{"id":9639,"date":"2014-02-03T10:04:40","date_gmt":"2014-02-03T15:04:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/?p=9639"},"modified":"2014-05-20T13:23:29","modified_gmt":"2014-05-20T18:23:29","slug":"protecting-yourself-from-identity-theft","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/tartan-news\/2014\/02\/03\/protecting-yourself-from-identity-theft\/","title":{"rendered":"Protecting yourself from identity theft"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"cards\"<\/a><\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n

What does getting your identity stolen actually mean? <\/i><\/p>\n

What are the potential dangers? <\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Having your identity stolen means that you have been violated and criminals are using your information without your permission.\u00a0 It can disrupt everything you have worked hard for such as building your credit history, finances and reputation.\u00a0 The potential dangers are owing debts to creditors that you didn\u2019t initiate, unwarranted collection calls, mistakes on your bank account, etc.\u00a0 It can be a nightmare.<\/i><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n

What are some things people can <\/i><\/p>\n

do to prevent <\/i><\/p>\n

identity theft?<\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u2022 Guard your financial information.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Keep your social security number confidential.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Beware of imposters asking for personal information by phone or email.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Keep mail safe.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Get off marketing lists.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Memorize passwords and pin numbers.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Make sure that you are on secure websites on your computer (https).<\/p>\n

\u2022 Check credit reports regularly.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Shred financial info before discarding.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Always be aware of your surroundings.<\/p>\n

Are there any misconceptions about identity theft? If so, what are they? <\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Actually yes. People think that if they have no credit or bad credit that no one will bother them \u2014 not true.\u00a0 I\u2019ve seen people in both of these categories affected by identity theft.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What kind of activities make people more susceptible to getting their identity stolen?<\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I think in today\u2019s society, we are all susceptible.\u00a0 However, being careless with personal information and not paying attention to warning signs makes people more so.\u00a0 Unfortunately,\u00a0 seniors and college students are targets, as identity thieves think they are easy marks. People who use shared computers are also vulnerable.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

If their identity is stolen, what should a person do?<\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u2022 File a police report.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Place a fraud alert with<\/p>\n

all three credit bureaus.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Contact the Federal<\/p>\n

Trade Commission at<\/p>\n

877-438-4338 or visit<\/p>\n

their web site.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Are the recent events with Target a common occurrence?\u00a0 Are there some retailers that are more vulnerable? If so, how can shoppers tell?<\/i><\/p>\n

I don\u2019t\u00a0 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.\u00a0 I think what this shows us is that it could happen to any business.\u00a0 There is no way to know where the thieves will strike next.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

What rights does a consumer have if they suspect their identity has been stolen?<\/i><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

You have the right to:<\/p>\n

\u2022 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.<\/p>\n

\u2022 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.<\/p>\n

\u2022 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.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Get written information from a debt collector about a debt, including the name of the creditor and the amount you supposedly owe.
\nHow does someone obtain another individual\u2019s information?<\/p>\n

<\/i><\/p>\n

Information can be obtained by going through someone else\u2019s trash cans and stealing their sensitive information such as bills and documents.<\/p>\n

Identity can also be stolen from a thief\u2019s place of business and they could be taking a photo of your credit\/debit card and use it to create another accounts.<\/p>\n

Thieves can misuse the name of a legit business and call or send emails that trick you into revealing personal information.<\/p>\n

Your purse, wallet, book bag or mail can be stolen along with your credit cards, driver\u2019s license, passport, health insurance card and other items that show personal information.<\/p>\n

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.\u00a0 It\u2019s called phishing.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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
\ninside, etc.?<\/i><\/p>\n

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.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 Use cash when you buy gas or use a credit card instead of debit.\u00a0 If you have to use a debit card do not use your pin number and monitor your bank account.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Are there any other tips or advice you could offer?<\/p>\n

<\/i><\/p>\n

\u2022 Obtain a free credit<\/p>\n

report every 12 months,<\/p>\n

read your bank, credit<\/p>\n

card and account<\/p>\n

statements and check<\/p>\n

for errors or suspicious<\/p>\n

information.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Before you throw away<\/p>\n

any personal<\/p>\n

information, shred all<\/p>\n

documents.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Delete messages that<\/p>\n

you receive that are not<\/p>\n

legitimate such as text,<\/p>\n

email and phone<\/p>\n

messages that ask<\/p>\n

for your personal<\/p>\n

information.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Create unique<\/p>\n

passwords and do not<\/p>\n

use the same password<\/p>\n

for more than one<\/p>\n

account.<\/p>\n

\u2022 If you shop or bank<\/p>\n

online make sure the<\/p>\n

website you visit is<\/p>\n

protected with \u201chttps\u201d in<\/p>\n

the web address.<\/p>\n

\u2022 If you use public<\/p>\n

wireless networks do not<\/p>\n

send information to any<\/p>\n

website that isn\u2019t fully<\/p>\n

encrypted.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Use anti-virus and<\/p>\n

anti-spyware software<\/p>\n

and a firewall on your<\/p>\n

computer.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Set your computer\u2019s<\/p>\n

operating system, web<\/p>\n

browser and security<\/p>\n

system to update<\/p>\n

automatically.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n

\u00a0When 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?<\/p>\n

<\/i><\/p>\n

Consumer Credit Counseling Service (CCCS) is at Sinclair on Wednesday and Thursday from 10:30 a.m. until 4:00 p.m.\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9639","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-tartan-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"cc_featured_image_caption":{"caption_text":false,"source_text":false,"source_url":false},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5s3vR-2vt","jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9639","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9639"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9639\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9641,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9639\/revisions\/9641"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9639"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9639"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9639"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}