Identity theft starts with someone stealing your personal identifiable information; address, birth date social security number, medical records, etc.
“If I take your identity, then I am you,” said Deanne Cranford-Wesley, Ph.D., assistant professor and director of the Cyber Security Lab at North Carolina Central University (NCCU) said. “I can buy cars and I can buy homes. It can cause the victim of identity theft a lot of stress. They have to prove who they are.”
In earlier years, personal information could be found on paper on your desk, in your filing cabinet or mailbox. Now, information is mostly stolen from computers.
That computer theft can take a variety of forms. One common form is “phishing” emails that pretend to be someone else and ask you to log into an account with your personal information. If it looks suspicious, Cranford-Wesley says to hover (but don’t click) your cursor over the return email address to see who actually sent the email.
Indications that your information has been stolen include; bills for items you did not buy, calls from debt collectors and accounts in your name that you did not open.
There is a perception that identity theft is mostly a problem for people at retirement age and older. The reverse is true, said Cedric Pickett, a Data Privacy Technology Law Fellow at the NCCU School of Law.
“According to the Identity Theft Resource Center, the vast majority – 62% – of victims were ages 25-64,” Pickett said, “with 8% ages 18-24.”
Many of the identity thieves come from other countries and the chance that any thief will be caught is minimal, Pickett said.
To avoid being the victim of identity theft, Pickett and Cranford-Wesley recommend:
- Do not casually give out your social security number.
- Keep your devices secure. Change the passwords frequently and do not use the same password on multiple devices.
- Look out for fake job advertisements where the supposed employer asks for your social security number too early in the hiring process.
- For student loans or scholarships, students should work with their college to distinguish between real and fake offers.
- Be careful when using public wi-fi (coffee shops, restaurants, libraries, etc.). For example, avoid checking your bank account on public wi-fi. If you must, use a virtual private network which will encrypt your transactions online.
- Do not overshare. “This younger generation puts more of their information online,” Pickett said. “Do you have to put your birth date, your home address and your dog’s name on social media?”
It is also never too early to check credit reports. Upon request, the big three credit reporting agencies – Experian, TransUnion and Equifax – are required to issue you one free report annually.
If you are the victim of identity theft, Pickett says to:
- Contact all three crediting reporting agencies
- Call the fraud department at your bank, credit card and other places you have accounts.
- Call the Federal Trade Commission or IdentityTheft.gov to file an incident report.
Be warned that identity theft can take a while to get resolved. Pickett said 43% of cases are resolved within a week, 38% in 1 week to 1 month, 15% take 3 months to a year and 10 percent are never resolved.
