What to do if Your Identity is Stolen

If someone steals your identity they can open bank accounts and charge cards in your name. They can have utility bills put in your name, buy a car and they may even file for your tax return. The time it takes to sort everything out once it’s discovered can be enormous and costly. The crook will be long gone.

The sad truth is, many identity thefts are done by co-workers. Many are done by people who steal your mail or dig through your trash. Some observe you while you’re paying for something, or the person you’re paying with a credit card can use a device to capture your credit card information. It’s called skimming. And, of course, they can gather information online, if you give it to them. An expert hacker can also take your information along with hundreds of thousands of other unsuspecting consumers by hacking into banks and credit bureaus. Here’s a checklist to follow if you need to report identity theft.

•   Close credit card accounts

•   Close bank accounts

•   Report licenses or IDs that have been stolen

•   File a police report and keep a copy of the report

•   File a complaint with the FTC online:

www.consumer.gov/idtheft, or call the FTC’s Identity Theft Hotline,

toll-free:1-877-IDTHEFT (438-4338) TTY:1-866-653- 4261 or write to:

Identity Theft Clearinghouse

Federal Trade Commission

600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW

Washington, DC 20580

If you’re the victim of an internet fraud, report the it to the Internet Fraud Complaint Center at www.ic3.gov. This is a partnership between the FBI and the National White Collar Crime Center.

• Request a fraud alert with the three major credit bureaus and a victim’s statement requesting creditors call  before new accounts are opened or changes made in current accounts.

To report fraud from Equifax call 1-800-525-6285

To report fraud from Experian call 1-888-397-3742 

To report fraud from TransUnion call 1-800-680-7289

Protect yourself against phishing schemes

•   Don’t post your e-mail address on any pages that can be viewed. Robots travel around cyber space and pick up email addresses and you’ll find yourself spammed.

•   As soon as it arrives, delete any e-mails that tell you to update personal information, even if it resembles a company you do business with. Call the business, and ask them about the email you received.

•   Unless you are absolutely certain where an email came from, don’t click on any links.

•   Don’t allow graphics to come in with your e-mail; they can carry potentially dangerous information.

•   Install and update anti-virus software continually, and use a firewall. Make sure you continually download updates for your operating system. I am a big Bill Gates fan, but too many people are aiming at Internet Explorer and until the cyber criminals stop breaking through, I would use another browser.

•   Send suspicious e-mails to the FTC at spam@uce.gov.

Other Scams

Nigerian Email

The letter attempts to convince the reader that they have a great deal of money they need to get out of the country. Of course they offer the intended victim a substantial reward for their help. This scam has made the perpetrators millions of dollars over the years.

Auction Fraud

It’s easy enough to put up fake products on the auction site. In 2002, the FTC received 51,000 auction complaints. Of course, there are many legitimate sellers, too, so how do you know?

•   Be leery if after you’re informed of your winning bid, the seller needs you to send the money to someone else or outside the US.

•   They request payment be made by wire transfer. The money isn’t easy to recover.

Sellers beware too:

•   Buyers wanting their purchases shipped in unusual ways should be avoided.

•   Be cautious if a credit card address doesn’t match a shipping address.

Credit Repair and Debt Elimination Scams

No one can clear up bad credit but you, and it takes time and effort. Some of these rip-off artists want no more than your personal information. Some will try to convince you to do some slightly illegal things to straighten out your credit. Don’t!

Pay-in-Advance Credit Offers

A pre-qualified, low-interest credit card is yours today. You have nothing to lose, except the several hundred dollar processing fee, because there is no credit card.

Lottery Scam

Do you really think you can win the lottery even if you didn’t play it? These folks will also ask you for personal information. Some of them will tell you that before they can release the money to you, you’ll have to pay them a processing fee, sometimes between $1,000 and $5,000.

Business Opportunity Scams

“You can make thousands of dollars stuffing envelopes!” Ya think? Many of these businesses are illegal pyramid schemes and you can be arrested for your involvement. Some foreign-based companies are often involved in reselling or reshipping merchandise to destinations outside the United States. The first thing they’ll ask for? You got it, personal information. Not only that, some will send checks that are a great deal more than you were supposed to receive. They’ll ask you to deposit the check and wire back the overage. The check you deposit, of course, turns out to be not worthless.

Reshipping

Ads are often placed in chat rooms looking to hire people to repackage and ship products outside of the US. When it is found these items have been purchased with stolen credit cards, guess who pays.

There are a lot more of them out there. Spend a little time becoming familiar with popular scams so you’ll recognize them the minute they show up in your inbox.

Before you look at the following information I want to remind you that keeping your anti-virus and anti-spyware software up to date is essential. New viruses and spies come out daily. Scan with these programs often.

Terms You Should Know

Adware. Advertising software application that delivers banners and pop-up windows. It can also carry coding to track you and what you do on your computer. Adware and Spyware programs can have the ability to collect keystrokes. You can be pretty sure if you are suddenly inundated with pop-up windows, you have Adware on your machine.

Browser Hijacker. If you’ve ever gone online and suddenly found your browser’s home page replaced with something new, something probably offensive, you’ve been the victim of a browser hijacker. Clean your drive and use your tool options on your browser to replace your home page.

Drive-by Download. This one can come into your computer simply by viewing a web site. It can find a weakness in your browser or come in malicious pop-up ads. Scan for viruses and spyware.

Hacker. Hackers used to be the kids that loved the challenge of breaking someone’s code. These days, the people hacking give ethical hackers a bad name.

Identity Theft. Stealing identity information such as a name, Social Security number, or a credit card number and pin. Credit card numbers and pins are often called access devices. Identity theft is a federal crime.

Key logging or keystroke capturing. This is done with software installed in your computer to record keystrokes. It can capture your passwords, bank account numbers, or whatever you type and sends them to another computer.

Pharming. These folks are poisoning your local DNS server, which causes your browser to be redirected to a phony site. This is scary because you don’t really know you’ve gone to the wrong place, and the scam is growing quickly. The only thing I know to do is watch the lower left hand corner of the browser window to see if you’re going to the address you’re supposed to be going to, but unfortunately, sometimes you’ll see only Internet Protocol address (IP) and those might be correct for the site you want. This is a tough one.

Phishing. You’ve seen them. Pay Pal sends you a warning that they need to confirm your information, or the IRS sends you a notice that you need to go to their site. Fake emails abound on the internet. Don’t click on any links and don’t give out your personal information to anyone unless you’re sure of the site. Absolutely sure! No company or agency of repute asks for your information through an email. If you’re in doubt, contact the company. Don’t click on links and if you should, don’t give out any information.

Spam. Any and all unsolicited e-mail is spam. The folks who send you this junk are called spammers. Use spam filters, sometimes your Internet Service Provider (ISP) will have one running.

Spyware. They are the little culprits that sneak into your computer and cause so much damage, often carrying with them other programs that can watch your every move.

Trojan Horse. As Vince explained to Max, they’re named after the Greek gift to the City of Troy. You download a free game or some other software and they come along for the ride. Once they are inside the walls of your computer, they can open to gates to let others in. They’re often used to send spam email from your computer.

Spam Zombies. Imagine your innocent little PC being taken over by a bunch of spammers who are using it to send out nasty spam all over the place. Your ISP could cut off your service and your emails could be blacklisted. It’s not a pretty sight.

Virus. A virus usually comes in an email attachment and begins replicating itself. The cyber virus needs other programs to replicate. As it grows, your computer’s memory shrinks.

Worm. A worm doesn’t infect other programs, but replicates to every machine on the network. Worms can use up your systems resources and shut you down.

Online Help

GetNetWise—www.getnetwise.org  A committed group of companies and organizations helping users enjoy a safe online experience.

Internet Keep Safe Coalition—www.iKeepSafe.org Teaching internet safety. Governors and/or first spouses along with multiple crime prevention groups and corporate sponsors formed and support the organization.

National Cyber Security Alliance—www.staysafeonline.org A resource for internet security information. Many government agencies and private business and organizations support their efforts to insure user safety.

Staysafe—www.staysafe.org Promoting the positive side of the web experience. Information comes from government agencies as well as private corporations.

Cyber Angels—www.cyberangels.org All members of Cyber Angels are volunteers giving their time and knowledge to help make your online time safe.

Fight Identity Theft—www.fightidentitytheft.com The goal of Fight Identity Theft is to make users more aware of the risks and to present steps that can be taken toward protection. The site is filled with useful information, written and laid out to be easily understood.

Anti-Phishing Working Group—www.antiphishing.org Industry and law enforcement joined together to eliminate the growing problems caused by phishing, pharming and all email spoofs.

WiredSafety—www.wiredsafety.org Information and help for victims of cyber scams and attacks from online.

OnGuardOnline—www.onguardonline.gov Tips from federal agencies and private technology industries geared toward protecting you from scams.

The Federal Trade Commission—www.ftc.gov