With the recent happenings at Target regarding stolen credit cards, the Clarion held an email interview with Tim Brandon, education and marketing coordinator, and Lisa Roberts, certified consumer credit counselor and housing counselor who also serves in the consumer-counseling center at Sinclair Community College through Consumer Credit Counseling Services, about how individuals can protect themselves from identity theft.
What does getting your identity stolen actually mean?
What are the potential dangers?
Having your identity stolen means that you have been violated and criminals are using your information without your permission. It can disrupt everything you have worked hard for such as building your credit history, finances and reputation. The potential dangers are owing debts to creditors that you didn’t initiate, unwarranted collection calls, mistakes on your bank account, etc. It can be a nightmare.
What are some things people can
do to prevent
identity theft?
• Guard your financial information.
• Keep your social security number confidential.
• Beware of imposters asking for personal information by phone or email.
• Keep mail safe.
• Get off marketing lists.
• Memorize passwords and pin numbers.
• Make sure that you are on secure websites on your computer (https).
• Check credit reports regularly.
• Shred financial info before discarding.
• Always be aware of your surroundings.
Are there any misconceptions about identity theft? If so, what are they?
Actually yes. People think that if they have no credit or bad credit that no one will bother them — not true. I’ve seen people in both of these categories affected by identity theft.
What kind of activities make people more susceptible to getting their identity stolen?
I think in today’s society, we are all susceptible. However, being careless with personal information and not paying attention to warning signs makes people more so. Unfortunately, seniors and college students are targets, as identity thieves think they are easy marks. People who use shared computers are also vulnerable.
If their identity is stolen, what should a person do?
• File a police report.
• Place a fraud alert with
all three credit bureaus.
• Contact the Federal
Trade Commission at
877-438-4338 or visit
their web site.
Are the recent events with Target a common occurrence? Are there some retailers that are more vulnerable? If so, how can shoppers tell?
I don’t think that at this point in time this is a common occurrence, however now that it has happened it creates a challenge for hackers to top it. I think what this shows us is that it could happen to any business. There is no way to know where the thieves will strike next.
What rights does a consumer have if they suspect their identity has been stolen?
You have the right to:
• Stop creditors and debt collectors from reporting fraudulent accounts. After you give them a copy of a valid identity theft report, they may not report fraudulent accounts to the credit reporting companies.
• Get copies of documents related to the theft of your identity, like transaction records or applications for new accounts. You must include a copy of your police report and an identity theft affidavit with your written request to the company that has the documents. You can tell the company to give the documents to a specific law enforcement agency.
• Stop a debt collector from contacting you. In most cases, debt collectors must stop contacting you after you send them a letter telling them to stop.
• Get written information from a debt collector about a debt, including the name of the creditor and the amount you supposedly owe.
How does someone obtain another individual’s information?
Information can be obtained by going through someone else’s trash cans and stealing their sensitive information such as bills and documents.
Identity can also be stolen from a thief’s place of business and they could be taking a photo of your credit/debit card and use it to create another accounts.
Thieves can misuse the name of a legit business and call or send emails that trick you into revealing personal information.
Your purse, wallet, book bag or mail can be stolen along with your credit cards, driver’s license, passport, health insurance card and other items that show personal information.
Thieves can also take another approach: they pretend to offer you a job, a loan, send bogus emails and ask you to send them personal information to qualify. It’s called phishing.
Why are some activities considered more dangerous in regards to having your identity stolen than others; such as paying with your credit card at the gas pump rather than paying
inside, etc.?
Some credit or debit activities are more dangerous than others simply because at some places you may not have a clerk that you come in contact with; if a clerk is suspicious, the crook can be questioned. However, at gas stations you are hearing more about the skimmers that are hidden in gas pumps which allow crooks to clone your credit or debit card. Some crooks have master keys to open the compartments to store the hardware or they can also do wireless internal skimmers that transmit the card data to them via bluetooth devices. Use cash when you buy gas or use a credit card instead of debit. If you have to use a debit card do not use your pin number and monitor your bank account.
Are there any other tips or advice you could offer?
• Obtain a free credit
report every 12 months,
read your bank, credit
card and account
statements and check
for errors or suspicious
information.
• Before you throw away
any personal
information, shred all
documents.
• Delete messages that
you receive that are not
legitimate such as text,
email and phone
messages that ask
for your personal
information.
• Create unique
passwords and do not
use the same password
for more than one
account.
• If you shop or bank
online make sure the
website you visit is
protected with “https” in
the web address.
• If you use public
wireless networks do not
send information to any
website that isn’t fully
encrypted.
• Use anti-virus and
anti-spyware software
and a firewall on your
computer.
• Set your computer’s
operating system, web
browser and security
system to update
automatically.
When is the financial counseling office at Sinclair open? Where is it located? How can a person go about making an appointment? What are some of the services offered?
Consumer Credit Counseling Service (CCCS) is at Sinclair on Wednesday and Thursday from 10:30 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. You can make an appointment by calling our main number at 937-643-2227, or you can schedule an appointment with the counselors that are located at Sinclair in Building 10 on the fourth floor in the Student Services office. The services we offer are financial counseling, foreclosure prevention counseling, bankruptcy counseling, debt management program, credit report review, financial literacy education and student loan counseling.