his/her nose despite being surrounded by other drivers who can clearly see said driver sampling his/her bodily offerings.
What if one of the nosy commuters decided to assign the intimate details into his/her photogenic memory to retrieve later? Or take a discreet snapshot with a camera-equipped cellphone? What if the ill-gotten information was used for nefarious purposes? That situation with the HR lady had “TAKE ME, PLEASE” written all over it. Imagine the shock the poor victims— who had no idea that the HR personnel would be that careless and irresponsible— would receive when they find out that their identity was taken.
The FTC gives some good tips on how you can reduce the chances of having your identity stolen. I recommend adding one more: Don’t do unto others as you wouldn’t do yourself. In other words, don’t display other people’s information in ways that you wouldn’t dare dream to do yourself.
Now I am working on ensuring that a carbon copy of myself doesn’t emerge from the shadows. I wouldn’t want to come into contact with a monster that has a familiar face— my own.
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Another word of advice — if you don’t *need* to keep anything (e.g., old bank statements, etc.), shred them, don’t just throw them out. Recently I finally trashed my phone bills and bank statements from several years ago (all closed accounts), but took care to shred each and every single one of them. I do a lot of online payment services, but I’m lucky that my credit card, checking, and savings accounts are all within the same bank, so it’s a simple transfer within the same site.
I’m also glad that Maryland finally started encrypting credit/debit card numbers on receipts, leaving only the last 4 visible. No more having to get a black permanent marker and black out that information.
Also, when I’m on the phone with my bank, they ask me for the last 4 digits of my social security number. I would never give out the entire number to anyone over the phone — anyone who asks you to do that, be wary immediately! Especially if that occurs during an incoming call (when you’re not the one who initiated the call).
I’ve also gotten emails from an address that looks like my bank (copycat address), but the fact that they show up in a different email account than the one registered with my bank alerts me to the fact that it’s a mirror address and therefore spam. All bank sites should have an “inbox” that you can go into and use that to double-check what you see in your email inbox. If there’s a discrepancy, be warned! The email is probably actually spam.
In short:
1) Never leave anything laying around visibly that has any personal information
2) don’t have your car/house keys on the same key ring as an ID holder that includes your address or other identifying information
3) Never tell anyone your SSN or credit card or bank account numbers unless you’re physically at a bank or have initiated a phone call yourself.
4) If you must keep stuff, black out sensitive information. If you don’t need to keep it, shred it.
Sorry for the length! This is just something that’s so real and could happen to any one of us.
Hi, DC Deafie!
No need to apologize for the length of your comment…it was very helpful! And you’ve hit the nail on the head… it can, and does, happen to any one of us.
My problem is even when you’re so careful with your own information, what about others who have access to your information and do not take the same precautions?
Yes Vikki, I agree with you. Your information can be thrown out not shredded at the Doctor’s office or business offices where you conducted your business such as orders you made for new carpets, furntiures, cars, house, and so on. Most identity theft usually can occur not from your home but from offices who are neglecting to respect your privacy. 2nd concern I have is and learned when I joined something like for example Citibank for a car loan, or utility company (cables, internet provider, phone, cell phones) they all sell your information to their sponsors; which explains why you all of sudden getting all offers from companies you never inquired for.
Most importantly: keep track of your credit report!!!! Equifax, Experian, and Trans Union, they are a good source to find out if your identity has been used or “peeked” because when Ichecked my credit report, I found over 20 companies that I have never called or gave my info looking at my credit report and my personal information? how did they obtain it? from places I used like Tmobile, cable company, and car loans. I had to write letters to the 3 major credit companies that I never inquired or requested a credit check from those companies or people. Everytime a company inquire your credit report and make offers, your credit drops, not only about credit but your information is also being exposed!!!! So keep track of who’s watching your credit. Fortunately my credit is so bad that no one can steal my identity when it comes to credit card fraud, LOL but telephone or making arrest, can be very scary. I didn’t know that! Thanks for the tip!!!
Now everywhere I go or order, I demand that my information is not to be sold to their sponsors and if they are, they will be faced with legal issues. Plus I avoid using internet payments, even though it would save paper but thanks to hackers stealing people’s info when you are making an order paranoids me.
Re: Spam. Everytime I get an eamil from the bank, or whatever, I NEVER link on it directly. I read it, then go direct to my own bookmark, and sign on that way. If there’s nothing on the website, then the email is spam.
just my advice. good example: paypal. I get notices all the time saying I have to confirm transcations. RIGHT.
i go to the site. nothing.
email deleted.
Bye!
Good article there!
Identity Theft is a HUGE problem nowadays and its only just been recently that Congress and FTC as well as several other Fed agencies are sitting up and taking notice of this criminal problem.
I zealously guard my own social security number as well as my credit card numbers along with important numbers. I have seen people put their social security cards in their wallets, which is a huge no-no because crooks can get a hold of the wallet containing that all-important number and use it to open accounts at every institution in the state and country to benefit themselves.
This would cause you a lot–no, HUGE — amounts of trouble and grief in undoing the damage. Last I read a financial security information magazine, I learned that the average cost to reclaim your identity and financial security has been over five grand ($5K and rising). Doesn’t surprise me that there are some niche insurance firms out there hawking identity theft insurance because it is indeed costly and frustrating to have to work with all the banks and authorities to reclaim what is yours and to disavow the charges that really do not belong to you.
The russian mob as well as well as other criminal enterprises in foreign countries are focusing now on getting a hold of credit card numbers that are being used in countries other than our own. I recently came back from the Far East and found that many countries in that area aren’t that security savvy as we are. For example, many of the retail receipts contain COMPLETE credit card numbers INCLUDING the expiration date and the type of credit card used. What’s more, many of the consumers receiving the receipts either wadded it up and threw it into the trash bin or in the street. Now, crooks — knowing that the receipts contain more gold than the items the consumer bought–will more often than not get a hold of the receipt and abuse that number to the max. These countries definitely are going to see a huge rise in financial crimes being committed within the next five years AND they need to take ACTION now to put a clamp on it if they want to put a dent into these criminal enterprises’ plans.
I wish the authorities and banks and other financial institutions would come up with a sure fire way to encrypt everything–and I mean everything–so that way crooks can never use our identity ever again to perpetuate financial crimes against us.
Another suggestion: Do away with the debit card which apparently stores oodles of personal information that is readable and recordable by scanners, etc. And never use them when traveling abroad. Instead, ask your bank for a plain ATM card and stick with your credit cards or cash for purchases.
Agh! This is new to me… always thought paying with debit cards was as secure as writing checks.
Is anything ever secure these days?
my zipper! =)
TMI. :P
chastity belts?
That reminds me of a thief who actually rammed a bank’s brick wall and loaded his pickup truck with the ATM machine but failed to make a clean getaway because his artificial leg fell off while trying to get back into the car.
Shows how desperate crooks are these days and nothing is ever secure no matter whether it be a card or ATM machine secured to a brick and mortar building. *Shrugs*
It happened to my husband recently, we think a waiter or waitress stole his debit card # at a restaurant. It’s the only places that a credit card or a debit card is taken out of your sight and charged for the meal. At the same time, it could be copied down by the waiter. His debit card was charged for $647 at Toys R Us! Luckily, I obsessively check our bank account everyday and noticed the discreprancy and got the money back. We’ll have to file a fraud report soon but it was shocking. You don’t really think it could happen to YOU! So far, the card is closed and issued a new card number. The bank describes it as ’skimming’ where someone makes a copy of your card.
If any possible, use cash for purchases like at restaurants that the cards will be taken out of your sight. The waiters aren’t the one to trust anymore.
That’s why I try to pay cash for things like that. I’ve had friends who whip out their credit cards like it’s no big deal and ask why don’t I use my own. NO thanks. Knowing that I paid 100% in full instead of borrowing is a much nicer feeling. And you’re right about the practice of “skimming”…it’s definitely a problem.
yes paying cash is always best. I use debit where I get to use it myself and press the pins myself where no one is looking I even use my hands to block the pins I press but would that employee try to use it after I did? let’s hope not, that’s why we put trust in the employees of the business we go to. I usually use debit only for gas, food stores, or when I am short on cash when making a purchase.
Check this out…
http://www.consumerist.com/con.....251353.php
Excellent post, Vikki!
If I may, I would like to tie this one in to another well-written post that recently appeared on DeafDC - Catherine McNally’s “Painting a Brighter Future.” When I mentioned my concern about tourists possibly walking out of museums, etc. with these devices, it was suggested that one could leave a credit card or driver’s license, etc. in exchange for using such.
But with this post, Vikki brings up the very concern that struck me with such suggestions. I didn’t want to say anything, but maybe now is the time to do so - when we hand over these ID cards for such purposes, are we setting ourselves up for identity theft? After all, that card is going to be out of our sight for at least an hour if not longer, and God only knows who could possibly have access to it during that time and thus be able to swipe the very information we are talking about so preciously guarding. For example, I don’t know about the DC area, but some states put your Social Security number on your Driver’s License (or at least they used to, I think Indiana has now changed their policies and issue specific DL numbers). And handing my credit card over to a total stranger? Thanks, but no thanks!
How can we get around this situation? I believe someone
(I think it was Catherine herself) suggested the possibility of encoding these devices with some type of security alert that would trigger an alarm. This does seem to be an idea worth investigating, that would serve to protect all parties involved. While I do appreciate the desire of these businesses to safeguard valuable and expensive-to-replace equipment, are we just trading in the opportunity for one type of theft for yet another?
I had a similar experience, except it my info wasn’t stolen in the way you’d think most identity theft cases occur these days. When my son was only 3 months old, 2 men broke into my house while I was home. I had this god-awful ear infection thing going on at the time and couldn’t hear a peep. I was upstairs in my room getting ready to go to the post office to mail a package to my grandmother… My son was fast asleep in his little boppy bouncer that vikki’s son is fast asleep in right now *winks* The baby alarm flashed and I looked over at my son and figured oh he must have just “cooed” in his sleep and paid no attention to it. As soon as I finished getting dressed and ready to leave… I started to notice small things were out of place. The 20.00 bill I had placed on top of the package was gone, my purse was no where to be found… at the time I figured, it was just post pregnancy memory loss… I must have put it somewhere else… I kept telling myself that. Because I couldn’t find my purse I went to my office and went to go take a check out of my checkbook which I used to keep in the drawer of the desk.. that was missing too… Still it didn’t dawn on me… So I went on ahead to the post office, down the street using the “emergency” 20 I always keep in my car just in case…
I was only gone 10 minutes at the most… When I got home, I put my son down on the floor in his little infant carrier, and noticed grass all over the kitchen floor. Thinking… what in the world? I just mopped earlier that morning??? I decided to follow the trail of grass and found the laundry room door going into the workshop wide open and the door from the workshop leading to the back of the house wide open as well. I turned around and ran back into the kitchen and grabbed my son…. during a series of events after that moment I heard a young male voice scream ” come on lets go!” and the sound of two heavy men running and doors opening in the basement. Apparently these men were still in my house while I was gone. The police arrived and searched the house, and dusted like heck for fingerprints which didnt do much good since we run a construction company out of here…. we’ve got people coming and going all day long.
One of the officers got a call from Howard County Police, which was strange given we live in Montgomery County, but not far from the Howard & Carroll county lines. It turns out a road crew found my purse right by the Howard County Fairgrounds on I-70. Two hours hadn’t even gone by since they broke into the house.
My purse was cleaned out, the only thing linking it to me was my old RIT student ID that I had not bothered to remove from my wallet. There were credit cards in the purse that didnt even belong to me. Eight different people had their credit cards and ripped up checks just casually thrown alongside the road in my purse… of all things.
Months passed, and nothing seemed to come of the investigation until I got a phone call from the Fraud Unit here in Montgomery. They conducted a raid on a house in Aspen Hill on a tip. Found boxes and boxes of checks, credit cards, credit card scanners, Drivers licenses, social security cards… etc…. among the posessions of the occupant. My checks and credit cards were among the items discovered. The raid alone brought down 12 individuals who were involved, and solved over 80 cases of identity theft and credit fraud.
My suggestion - something I’ve learned the hard way….
When you get a credit card - make a xerox copy of the card, write down the phone number for the credit card and keep it in a file in a firebox - a safe. So if you should ever happen to lose your purse, or your wallet, or misplace a card. All you have to do is pull out the paper, call the number right away. I had so many credit cards I couldn’t remeber them all when the police questioned me as to what was in my purse. Also do not store any personal information on your cell phones that can be used to purchase or obtain further information. A Medication list is an important exception.
To this day, I only have gas cards in my wallet, - ones that aren’t linked to visa or mastercard or anything of that sort. I dont carry an ATM card or a Debit card, just cash. I keep my checkbook locked up in my firebox along with the unused refillers that the bank sends. This doesn’t mean I dont have any credit cards. I’ve got two - two too many :-) but I only take them out when I need them.
I used to carry my social security card in my wallet just for emergency reasons.. but now that actually stays in the firebox as well.
Doing credit score checks every once in a while also lets you know if any new accounts have been opened in your name that you are unaware of.
Whew! That’s a scary story — thanks for sharing.
I’m guilty of identity theft!!! I hope soilel moon frye doesn’t get mad!
As a former customer service representative, I tell people to not sign the back of credit cards. That’s just another opportunity for theives to steal your cards and practice signatures.
Of course, it is the cashiers’ responsibility to check signatures and IDs.
Also, invest in a shredder. A shredder should be your best friend! You can get a good shredder from Target for $30 to $40.
Also, go paperless (a good way to go “green”). Many companies are offering to send your bills or statements online instead of paper. Less chance for people to steal mail from your mailbox.
Some credit cards periodically mail you a small set of checks. If you’ve never use them, tell them to stop sending you those. (Someone once got into our mail and wrote an $800 check. Luckily, my partner and I were able to get this charge waived.)
Another thing, when entering secured information online, make sure the url shows a “https” and not “http”. The “s” indicates that it is a secured site. If you don’t see an “s”, then your information is likely to be retrieved by others.
Yup…I never sign my credit card and I only have ONE card at that. Why have several cards? That’s only more cards crooks can use when your wallet is stolen and its more work to contact all the banks that issued those cards.
Having more than several credit cards, to me, is just a way for your finances to “control” you instead of the other way around, but that is another story altogether. I’d rather just pay one bill and in full every month rather than deal with multiple bills. Makes my life more simpler. :P
I had a friend who wouldn’t sign his credit card. He instead wrote “See ID” on the back in black marker. And so everyone who he used the card with was supposed to ask to see his ID. Most of the time they did.
I notice now though, because all the stores have the card reader machines available to the customer, you can put the card in and back into your wallet without anyone even glancing at it. It makes me nervous.
The card readers that Sara mentioned… I have to agree- do make me nervous as well. They’re supposed to be convienent for the customer but I think they pose a greater problem. They are the ideal opporturnity for any thief who has the balls to commit credit fraud in person.
Like I mentioned above, in my last comment — once my purse was stolen and I spent 3 -4 hours on the phone with credit companies and searching through my files for cards and numbers… in that time that I wasted looking for the info - they ran up about 2,800 in charges.
With the card readers nowadays, its no wonder that they never check the credit cards to ensure that the person using it is in fact the said owner of the card. And what’s more, you don’t have to sign the receipt if its less than 50 bucks!!! That means crooks can use the card in multiple purchases or places for under 50 bucks at a time that doesn’t raise the eyebrows of the credit card company…
Something needs to be done…like using a fingerprint reader along with the credit card to ensure that the card is actually in the true owner’s possession, not the crooks’. I wonder when will the security industry will get going with that aspect???
One additional thing, never respond to an e-mail from someone in Nigeria, such as a bank vice president, a person claiming to be related to a high governmental official, etc., mentioning a frozen bank account with millions of dollars and the possibility of you being joint partners in recovering the amounts. Of course, to participate in this recovery, you only need to wire a minimal amount of money (say, $10,000 or more) or give that person your banking account information. A surprising number of people fall victim to this scam. A smaller number of people actually go to Nigeria to recover the funds that they dedicated to this fraudulent enterprise and soon find themselves divested of everything.
Another popular scam is found in fake emails purporting to be from the IRS, EBay, or your bank/credit card company. The email directs you to an official looking Web site and requires you to fill in your personal information, including banking information, SSN, and PIN for “verification purposes.” Of course, right after that, you find your checking account remarkably lighter and you are now, congratulations, a victim of identity theft. There are rings in Russia, Bulgaria, Romania, and China that sell lists of credit card numbers and names for as little as $100 per 10,000 names and numbers. You do the math as to why it is such a profitable business for them.
Thanks for the info Vikki! You are a wealth of information. I have been a shredding maniac lately. I even like to shred stuff that doesn’t need to be shredded :-) Now the big question I want to know is: Did you take a photo of the sappy love letter you were watching the girl write???
Hahaha, Julie.
No I didn’t…the way she was writing it, it would have burned up my camera! **SSSSSSSSSSSSSSS**