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.