| Identity theft commonly begins with the loss or | | | | Criminals are increasingly creative in the methods |
| theft of a wallet or purse. But there are many or | | | | they use to get their hands or eyes on your |
| high-tech and low-tech ways criminals can get | | | | personal information, and ultimately, your money. |
| their hands on your personal and financial | | | | Here are some of the low-tech techniques they |
| information in order to commit identity theft. | | | | employ: |
| When someone uses your name or personal | | | | - Dumpster Diving, one of the easiest ways for |
| information, such as your credit card number, | | | | them to appropriate your personal information. |
| driver's license number, Social Security number, | | | | - Mail Theft from unsecured residential mailboxes. |
| telephone number, or other account numbers, | | | | According to statistics, mail theft most often |
| without your permission, you become a victim of | | | | takes place at unprotected and easily accessible |
| identity theft. | | | | mailboxes in public places. |
| Thieves steal your personal information and use it | | | | - Shoulder surfing takes place when a thief |
| to open credit accounts, bank accounts, telephone | | | | watches or listens literally over your shoulder as |
| service accounts, and make major purchases in | | | | you enter your PIN into an ATM machine. They |
| your name. These criminals use your sensitive | | | | may even follow you home or your place of |
| information to take over existing accounts, or | | | | work to gather additional information about you. |
| open new accounts. Their criminal activities can | | | | High-Tech Techniques: Data transferred across |
| result in damage to your credit rating and denials | | | | the Internet can be intercepted during its journey. |
| to credit and job offers. | | | | - Phishing and Pharming: While phishing is a scam in |
| Protecting Your Identity While there are no | | | | which consumers are tricked into entering their |
| guarantees that your identity will never be stolen | | | | personal information via a bogus email and |
| or compromised, there are several steps you can | | | | website form, pharming occurs where hackers |
| take to minimize the risks. Here are a few of | | | | steal personal information from numerous people |
| them: | | | | simultaneously through something known as |
| - Before you discard your personal information | | | | "domain spoofing". They take over a DNS server |
| that you no longer need, such as credit card | | | | and redirect user information to a new website |
| receipts, billing statements, and pre-approved | | | | that they use to gather, collect, "pharm" illegal |
| credit card offers, shred them using, at best, a | | | | information. |
| diagonal-cut shredder. | | | | - Skimming: Thieves quickly and temporarily steal |
| - Create unique passwords and personal | | | | a credit card and run it through a skimmer, a |
| identification numbers (PINS) and avoid using easily | | | | credit card reader that has been reprogrammed |
| available information such as mother's maiden | | | | to steal information off the card. |
| name, date of birth, or last four digits of your | | | | Fight Back: Reduce the Risks |
| Social Security number. | | | | Make education about the scams, schemes, and |
| - Do not give your Social Security number to | | | | frauds criminal use to steal your identity your |
| people or companies that you do not know. | | | | priority in view of the rising occurrence of this |
| - Guard your mail from theft. Promptly remove | | | | multi-million-dollar-problem. With education comes |
| your incoming mail from your mailbox and place | | | | prevention. Here are some prevention tips to help |
| outgoing mail in locked collection boxes at your | | | | reduce the risks: |
| local Post Office. | | | | - Safeguard your personal information. Never take |
| - As an extra measure of security, install a lock | | | | simple things for granted. |
| on your mailbox, even if mail theft is not an | | | | - Carry with your only the information you need. |
| identified problem in your neighborhood. | | | | Always keep your personal information and |
| - Before disclosing personal information, even to | | | | documents in a safe and secured place of your |
| people you know where you shop or do business, | | | | choosing. |
| insist on knowing the reason(s) your personal | | | | - Order and review a copy of your credit report |
| information is required and how it will be used. | | | | at least once a year. |
| Low-Tech Rip-offs: Thieves can do much damage | | | | - Shred documents containing your sensitive |
| with what they remove from your mailbox. | | | | information before discarding them. |