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IDENTITY THEFT

How to reduce your risk of becoming a victim

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IDENTITY THEFT

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What is Identity Theft?

When someone uses your personal identifying information or financial information-including your name, social security number, date of birth, bank account number, credit card or debit card number to purchase items, obtain credit or commit fraud in your name.

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What the bad guys/girls do with your information

Go on spending sprees, make cash withdrawals, transfer funds, purchase cars or homes.

Open new credit cards or lines of credit in your name.

Get cell phone service, utilities.

Get arrested and use your name.

Get a job using your social security number.

Obtain medical treatment using your identifying information.

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IMPACT ON THE VICTIM

A victim will spend an average of 330 hours of their own time and approximately $1200 repairing the damage.

They may have difficulty getting a new job, obtaining loans, credit or credit cards, social security benefits, unemployment benefits or housing.

Will have to close existing financial accounts and open new ones. (Direct deposit and bill pay issues).

Victims constantly hounded by debt collectors and merchants.

Victim feels helpless and frustrated.

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ID THEFT IQ

Do you shred, destroy or keep in a secure place every bill , credit card statement, credit card offer and bank statement?

Have you ever seen a copy of your credit report? Do you know what a “fraud alert” is? Do you review your financial accounts frequently?

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IQ Scoring

Yes to all four-You know the important steps to protect your identity and reduce your risk of becoming a victim.

Two to three of all four-Your cramping the style of identity thieves, but you can do more.

One or none of the four-You have company because many people don’t know what steps to take to reduce their risk. ID thieves are targeting you.

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COMMON SCAMS

Telemarketing scams (Granny Scam): cost the elderly community approximately $41 Billion a year.

Lottery scams: Canadian lottery, online lottery.

Nigerian scams :419, online relationships, hit man extortion.

Craigslist scams: Overpayment with counterfeit check, payment through Western Union or MoneyGram, employment opportunities (billing agent, reshipping agent).

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VICTIM REPORTING TO L.E.According to FTC approximately 25% of victims reported their ID Theft

So the other 75% or so…

Reasons:

Embarrassment.

Not worth it, takes too much time.

Unfamiliar what steps they need to take.

Reported to local law enforcement but no report taken.

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These aren't the tools of the trade

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These are the new tools

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The Deadly Combination

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How are they getting your information? Dumpster diving. Mailboxing/Diverting you mail. Skimming. Stealing your wallet or purse

(grocery store, gym, home burglarized).

Email Phishing. Information sold by employees. “Pretext Calls”

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Identity Theft Credit Card/Account Takeover:

Credit card numbers or credit reports are taken out of the trash (dumpster divers) or sold by employees out “the back door.”

Credit card numbers are obtained over the Internet or phone and phone orders are used to ship merchandise around the country or over seas.

Large purchases are made in a short period of time, before the card holder realizes their card has been used.

Jurisdiction can be either where the victim lives or where the card was used.

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Identity Theft

Account takeover continued. The victim’s issuing bank is then

contacted with a change of address request and an additional card in a second name.

A PIN number is usually also requested. Cash advances are taken out, purchases

made online and phone orders. Items sent to mail drop or overseas (Mail Boxes Etc.)

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Identity Theft

Credit card fraud sometimes a professional, international business.

Run by resourceful syndicates with industry insiders on their payrolls.

Could be local, domestic or international. In 2009 cost was $3.8 billion globally for

credit cards alone. Banks, credit card companies NEVER

email or text or call you to ask for updated personal and account information. (Phishing)

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Identity Theft Skimming-Is an illegal act that enables

criminals obtain credit card/debit card account information to produce counterfeit cards. Method- A suspect in a workplace uses a

small device to steal information from a credit card’s magnetic stripe. That information is encoded onto a counterfeit card and used to make fraudulent purchases.

The Device- Skimming devices record and store credit account information. Most skimming devices are small and portable-not much bigger than a pager. AKA portable data capture device.

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Identity Theft Skimming continued

The encoded information is then transferred to a counterfeit card.

The encoded information includes the account number, expiration date, account holders name and 3 digit security number on back.

The majority of the counterfeit cards are being manufactured offshore. Mainly in Asia and Mexico.

Recent skimming activity in the metro area. Cards skimmed at gas pumps and ATM’s. Information sent to California and counterfeit cards are being used within a few hours.

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Identity Theft andCredit Card “Chipping”

Card readers need to be serviced. A bogus “engineer” services the card

reader. Inserts a chip that records card

transactions. A month later the “engineer” comes back

and downloads or removes the chip. Has all card info & CVV number for a

months worth of transactions.

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Identity Theft Counterfeiting personal and business checks:

Personal checks are stolen from home mail boxes (incoming or outgoing mail).

Business checks purchased from employees, check cashing stores or simply given to forgers for drugs.

Either chemically washed and forged or counterfeited using computers, Versacheck and check stock obtained at any office supply store.

Fake I.D.’s in the name of the account holder are made to cash checks.

Usually cashed at area grocery store or issuing bank.

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Check Washing

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Identity Theft

Electronic funds transfer fraud: Employees with access to ZON

machine (credit card swipe machines) simply swipe their personal credit cards or debit cards and transfer money to their accounts.

Any retail company, bank or any other businesses that use these machines are vulnerable.

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Minimizing chances of becoming a victim Shred all old financial documents (cross

shredder), credit card offers, anything with account numbers or personal information.

Never put mail in outgoing mailbox at home or in the blue Post Office Boxes.

Deposit outgoing mail at the Post Office or at work.

Keep track of all financial accounts and review them frequently.

Have new checks delivered to your bank, not your home.

Don’t carry your Social Security Card. Get a free copy of your credit report at

annualcreditreport.com and review it.

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Minimize chances of becoming a victim

Periodically run your credit history and be sure it is accurate.

If credit cards are lost or stolen, cancel them immediately. Keeps a copy of them with the 800 number.

Never give out credit card, personal or financial information on the phone or email unless you initiated the activity.

Opt out program through FTC (optoutprescreen.com)

Lotto scams. Never “pay a fee” if you are the “winner” of a lotto. (Canadian Lotto scam).

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Minimize chances cont. Pay attention to billing cycles on

accounts. Follow up with creditors if bills don’t arrive on time.

Keep financial documents in a safe, locked place.

Don’t keep credit cards or statements in your car. In a report from Visa of 12,000 fraud cases, 18% were from cards stolen out of a vehicle.

Use felt tip or gel pens on checks, not ball point. Ball point ink “rides on top “ of the paper and can be easily washed.

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Travel Safety

Be sure passport is secure at all times. Make a copy of passport and keep in

your money belt so that if you lose yours you can get a replacement at the nearest consulate. Also leave a copy with trusted person at home.

Make a copy of front and back of credit cards and leave with a trusted person at home.

Be aware of “shoulder surfers” when using debit card at ATM’s.

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ID Theft Services

ID Theft Monitoring. Some bad credit does not appear on your

credit report until it is too late. ID Theft Reimbursement.

You do the work, you pay the expenses, you (might) get reimbursed (some up to $1,000,000!)

ID Theft Restoration. They do the work, they pay the

expenses.

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IF YOU BECOME A VICTIM

Immediately file a police report with your local jurisdiction, CRS 16-5-103.

Contact one the following credit reporting agencies and advise them of the fraudulent activity:

1). Equifax: 1-800-525-62852). Experian: 1-888-397-37423). TransUnion: 1-800-680-7289-Contact the individual creditors or banks

and advise them of the fraudulent activity.Contact the FTC at 1-877-IDTHEFT.

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IDENTITY THEFT