Happy Trails Computer Club

	"Some government officials estimate that as many as 750,000 people a year are victimized. Others think that number is way too low. Last month Gartner Inc., a business research group, estimated that 7 million Americans have fallen prey to identity thieves in the past year alone, an extraordinary figure mirrored by a new survey from Privacy & American Business, an industry-funded think tank. Another study, by Star Systems, a company that facilitates the majority of U.S. ATM transactions, suggests that almost 12 million Americans in all, or about one in 19 adults, have been hit by such fraud." Update: "The Federal Trade Commission made public some startling statistics on identity theft this week. According to their own survey data, 27.3 million Americans have been victims of identity theft in the last five years, and a whopping 9.9 million people joined this unfortunate list in just the last 12 months."

All an identity thief needs is your name, your credit card number, and $100 to buy a report that will include your social security number. Because stores, banks, credit bureaus, etc., accept these with no questions, it's then easy to take over your identity.

You owe it to yourself -- beyond the normal safeguards you use online -- to take some general precautions against identity theft. See them below.

Precautions you should take

• Check your credit card statements for bogus charges (you'd be surprised how many people don'd to this).
• Check your credit report once or twice a year: Any unusual activity may be a sign of trouble. You can order reports from credit bureaus (see below). Privista is a very good alternative.
• Do not carry your social security number in your wallet or purse. Be wary of who you give your number to. Unfortunately, Medicare and other insurance cards have your SSN right on them. I don't know what you do about that.
• Never provide your social security number, or any other personal information, to anyone online to solicitors, or to telephone callers unless you initiated the contact.
• Protect yourself against "dumpster-divers". If you don't have a fireplace, get a crosscut shredder (not a simple strip shredder). Shred everything with your name, SSN, credit card numbers, etc., on it before throwing it out: account statements; credit card receipts; "preapproved" credit card offers; "free" checks to "pay off balances" -- you get the idea.
• Close unused or little-used credit card accounts.
• Dispose of credit cards safely. I do that by cutting them up in a way that both my name and account number are split in separate parts. Then I put the pieces in the garbage on different weeks.
• Purge your hard drive before you sell or give your computer away. Don't just erase the sensitive files, and empty the Recycle Bin. The files will still be there. Even formatting the drive won't remove them.
• Immediately contact the top three credit bureaus as soon as you suspect someone has used your identity. You can get free credit reports if you believe you are a victim, and they will place fraud alerts on your accounts. They are: Equifax 888-766-0008; Experian 888-397-3742; and Trans Union 800-680-7289.

Resources: