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Credit Card Theft & Your
Identity
Check Out The "Credit Secrets Bible"
Criminals
know the way to steal your identity, and the worst part is that it’s
not very difficult to do it. You know all those
credit card applications you get in the mail? If you don’t
shred them, they can be used to steal your identity.
They
have been known to sift through garbage just to obtain a social
security number or a driver’s license number. Once they have
these vital bits of information, it’s easy for them to steal your
identity.
What
they will do can be quite scary. They will apply for
credit cards in your name and max them out within days. They
will obtain loans in your name and never make a payment. Then
the loan company comes after you for the money. It’s something
that affects millions and millions of people each year and it can be
a real mess when it comes to your credit report.
As
many as 85 percent of all identity theft victims find out about the
crime only when they are denied credit or employment, contacted by
the police, or have to deal with collection agencies, credit cards,
and bills.
A
study on the aftermath of an identity theft by the non-profit
Identity Theft Resource Center found that victims spend 600 hours
recovering from the crime because they must contact and work with
credit cards, banks, credit bureaus, and law enforcement. The time
can add up to as much as $16,000 in lost wages or income.
The
number of reported cases of identity theft is increasing steadily.
There is no one reason for this, but rather this is due to several
ways in which our lives have changed in recent years, all of which
make it easier for people to obtain our personal information.
In
the United States, Social Security numbers are used more commonly as
a means of identification. The Internet has made the transmission of
personal information easy and, at times, less secure. Online
retailers store our credit card information and contact information
in databases we assume to be secured.
Marketing
databases not only contain personal information, but they aggregate
information on our spending habits as well as contact information.
But potentially nefarious employees of these companies could have
access to that information. They can then sell it online in chat
rooms where criminals meet to swap information.
Even
in the days of e-mail and instant messaging, the postal mail can
also play a surprising role in identity theft. Checks can be stolen
from the outgoing mail. Credit card companies bombard their
customers and potential customers with pre-approved offers that need
very little personal information to complete.
Credit
card issuers also send what they call "courtesy checks" to customers
who can use them to make charges on a card. Many experts consider
them an invitation to identity theft.
One
of the increasingly common ways that criminals try to obtain
personal information is by using what is called a "phishing attack."
If you have e-mail, the chances are good someone has tried to get
you to bite.
Phishing
combines a criminal attempt at obtaining personal information with
another plague of the Internet age — spam. Potential victims receive
an e-mail from what appears to a bank, an online payment company
like PayPal, or a retailer like eBay or Amazon.com. The message is
usually sent using HTML e-mail and, when opened, uses company logos
and symbols to make it appear to be legitimate.
The
e-mail asks the receiver for user names, passwords, account numbers,
or some other type of personal information by saying they are
updating records or something related to their account requires
their attention. The e-mail usually links to a site that also
appears to be legitimate using logos and other symbols of a real
company, where visitors are asked to supply the information.
The
first step to avoid becoming the victim of a phishing attack is to
know what companies do business with you by e-mail and familiarizing
yourself with the types information they request and how they
request it.
What
you will likely learn quickly is that, while online retailers you
frequent and financial services firms you use online often send you
e-mail to make you aware of new products or services, or even to
alert you when your online bill is ready to be viewed, they rarely
if ever ask for any information from you.
Banks
and financial services firms will never ask you for any personal
information via e-mail because e-mail can be notoriously insecure.
So any e-mail asking you for personal or account information, such
as passwords, Social Security numbers, PINs, credit or check card
numbers, or other confidential information should be deemed
suspicious.
Often
the sender of a phishing e-mail may appear to be legitimate, but
e-mail addresses are easily spoofed. Just look at the amount
of spam you probably get that appears to be from friends,
co-workers, or even yourself.
If
a phishing e-mail directs you to a link using an HTML e-mail, the
text of the link may appear to be legitimate, but following that
link often brings you to a Web site where the URL (in your Web
browser's location bar) is often an IP address (basically numbers
separated by periods, like 128.0.0) or a site other than the
institution you think sent you the e-mail.
Often
a sense of urgency is conveyed in the e-mail, such as an alert
saying your account will be closed if you don't provide information.
Take a moment and don’t fall for this.
A
close look at the body of the e-mail itself may reveal typos,
misspellings, or horrendously poor grammar. One reason for this is
that many phishing attacks are launched from overseas, and many are
believed to be related to international organized crime.
Despite
all the attention phishing has received of late, there remains
precious little enforcement of the widespread problem and there are
simply too many attacks to handle. It is an easy buck for online
criminals.
We
already covered many of the ways you can detect a phishing attack,
but there are several simple steps you can take to keep your private
information safe that bear discussion. Experts say that educating
consumers not to follow links in e-mails is a good way to help them
avoid phishing attacks. Rather than following a link in an e-mail,
open a browser and go to the site of the retailer or bank in
question.
When
submitting personal information like credit card numbers, you can
ensure you are using a secure connection by looking for "https://"
in front of the site's location on your browser rather than
"http://."
Speaking
of your browser, make sure it is up to date with the latest security
patches. If you use Microsoft's Internet Explorer, visit
WindowsUpdate.com to see if you need any updates.
Here
are some simple software tools you can use to help guard against
online identity theft:
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CoreStreet
makes a free product called SpoofStick. It's a browser extension
for both the Internet Explorer and FireFox Web browsers that helps
users avoid spoofed Web sites. If you do follow a link in a
suspicious e-mail, SpoofStick can tell you if the Web site you
visit really is the Web site you think you are visiting.
The
EarthLink toolbar, which is also free to Internet users, has a
feature called ScamBlocker. EarthLink keeps a database of known
phishers, and if you visit a page known to be operated by a phisher
it will alert you right in your browser.
Check
Out The "Credit Secrets Bible"
Unfortunately,
correcting your credit report when you have become a victim of
identity theft is no easy proposition. But with some patience
and a lot of work, you can recover from identity theft and restore
your credit report.
Identity
theft can result in damage to your credit rating - damage that could
take years to fix. Generally, victims of credit and banking
fraud are liable for no more than the first $50 of the loss. In many
cases, the victim will not be required to pay any part of the
loss.
To
reduce your risk of identity theft, protect personal information and
do not carry your Social Security card with you. Shred items
that contain your personal information and account numbers.
Keep your mail safe and store your personal information in a safe
place. Order your credit report at least once a year to make
sure no one is using your identity to open accounts.
If
you think your identity has been stolen, take the following
steps:
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Armed with your
police report, FTC affidavit, and sample letters,
you must contact your creditors to alert them to the situation. In
addition to obvious creditors like your credit card issuers, don't
forget utility companies, wireless phone provider, and your
ISP.
Also
remember any private label credit cards to department stores, for
example. Don't forget about other personal documents. If your
passport was stolen, for example, or if you have reason to believe
someone is using a passport in your name, contact the State
Department.
When
you are trying to correct your credit report due to identity theft,
you will have to provide information that proves you are you.
That means digging out your birth certificate and making a lot of
copies of your driver’s license and social security card.
You’ll also have to try and prove that you didn’t make the purchases
that the thief or thieves did.
When
you have become a victim of identity theft through phishing, this
becomes a real problem as these purchases can be made anywhere with
a few strokes of the keyboard, so proving that the purchases were
made by someone other than you can be a real headache.
Just
try to be patient and point out to the company or companies who say
you owe them money that you have filed a police report as well as a
report with the FTC and that you have been a victim in other places
as well.
As
we’ve said, it will take time, but it can be done. Your credit
rating and credit score is very important, so taking the time to do
will pay off in the long run. Realize that in the long run,
you’ll be able to enjoy good credit again.
Even
if you are denied credit, you can appeal the decision by pointing
out that you have been a victim of identity theft and are trying to
correct it.
Check
Out The "Credit Secrets Bible"
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