Financial Privacy & Security News

AUSTIN—As the holiday shopping season gets into full swing, TexPIRG warned consumers today that all the gift-buying they do in the next few weeks may leave them vulnerable to identity theft and urged consumers to take common sense steps to protect themselves.

“There’s an awful lot of check-writing, cash withdrawing, Internet shopping and credit-card use going on this month as we buy gifts for our families and friends,” said Jeff Brooks, Advocate for TexPIRG. “For identity thieves, it’s fertile ground. People should be cautious.”

Identity theft is currently the fastest-growing crime in the United States. According to the office of the Consumer Credit Commissioner, it robs businesses of $48 billion a year and forces consumers to spend about $5 billion to repair the damage caused to their credit.

“Electronic ID theft gets most of the attention, but in truth it’s only part of the story,” Brooks said. “A lot of identity theft is done the old-fashioned way, by pick-pocketing and purse-snatching.” Also of concern is so-called `shoulder-surfing,’ which takes place when ID thieves obtain sensitive personal information simply by covertly observing and/or photographing a check or credit card as a consumer is using them to pay for a purchase. “It is important for consumers to always be aware of their surroundings,” Brooks added.

As a precaution, consumers should minimize the amount of sensitive personal information contained in their purses or wallets, and consumers should never carry anything containing their Social Security number with them unless it is absolutely necessary. “A person’s Social Security number is the master-key to their identity. If an identity thief can get that, he can get pretty much everything else.”

The expansion of on-line shopping also raises identity theft concerns. More than $30 billion in online sales were recorded last holiday season, and this is only expected to increase. Consumers shopping online should be careful to keep hard copies of all information relevant to their orders. They should also keep in mind that they should never provide social security numbers to online retailers; only a credit card number is necessary.

Consumers must be wary, and their wariness should last well beyond the holiday season. Identity theft is a growing problem and will threaten the interests of consumers for some time to come. Although the state government has made progress in the fight against identity theft over the years, much remains to be done. In the coming legislative session, TexPIRG hopes to see the passage of a bill which will allow consumers to place security freezes on their credit reports without obtaining a police report first, a bill which would prohibit the obtainment of personally-sensitive information from county clerks’ offices and a bill mandating the destruction of personally-sensitive information after an appropriate period of time.

Ten Tips to Reduce Your Risk of Identity Theft

Here are ten steps you can take to reduce your chance of becoming a victim of identity theft:

1. Secure your personal information.

• Guard your mail. Consider buying a mailbox that locks or installing a mail slot in your door to protect thieves from stealing your bills, convenience checks, pre-approved credit offers, and other mail that contains sensitive information.
• Shred and destroy any bills, account statements, credit card offers, or files containing sensitive information before throwing them away.
• Carry only the information you need. When you go out, only take the debit cards, credit cards and identification that you will need to use.
• Use effective passwords for your financial accounts. Avoid using easily available information such as your mother's maiden name, your birth date, or the last four numbers of your social security number.

2. Protect you social security number.

• Do not carry your social security card in your wallet.
• Request alternative identification numbers. Do not allow your social security number to be used on your driver's license or identification cards for your employer, school, or insurer.
• Do not use your social security number as a password or security code on your accounts or the Internet.

3. Tell companies not to sell or share your data.

• Stop creditors from sending pre-approved credit offers through the mail. Call 1-888-5-OPT-OUT, a number maintained by the three major credit bureaus. Press option 3 to remove your name permanently. You can also opt-out of these offers electronically at www.optoutprescreen.com.
• Opt-out of information sharing. Federal law allows you the stop your bank and other financial institutions from sharing your personal information with most outside companies. Review the "Privacy Policies" your financial institutions send you once a year, and write to any companies that you want to restrict from sharing your personal information. Remember that even if you “opt-out,” companies can still share some of your information with their own affiliates.

4. No "Phishing." Phishing is a form of Internet fraud that involves thieves sending email or pop-up messages to trick individuals into providing their personal information, like account numbers and passwords. These fraudsters are sophisticated and may appear to be a bank or other financial institution that you deal with.

• Never respond to an email or pop-up message that asks for your personal or financial information. Legitimate companies will not ask for this information.
• Never click on the link in these messages. Fraudsters can make the link look like its going to your financial institution, but in fact it's going to a different site.

5. Be careful on the Internet.

• Never use your debit card on the Internet. Victims of debit card fraud have less legal protection than victims of credit card fraud.
• Deal only with reputable companies that you know.
• Check privacy and security policies of websites, and look for opportunities to opt-out of information sharing.
• Install firewalls and virus-detection software on your computers, and keep them up to date.

6. Keep track of your financial accounts

• Check your bills and account statements each month for fraudulent charges and report any suspicious charges immediately.
• Make sure you receive your statements on time. Call your creditor if you do not receive them because thieves may have made a fraudulent change of address on your account.

7. Monitor your credit reports.

• Order a FREE copy of your credit report every 12 months from each of the three major credit bureaus. You can request all three reports at once, or stagger them throughout the year. Review your credit report for errors. Verify that :
-Your name, address, social security number are correct;
- All inactive accounts are closed;
- No accounts or debts that do not belong to are listed.
- No unfamiliar parties have recently obtained a copy of your credit report.

8. Take control over your credit. You may be able to place fraud alerts on your credit report to reduce your risk of identity theft.

• Military Alerts: If you are a member of the military and are on active duty, you may place an active duty alert on your credit file. The active duty alert will require creditors to take additional steps to verify an applicant's identity before issuing credit in your name.
- Call one of the three national credit bureaus to place an activity duty alert on your file. It will contact the other credit bureaus.
- The active duty alert will remain valid for twelve months.

• Fraud alert: If you believe that you are a victim of fraud, you may place a fraud alert on your credit reports that will require creditors to take additional steps to verify an applicant's identity before issuing credit in your name.
-Call one of the three national credit bureaus to flag your file with a fraud alert. It will contact other credit bureaus. This initial fraud alert will remain valid for 90 days
- Ask for a free credit report and review it thoroughly. Fraud victims are entitled to a free credit report.
- If you file a report with law enforcement, you may place an extended fraud alert on your credit report that will remain valid for seven years. With an extended alert on your report, you may request two free credit reports a year.

9. Demand strong protections.

• Ask questions whenever merchants, creditors, schools and others ask you for sensitive personal information that seems unnecessary for the transaction. Ask how the information will be used and how it will be safeguarded
• Talk to your employer about how it safeguards your personal information. Request that social security numbers not be used as employee identification numbers.

10. Be active.

While these tips can help reduce your risk of fraud, more needs to be done to protect consumers from identity theft. To help pass stronger financial privacy laws, visit www.texpirg.org.

How to Contact the Credit Bureaus:

Equifax
P.O. Box 740241
Atlanta, GA 30374-0241
Report fraud: (800) 525-6285
Order report: (800) 685-1111

Experian
P.O. Box 1017
Allen, TX 75013
Report fraud: (800) 301-7195
Order report: (800) 682-7654

Trans Union
P.O. Box 390
Springfield, PA 19064
Report fraud: (800) 680-7289:
Order report: (800) 916-8800

Free Annual Credit Report:
www.annualcreditreport.com
P.O. Box 105281
Atlanta, GA 30348-5281
877-322-8228