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Online Identity Theft Tips
IDENTITY GUARD® Tip: Your Computer and Identity Theft: How Safe Are You?
If you pay bills, do your banking or have ever purchased anything online, your personal information isn’t just yours anymore – it’s in the possession of each and every company or person you conduct transactions with online. Sound scary? It is. But before you start boycotting the use of your computer, it’s important to note that identity theft in the “real” world is no safer than computer identity theft in the virtual world. It’s what you do to protect yourself that counts.
As in the ‘real world,’ you can’t completely eliminate the risk of identity theft on the Internet. However there are ways to reduce that risk and become a less appealing target. Here are just a few:
Beware of “phishing” scams. Online identity theft “phishing” scams are widespread and primarily occur via e-mail, although phishing links can also be embedded in the pages of various web sites you may visit. E-mail messages appear to come from well-known web sites and try to entice you to click on an active link included in the e-mail. The premise of a phishing email is typically to either update your account information or alert you of suspicious activity to your account. You are asked to click on the link to verify information, thus tricking you into giving out personal information on a fake or cloaked site that will then be used to steal your identity.
Take advantage of automatic computer updates. Computer hackers prey on the most vulnerable operating systems. Check your settings (Windows Control Panel or Mac System Preferences) to ensure that “automatic updates” is “on.” The computer will automatically check for and install new updates.
Install security software. Guard against hackers and computer viruses by installing anti-virus, anti-spyware, and firewall software programs. Some Internet service providers offer free software, but compare its features with other paid software. Although not free, your annual investment for a well-known program will probably cost less that $40.00.
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Protection From Phishing Scams
Have you ever received an e-mail telling you you’ve been pre-approved for a great refinance loan for hundreds of thousands of dollars? How about an e-mail from your “banking institution” asking you to click on a link to update your account?
Attempts at online identity theft are landing in your “in” box every day disguised as legitimate offers and announcements. E-criminals know they’re going to hook a few – and they actually hook a lot. So what kind of protection is there against these identity theft phishing scams?
“Antiphishing toolbars” are designed to stop online id theft scams like phishing. Offered free to customers by ISPs like AOL, major web browsers like Microsoft Explorer, and other companies like eBay, they serve as a warning device about Web sites that cloak their true addresses. However, a recent study conducted by researchers at Carnegie Mellon University showed results of an 85 percent effectiveness rate, which may sound pretty good but can give users a false sense of security. The study also noted each had a degree of false positives – legitimate sites that were wrongly identified as phishing sites.
Companies will continue to improve on the effectiveness of antiphishing software, and e-criminals will continue to improve on ways to get around them. Your best defense is education – and a little common sense. If you don’t know the sender of an e-mail, don’t click on the imbedded link or download an attachment. Legitimate e-mails from companies and banks you do business with won’t include links to your personal account.
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IDENTITY GUARD® Tip: Explain Risks and Consequences of Online Identity Theft to Children with Access to the Internet
Children often seem to be more tech-savvy than their parents and can navigate the Internet with ease. Yet, children are less likely to be aware of the risks and consequences of Internet identity theft. Just as we warn them against stranger-danger and avoiding high-crime neighborhoods in the ‘real’ world, it is important that we also discuss the dangers of online strangers and damaging crimes like identity theft on the Internet. Here are a few suggestions:
Express interest. Acknowledge your children’s abilities to surf the Internet. Ask them to show you their favorite sites to visit, and demonstrate how they search for sites of interest to them. This allows you to view how and where your children spend their time online to determine if any practices could invite potential risk or compromise their safety.
Explain the basics of identity theft. If children are smart enough to be surfing the Internet, they are smart enough to understand the concept and consequences of identity theft. Explain what it is and how the financial damages could affect them directly – like revocation of cell phones, canceling vacations, no new clothes, or no Internet access.
Relate online dangers to offline dangers they already understand. Children frequent community web sites to communicate with friends they have and meet new “cyber” friends. Unfortunately, pedophiles and identity thieves frequent the same sites with the intent of capturing as much personal data from children as possible. Explain to your children that the same dangers that exist in the physical world also exist in cyberspace. Instruct them to never give out an address, phone number or even the school they attend to someone they do not personally know without consent from a parent.
Children need to understand that their actions and decisions affect the safety and security of the entire family.
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Be Aware of Where You’re Leaving Your Digital Footprint
Identity theft and the Internet is a match made in heaven – for thieves. For them, the Internet is a 24/7 cash machine that just keeps paying out from other people’s accounts.
Virtual identity thieves want exactly what real world identity thieves want: to capture your personal information and use it to create a new identity that will be used for their own monetary or material gain – and leaving you to bear all the liability. Just as you need to protect your credit card, bank, and personal information in the real world, you need to protect it online. Here are a few basic self-defense tactics:
Password-protect everything. Use passwords to access information and programs on your physical devices like computers, PDAs and cell phones. And refrain from using the option to “Remember My Password” for online accounts – if any of your devices are lost or stolen, a thief would have quick and unfettered access to every site you visited and be able to gain access using your stored password.
Think twice before using public Internet kiosks. Your “digital footprint” is captured on every computer you use. Web sites you visit are stored in the cache of the computer and if you haven’t properly logged off of a personal account, your personal information may be accessible to others. Even worse, “keylogging” software is available that invisibly captures every keystroke made so that user names and passwords can be extracted. In a recent case, the Department of Justice successfully prosecuted a man who had installed keylogging software in 14 New York area Kinko’s stores.
Educate yourself about identity theft phishing and pharming scams. Innocent e-mails and legitimate-looking web sites can be deceiving. Never click on active links embedded in e-mails or download attachments from unknown senders. An updated list of known phishing scams is archived at AntiPhishing.org.
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IDENTITY GUARD® Tip: Downloading Information and Software Can Increase Your Risks
The “information superhighway” is fast becoming the “information super ‘scam’ way” for anything from hijacking credit card information to online credit report identity theft.
Downloading free software, music, video, and even ring tones for your cell phone seems innocent enough. Yet attaching “trojan horses” to free downloads is a common tactic thieves use to nonchalantly swoop in and grab the personal information exchanged whenever a download occurs. This “crimeware” runs unobtrusively in the background and the crime typically goes undetected – UNTIL you are rejected for a bank loan or new line of credit because your credit history has been trashed. What can you do?
Avoid e-mail offers from unknown sources. E-mail is the online version of junk mail – it is sent by both legitimate companies and thieves “phishing” for people to fall for their enticing offers. If you can’t bring yourself to simply delete the offer, before you click on a link, take a few minutes to search for reviews of the site or company that is making the offer. You can often find warnings via online watchgroups and blogs.
Install protective software. Anti-virus and anti-spyware programs will help to warn you about potentially dangerous web sites and downloads. New viruses and Trojans are being created every day so be vigilant to keep the software updated.
Subscribe to identity theft protection services. Identity theft is one of the fastest growing crimes today, and both offline and online id theft carry heavy consequences for the victims. Identity theft protection services use sophisticated technology to protect subscribers by seeking out and exposing the financial “black market” of the Internet and regularly checking credit reports for suspicious activity.
While there is no 100% foolproof way to guard against identity theft, the more precautions you take, the less likely you’ll become a statistic.
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Phishing or Pharming?
Online identity theft continues to be a growing concern for both individuals and law enforcement. Identifying and capturing nameless, faceless thieves who could be located anywhere in the world is no easy task. While organizations and law enforcement agencies continue to hunt down and prosecute cyber identity theft criminals, a big responsibility lies with individuals to learn how to protect their personal information from being stolen.
By now, anyone who spends a good amount of time online has heard of identity theft phishing scams. Usually via e-mail, ID thieves attempt to trick people into giving them personal information like social security numbers, credit card or bank account numbers and passwords. Fraudulent web sites are embedded into the e-mail with a clickable link. Under the guise of “updating” your account information, or “verifying” your password, victims click on the link, enter their information, and are none-the-wiser that they’ve just donated all the information an ID thief needs to steal their identity.
If you know what to look out for, you can avoid falling prey to a phishing scam. Not so easy to detect is the latest form of online ID theft – pharming. Without your knowledge, a virus or malicious software program is installed on your computer that hijacks your Web browser. When you type in the URL for a web site, you are seamlessly redirected to a fake copy of the same site. All the information you enter on this site can now be stolen and fraudulently used.
One of the greatest protections from phishing activity is anti-virius software that scans incoming messages for suspicious e-mails and attachments. To help protect from pharming, install anti-spyware software. It will search your computer for questionable programs that track your online activities without your knowledge.
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IDENTITY GUARD® Tip: Online Black Markets are a Booming Business for Identity Theft
The new “organized crime” isn’t confined to big city streets and dank dark alleyways. It’s a global community that specializes in online identity theft and online credit card theft. And it doesn’t matter who you are or where you’re located – your information is fair game.
Online black markets are a booming business with information being bought and sold as easily as buying and selling on eBay. Although an underground operation, there are no shortage of sites selling credit and debit card numbers, complete with the cardholders’ names and verification codes. You can even buy data in bulk – batched in lots of 100 cards or more at a discounted rate.
As rampant as online scams are for gaining access to individuals’ personal information, the big money for hackers and cybercriminals isn’t through direct contact with you but, rather, hacking into corporate computers – banks, credit card companies, and retail store computers – to steal entire databases. Your information could be in any one of them. The Secret Service is the federal agency that investigates cybercrime, but that happens after the fact. What can you do to help protect yourself?
Ask questions about security. When you are required to give personal information, perhaps for a loan or other credit application, ask how the information is handled, stored, and secured on their database. Also ask how accessible the stored data is to employees.
Educate yourself. Protecting your sensitive information is first and foremost your responsibility. Check the Federal Trade Commission web site for prevention and protection advice. You can also view information about online identity theft at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) web site.
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Double-Check URLs to Safeguard from Online ID Theft
It is easy to get lulled into a false sense of security when guarding against online identity theft with all of the anti-virus, anti-spyware and other protective software available. In addition to relying on technology to keep you safe from identity theft on the Internet, it’s wise to also apply old-fashioned common sense to self-monitor security checks during your online activity.
One simple precaution is to look for visual indicators of secure sites. Whenever you access a site where you will be entering personal or sensitive information, look for the locked padlock image on the Internet browser’s status bar. Alternately, make sure the URL address begins with “https://” rather than just http://. While there is no guarantee of the site’s security, the absence of these indicators is a clear warning that the web site is not secure.
If you use Outlook or a similar e-mail program, you can also check for fraudulent active links embedded in e-mails. Without clicking on the link, roll your cursor over the link. In the bar at the bottom left of the window, you’ll see the URL address for the link. If it is unrecognizable or suspicious in any way, don’t click! In fact, unless you are confident you know the sender, don’t click at all. Likewise, be very cautious of downloading e-mail attachments – even from people you do know. Viruses travel from one unsuspecting victim to another and friends can inadvertently be sharing infected files with you.
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IDENTITY GUARD® Tip: Develop Internet Street Smarts to Guard Against Online Identity Theft
Most people can think of at least a half dozen ways to prevent and protect themselves against identity theft in the “real” world but give little thought to online protection, assuming the computer itself is equipped to handle it. Yet, identity theft and the Internet can be a dangerous duo. Developing online “street smarts” is essential to safeguard your personal information. Here are a few of the fundamentals:
Beware of the “something for nothing” invitation. According to a study conducted by the University of Washington, one in 25 web sites contained invasive software. Some of it is simple adware, which is more annoying than it is damaging. But other software goes beyond menacing, like the kind that actually allows someone to see every word you type. The study showed that “something for nothing” sites can be the most dangerous, like those offering free games and free, usually illegal, music downloads.
Get your coffee to-go. Cyber cafés can quickly lead to cyber identity theft if you aren’t protecting your information. Major coffee chains and other businesses offer free Wi-Fi access. This convenience can also compromise your security. Check your settings before logging on to ensure your computer is set NOT to share files with a network, or that guy quietly surfing the net from the corner table may be downloading your files from the second you connect to the shared network.
Don’t just delete old information – destroy it. You may think pressing the delete key or emptying your computer’s trash or recycle bin erases information. Not true. Information remains on your hard drive despite your command to dump it. Before you throw or give away your old computer, scrub the hard drive with software that meets Department of Defense standards for data destruction. Or, if you prefer, remove the hard drive and smash it!
