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Credit Card Theft & Your Identity
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Criminals know the way to steal your identity, and the worst part is
that it’s not all that difficult. You know all those credit card
applications you get in the mail? If you don’t shred them, they can
use that to steal your identity.
It’s not above them to sift through garbage just to obtain a social
security number or a driver’s license number. Once they have these
vital bits of information, it’s easy for them to steal your
identity.
What they will do is scary. They will apply for credit cards in
your name and max them out within days. They will obtain loans in
your name and never make a payment. Then the loan company comes
after you for the money. It’s something that affects millions and
millions of people each year and it can be a real mess when it comes
to your credit report.
As many as 85 percent of all identity theft victims find out about
the crime only when they are denied credit or employment, contacted
by the police, or have to deal with collection agencies, credit
cards, and bills.
A study on the aftermath of an identity theft by the non-profit
Identity Theft Resource Center found that victims spend 600 hours
recovering from the crime because they must contact and work with
credit cards, banks, credit bureaus, and law enforcement. The time
can add up to as much as $16,000 in lost wages or income.
The number of reported cases of identity theft is increasing
steadily. There is no one reason for this, but rather this is due to
several ways in which our lives have changed in recent years, all of
which make it easier for people to obtain our personal information.
In the United States, Social Security numbers are used more commonly
as a means of identification. The Internet has made the transmission
of personal information easy and, at times, less secure. Online
retailers store our credit card information and contact information
in databases we assume to be secured.
Marketing databases not only contain personal information, but they
aggregate information on our spending habits as well as contact
information. But potentially nefarious employees of these companies
could have access to that information. They can then sell it online
in chat rooms where criminals meet to swap information.
Even in the days of e-mail and instant messaging, the postal mail
can also play a surprising role in identity theft. Checks can be
stolen from the outgoing mail. Credit card companies bombard their
customers and potential customers with pre-approved offers that need
very little personal information to complete.
Credit card issuers also send what they call "courtesy checks" to
customers who can use them to make charges on a card. Many experts
consider them an invitation to identity theft.
One of the increasingly common ways that criminals try to obtain
personal information is by using what is called a "phishing attack."
If you have e-mail, the chances are good someone has tried to get
you to bite.
Phishing combines a criminal attempt at obtaining personal
information with another plague of the Internet age — spam.
Potential victims receive an e-mail from what appears to a bank, an
online payment company like PayPal, or a retailer like eBay or
Amazon.com. The message is usually sent using HTML e-mail and, when
opened, uses company logos and symbols to make it appear to be
legitimate.
The e-mail asks the receiver for user names, passwords, account
numbers, or some other type of personal information by saying they
are updating records or something related to their account requires
their attention. The e-mail usually links to a site that also
appears to be legitimate using logos and other symbols of a real
company, where visitors are asked to supply the information.
The first step to avoid becoming the victim of a phishing attack is
to know what companies do business with you by e-mail and
familiarizing yourself with the types information they request and
how they request it.
What you will likely learn quickly is that, while online retailers
you frequent and financial services firms you use online often send
you e-mail to make you aware of new products or services, or even to
alert you when your online bill is ready to be viewed, they rarely
if ever ask for any information from you.
Banks and financial services firms will never ask you for any
personal information via e-mail because e-mail can be notoriously
insecure. So any e-mail asking you for personal or account
information, such as passwords, Social Security numbers, PINs,
credit or check card numbers, or other confidential information
should be deemed suspicious.
Often the sender of a phishing e-mail may appear to be legitimate,
but e-mail addresses are easily spoofed. Just look at the amount of
spam you probably get that appears to be from friends, co-workers,
or even yourself.
If a phishing e-mail directs you to a link using an HTML e-mail, the
text of the link may appear to be legitimate, but following that
link often brings you to a Web site where the URL (in your Web
browser's location bar) is often an IP address (basically numbers
separated by periods, like 128.0.0) or a site other than the
institution you think sent you the e-mail.
Often a sense of urgency is conveyed in the e-mail, such as an alert
saying your account will be closed if you don't provide information.
Take a moment and don’t fall for this.
A close look at the body of the e-mail itself may reveal typos,
misspellings, or horrendously poor grammar. One reason for this is
that many phishing attacks are launched from overseas, and many are
believed to be related to international organized crime.
Despite all the attention phishing has received of late, there
remains precious little enforcement of the widespread problem and
there are simply too many attacks to handle. It is an easy buck for
online criminals.
We already covered many of the ways you can detect a phishing
attack, but there are several simple steps you can take to keep your
private information safe that bear discussion. Experts say that
educating consumers not to follow links in e-mails is a good way to
help them avoid phishing attacks. Rather than following a link in an
e-mail, open a browser and go to the site of the retailer or bank in
question.
When submitting personal information like credit card numbers, you
can ensure you are using a secure connection by looking for
"https://" in front of the site's location on your browser rather
than "http://."
Speaking of your browser, make sure it is up to date with the latest
security patches. If you use Microsoft's Internet Explorer, visit
WindowsUpdate.com to see if you need any updates.
Here are some simple software tools you can use to help guard
against online identity theft:
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CoreStreet makes a free product called SpoofStick. It's a
browser extension for both the Internet Explorer and FireFox Web
browsers that helps users avoid spoofed Web sites. If you do
follow a link in a suspicious e-mail, SpoofStick can tell you if
the Web site you visit really is the Web site you think you are
visiting.
The EarthLink toolbar, which is also free to Internet users, has a
feature called ScamBlocker. EarthLink keeps a database of known
phishers, and if you visit a page known to be operated by a phisher
it will alert you right in your browser.
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Unfortunately, correcting your credit report when you have become a
victim of identity theft is no easy proposition. But with some
patience and a lot of work, you can recover from identity theft and
restore your credit report.
Identity theft can result in damage to your credit rating - damage
that could take years to fix. Generally, victims of credit and
banking fraud are liable for no more than the first $50 of the loss.
In many cases, the victim will not be required to pay any part of
the loss.
To reduce your risk of identity theft, protect personal information
and do not carry your Social Security card with you. Shred items
that contain your personal information and account numbers. Keep
your mail safe and store your personal information in a safe place.
Order your credit report at least once a year to make sure no one is
using your identity to open accounts.
If you think your identity has been stolen, take the following
steps:
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Armed
with your police report, FTC affidavit, and sample letters,
you must contact your creditors to alert them to the situation.
In addition to obvious creditors like your credit card issuers,
don't forget utility companies, wireless phone provider, and
your ISP.
Also remember any private label credit cards to department stores,
for example. Don't forget about other personal documents. If your
passport was stolen, for example, or if you have reason to believe
someone is using a passport in your name, contact the State
Department.
When you are trying to correct your credit report due to identity
theft, you will have to provide information that proves you are
you. That means digging out your birth certificate and making a lot
of copies of your driver’s license and social security card. You’ll
also have to try and prove that you didn’t make the purchases that
the thief or thieves did.
When you have become a victim of identity theft through phishing,
this becomes a real problem as these purchases can be made anywhere
with a few strokes of the keyboard, so proving that the purchases
were made by someone other than you can be a real headache.
Just try to be patient and point out to the company or companies who
say you owe them money that you have filed a police report as well
as a report with the FTC and that you have been a victim in other
places as well.
As we’ve said, it will take time, but it can be done. Your credit
rating and credit score is very important, so taking the time to do
will pay off in the long run. Realize that in the long run, you’ll
be able to enjoy good credit again.
Even if you are denied credit, you can appeal the decision by
pointing out that you have been a victim of identity theft and are
trying to correct it.
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