Friday, August 1

Identity Theft: Prevention

This is part one of our two part series on identity theft where we are discussing what preventative measures can be taken against identity thieves. Next time we'll look at what should be done if your identity has been stolen. In 2012 around 16.6 million people in the US over the age of 16 were the victim of identity theft (more than 10% of those being over 50) and 68% of them reported financial losses associated with it (average loss of $1,769).

Your identity can be stolen from anything that has personally identifying information (PII) so you should consider anything of the sort “need to know.” There are many ways crooks can get your information: breaking into websites, convince you to type it into online forms/ emails, using skimmers when handling your card or hiding them on ATM machines, gas stations, a waiter may while taking a payment for your meal. Con-men also may try to get information from papers that aren't properly disposed of diving through dumpsters and opening pre-approved lines of credit or taking your account numbers.

Fourteen percent of people will experience identity theft at some point in their lives, what can you to to protect yourself from it?

Protect your mail by...

  • Not using a traditional mail box
  • Instead get a PO box, a mail slat or a mail box with a lock
  • If you have a mail box and no intention of giving it up:
    • Remove mail promptly
    • Take outgoing mail with PII to the post office
    • Don't have a new check book mailed to it
    • Opt out of pre-screened credit opportunities
  • If you go away from home request a vacation hold

Protect your information when using technology by...

  • Not giving away PII by phone or over the internet unless you initiated the contact, know the company and are confidant you are actually on their web page (some phonies are very convincing, watch out!)
  • Don't click links in emails
  • Don't post too much information on social media, this includes dates of vacations, thieves look for that!
  • Always personalize the privacy settings on your websites
  • Don't send personal information over public WiFi (more information on why here)
  • Avoid entering your PII into websites that have http instead of https at the front, the s stands for secure (this won't always be possible right now, since websites are still in the process of updating)
  • If you sell or otherwise dispose of your computer wipe all the info and overwrite the hard drive first

You can protect yourself in general by...

  • Only carrying the identification and payment cards you need for that outing and unless you need it NEVER your social security card!
  • Consider your info “need to know”: if a location requests it ask why, how it'll be protected and what the repercussions are for not providing it
  • Don't sign your credit card instead write “photo ID required”
  • Destroy labels on prescription bottles before disposing of them or alternately see if your hospital, recycling center, or pharmacy takes them
  • If you write checks to pay credit card bills don't write the full account number, just the last 4 digits
  • Don't have your Social Security number printed on checks, ideally don't have your home address either
  • Photocopy both sides of everything you carry in your wallet. Keep the copies in a safe place so you maintain account numbers and phone numbers
  • Shred all receipts, credit offers, credit applications, insurance forms, physician statements, checks, bank statements, expired cards, and any other documents with PII
  • Lock all financial documents and records in a safe place, keep the key off site if you can
  • Check your credit reports and bank account statements for discrepancies regularly


Next week we will go over what to do if your identity has been stolen. What may be reassuring for people who have just discovered that their identity has been stolen is that 86% of people resolve the issues that arise within 24 hours.