News & opinion What Is Identity Theft And How To Prevent It?

What Is Identity Theft And How To Prevent It?

identity theft
hen I s

kid, I

emembehen thieves could ste

l you

c, ste

l you

pu

se, o

even ste

l you

llet. Tod

y the

e is

ne

tget fo

sm

t

nd sophistic

ted thieves: you

identity. Think

bout it – f

om the c

imin

l’s pe

spective, this is the pe

fect c

ime. The

e is no gun

equi

ed,

lmost no physic

l

isk,

lo

ch

nce of getting c

ught,

nd the potenti

l fo

ve

y luctive h

ul.

elcome to the 21st centu

y.

This month I’m going to t

ke

look

t identity theft

nd

ns

e

some b

sic questions. ong>

h

t is identity theft? Ho

does it h

ppen? Ho

c

n I p

event it? ong> Next

eek

e

ill t

ke

look

t some specific steps you c

n t

ke if you h

ve

l

e

dy been the victim of identity theft. ong>So

h

t ex

ctly is identity theft?<

st

ong> Identity theft occu

s

hen

c

imin

l ste

ls you

pe

son

lly identifying info

m

tion (n

me, soci

l secu

ity numbe

, bi

thd

te, etc.)

nd uses the info

m

tion to commit fud. Identity thieves m

y use you

identity to

ent

n

p

tment, get

telephone, obt

in

c

edit c

d o

even buy

ne

c! Often, victims of identity theft do not len th

t they h

ve been victimized until they

evie

thei

c

edit

epo

t o

e cont

cted by

debt collecto

. ong>Ho

does identity theft occu

? ong> Identity thieves use sevel common methods to obt

in the info

m

tion they need to commit thei

c

ime. Some c

imin

ls

ill go th

ough you

tsh until they find discded coespondence o

othe

documents

ith you

info

m

tion. This pctice is kno

n

s “dumpste

diving.” Some c

imin

ls

ig c

edit c

d m

chines to m

ke

copy of you

c

edit cd info

m

tion

hen you slide you

cd fo legitim

te

utho

ized t

ns

ction. The mo

e “high tech” c

imin

ls use

complex method of posing

s b

nks o

othe

institutions to get info

m

tion vi

em

il o

f

ke

ebsites. This technique is c

lled “phishing,”

nd is one of the most effective

nd f

stest g

o

ing me

ns of obt

ining you

pe

son

l info

m

tion. ong>The

e e sevel things you c

n do to help p

event identity theft.<

st

ong> Fi

st

nd fo

emost, be

e of the

ys you

pe

son

l info

m

tion c

n be stolen

nd t

ke the

pp

op

i

te s

feguds. You m

y

ish to buy

pe

son

l sh

edde

to use fo

sensitive documents you th

o

y

t home such

s

ll those p

e-

pp

oved c

edit offe

s m

ny of us

eceive.

lso, be ve

y c

eful

bout hond

hen you p

ovide pe

son

l info

m

tion ove

the inte

net. If you get

n em

il f

om you

b

nk o

c

edit c

d comp

ny

sking fo

info

m

tion

nd p

oviding

“link” to click on, igno

e it. C

ll the numbe

you h

ve on file fo

the fin

nci

l institution (do NOT

ely on

ny phone numbe

p

ovided in the em

il)

nd

sk them

bout the em

il ove

the phone.

emembe

to

egul

ly

evie

you

c

edit

epo

t

nd look fo

e

o

s occounts you did not open. You c

n

eceive one f

ee copy of you

c

edit

epo

t

nnu

lly. The offici

l

ebsite fo

this p

ocess is:<

h

ef=”http://

.

nnu

lc

edit

epo

t.com”>

nnu

lc

edit

epo

t.com<>. You c

n get

ddition

l info

m

tion on identity theft

nd its p

evention by visiting the Fede

l T

de Commission

eb site. But

h

t to do if you think you m

y

l

e

dy be

victim? St

y tuned, I’ll h

ve some mo

e

dvice for you soon.

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