Identity Theft - Are you safe

     Identity Theft - are you really safe? When most of us think of identity theft, we think of someone taking our identity via the Internet.  Many people who browse online are under the impression that the only time someone will steal their identity is if they buy something online using their credit card or checking account no.


     This is only partly true.  Your identity can be taken as easily as a friend unknowingly sending you a tainted email.  An email for which they did not even send themselves.  The growing trend is for a persons email account to get hacked, once hacked, the address book of that user is stolen and legitimate looking emails are sent out to everyone in their address book.  However, most of the time these "unusual" looking emails can be easily identified.  Hackers are even targeting social media users such as Facebook and My Space users sending false friend requests, false messages with links to click on.   If you receive an email from a friend where the message line looks unusual, or has a link attached that doesn't seem to make any sense, DO NOT CLICK ON IT!  Your best defense is to email or call your friend and ask them if they sent you that particular email.  This recently happened to me where a good friend sent me a seemingly innocent looking email.  However, I noticed the link looked unusual, it didn't have a specific web address and it just looked suspicious.  I emailed this friend back asking if they sent me this email.  They soon found out that their email account had been hacked and the same email was sent to everyone on their friends list.  Ultimately they had to close their email account and reopen a new one.  Be cautious of any email with a link from someone you know or don't know.  Your best bet is to flag any email that is junk as Spam so they cannot send you future emails.


       "Surfing the net is safer than it has ever been before".  This statement couldn't be farther from the truth.  There are deviants, mainly in the eastern block, third world, and middle eastern countries who are paid to scoure the Internet using all forms of programs and hacks to track down a weak link and steal an identity.  Often times all they need to grab is a full name, address, and phone number off of your computer.  With this information in the wrong hands, one can create fictitious credit cards, online accounts in your name, and make purchases without your knowledge.  As an example, one trick online identity thieves now use is to obtain your full personal information and create fictitious credit cards.  They do not even need your social security number.  This occurred to me several years ago where my identity was stolen through the use of online banking, the thieves were able to create fictitious credit cards in my name.  They test these fictitious credit cards by attempting to make small purchases online of less than $10.00.  If the purchase works they continue to make further purchases at higher dollar amounts until the transactions become suspicious to a bank who has issued such a card.  Thankfully my bank had noticed 3 transactions to the same online retailer for the same amount and contacted me immediately.  It did create a great deal of inconvenience for me with having to close my account, open a new one, order new cards, and wait, however, the alternative could have been catastrophic.  


        So how do you protect yourself when you are online making purchases, talking on Facebook, or sending emails.  It all seems overwhelming and almost scary to go online, but if you take some easy precautions you can keep your identity safe.

• Keep all of your personal information, bank accounts, account numbers, passwords, addresses, etc. off your computer or in an encrypted folder on your computer. 
• NEVER save your passwords on your computer, you are better off keeping a slip of paper by your computer with all of your passwords written on them, and if you type them out on your computer using a word processing program, be sure you do not save the document and erase any history of it.
• Never open any email from anyone that looks suspicious or has a suspicious looking link.  Its easier to contact them first and make sure they physically sent it themselves and even ask who they obtained the link from.
• When making online purchases ALWAYS make sure that once you enter the purchase stage of your transaction that the address bar, where you normally would see "HTTP://.........."  actually has an "S" after the HTTP. So it should appear like this "HTTPS://...."  This "S" indicates the page is secure from hackers.  NEVER make a purchase or enter your personal information into a page that does not display the HTTPS secure setting.
• Keep your information on social sites as vanilla (plain) as possible.  Do not list your address, phone numbers, email addresses, etc.  Lock down your social media pages as far as you can and remember that any information you share with a friend on a social site can be shared with their friends, and their friends, friends, and so on and so forth.  Always remember the Kevin Bacon 6 degrees of separation theory when sharing information.
• When using credit cards in Public, watch behind you when you take your credit card out and use it, does someone look to be innocently using a cell phone or looking over your shoulder.  Some identity thieves utilize a cell phone camera to take a snap shot of your credit card as you use it.
• Rather than put your signature on the back of your card, sign your card and add C.I.D. (Check I.D.) or just write C.I.D. on the back to indicate to the retailer to always check your ID when you present your card.  
• Only keep credit cards in your wallet you absolutely need or will use, leave the rest at home and lock them in a drawer, safe, or lock box when not in use.
• Shred any document you throw away that has any of your information on it, even those pesky credit card offers.  They may seem innocent enough to just toss, but if it falls into the wrong hands, one can obtain a credit card by signing you up.  Then they either put a different mailing address to receive the card or even be brave enough to start checking your mail for you weeks later looking for the card.  Shred receipts, old bills, anything that has your name, address, account information, or billing information displayed on it.
• Sign out of your online accounts when finished.
• Do not use the "Save my password" function on email accounts or other online accounts.  This is almost like giving a burglar the key to your home.
• Purchase a good anti-virus program that includes an online security package and identity fraud protection package.  AVG Security has an excellent package at a very reasonable price that includes Anti-Virus protection, Anti Spyware, Link Scanner (Makes you aware of safe and unsafe links in google or other search engines), Family Safety protection, Email Scanner, Online Shield, Identity Theft protection, and a Security toolbar when online.

Don't be afraid to go online or shred everything in site, be smart, think like a criminal and wonder if there is any information that you are providing or throwing out that could be used against you.  

Protecting Your Home

     Thieves today are becoming more creative and smarter at increasing their wealth through your misfortune.  Surveillance, police scanners, watching for patterns, are just some of the tools burglars now use to help them become more successful at entering your home undetected.  To most burglars, what they do and how they do it is no different than how we perform tasks at our own jobs, they see it as a job and use tools of the trade to be successful.

     Have you noticed a car sitting in your neighborhood periodically that has not been there before?  Do not take for granted that one of your neighbors purchased a new car or is having a friend stay over.  Does the car have licensed applied for tags on it?  Does it sit in the same spot every time you come across it?  Is someone sitting in it whenever you do observe the vehicle or is the same person you have observed in this vehicle been seen in other vehicles in the same area? 

     The above scenario would be a surveillance technique by a would be burglar.  He will enter a neighborhood, one that he sees as being hardly patrolled by local law enforcement, neighbors seemingly keep to themselves, and there is little activity in the neighborhood.  Should a thief be able to match these three scenarios, he is less likely to be noticed or detected while carrying out his surveillance.  What is he looking, you may ask.  He is looking for patterns, when people leave for work, when they return home, when they walk their dog, even when they take their garbage out, we will get to garbage later, so to speak.  Now as busy as many of us are in today's world not many of us have patterns, however, some of us do develop mundane patterns of life and once a thief has found that pattern, that will be his target.  He is looking for the mundane and predictable.  Say for instance your life basically consists of leaving for work everyday at 8:00AM, you return home at 4:00PM every day, Monday through Friday.  You take your garbage out at between 7:00PM and 8:00PM every Thursday evening.  The dog is let out every day at 7:30AM and at 4:30PM and 8:00PM.  You come from the same direction into the neighborhood when returning home from work.  You shop for groceries every Saturday morning.  These are the patterns the thief is documenting and looking for.

     How do you combat all of this, seems overwhelming and even a lifestyle change must be needed to complete such a task.  No, not really, its actually quiet easy.  First and foremost if you notice any kind of suspicious vehicle in your neighborhood report it to your local law enforcement immediately.  Even if it checks out to be nothing and there does happen to be a thief surveying the neighborhood, he will move on once he sees police patrolling.  Talk to your neighbor where the vehicle usually sits, ask them if its their car, be proactive and its also a good way to meet your neighbors and let them know you are keeping an eye on the neighborhood.  Write down the license plate number as you pass by the vehicle, try to make eye contact, slow down, these are all things a thief will want to avoid and if he is noticed he will move on. 

     Break up your pattern to an extent.  Work hours cannot be adjusted to keep your home safe but the times you leave for work can.  Be unpredictable, leave early one day and grab a cup of coffee, leave a bit later than usual another.  Leave early, go around the block and come back as though you forgot something and re-enter your home.  Come straight home when you have nothing to do after work, or stop and have and grab a newspaper and come home a bit later.  Let your dog or pet out at varied times.  Turn on your outside lights at different times.  Just become unpredictable as a thief who cannot develop a reliable pattern from your behavior is going to move on, he wants an easy entry and does not want to take a chance on a confrontation.  Let your neighbors know when you are going to be gone for extended periods of time and that no one should be around the home.  Keep a light on inside the home when you are gone or even a television, this often produces the effect that quiet possibly someone is home as the TV is on, someone must be watching it. 

     Garbage, we all have garbage that must go out each week and what you throw out may not seem like anything special to you, but to a thief its like reading a newspaper article of what you might have in your home.  You just bought that nice new 40" flat screen and put the empty box at the curb?  Your kids now have a new home gaming system and the box is protruding from the garbage can?  Are you starting to see the articles being written.  A thief may pa rouse your garbage at night, looking for tell tale signs of recent purchases of items he may want.  Be smart, if you make such a purchase, tear down the box and cut it up as much as you can, place smaller empty boxes or containers inside black garbage bags, place them on the bottom of your garbage can and put your nasty kitchen waste on top of it.  Not many people will want to dig their way through old banana peels and rotten eggs to check for empty boxes.  Practice this especially around Christmas time when we all seem to get those high end gadgets and jewelry we have wanted all year long.

     Some easy precautions to take to deter thieves around your home.  Leave outside lights on at night, especially by entry ways and garage doors.  Install motion sensor lighting that will be turned on should someone set off the sensor, but be cautious not to set the range too high.  If you are able, invest in a home burglar alarm either monitored or unmonitored.  Companies such as radio shack make home burglar alarm systems that can be installed by you to protect entry ways that does not call out to an alarm service, thus saving the monthly fee.  If activated the alarm has an outdoor siren that would be triggered, thus scaring off a would be thief.  Remove all valuable items from your vehicle, even when it is parked in the garage, purses, CD's, DVD's, wallets, change, satellite radio's, GPS systems, should all be removed.  Keep landscaping and brush trimmed away from doors and windows and areas at the front and rear of the home.  Having heavy or thick brush provides prime hiding spots for burglars to duck out of cover or hide in wait.

     Above all, report any suspicious activity or persons in your neighborhood.  Police are patrolling to protect you and your neighbors and at the least if they happen to stop and check the person and it turns out to be nothing, you can feel relieved that they responded and looked into the matter, it will help your neighbors feel safe as well.  Be vigilante and protect your property.  Be proactive do not take for granted that one of your other neighbors will watch your block or report suspicious activity, and take steps to protect your home and property.