Protect Yourself from Financial Exploitation

You're a busy person. In the course of a day you purchase a morning cup of coffee at Starbucks, put gas in your car at the local Conoco station, make an online purchase, open your mail and toss it in the trash, buy groceries on your way home from work. If you're an older individual who is retired you may receive telephone solicitation calls, mail from charities needing donations or a friendly e-mail from your bank wanting to confirm your personal information. We all complete multiple activities in a single day that can compromise our identity and our financial well being.

According to the Federal Trade Commission below are ways that identity thieves access your personal information. Click here for the FTC publication entitled Fighting Identity Theft which lists specific steps to take if your identity has been compromised.

• Identity thieves obtain information from businesses or other institutions by:
  • stealing records or information while they're on the job
  • bribing an employee who has access to these records
  • hacking these records
  • conning information out of employees
• They steal your mail, including bank and credit card statements, credit card offers, new checks, and tax information.
• They rummage through your trash, the trash of businesses, or public trash dumps in a practice known as "dumpster diving."
• They get your credit reports by abusing their employer's authorized access to them, or by posing as a landlord, employer, or someone else who may have a legal right to access your report.
• They steal your credit or debit card numbers by capturing the information in a data storage device in a practice known as "skimming." They swipe your card for an actual purchase, or attach the device to an ATM machine where you may enter or swipe your card.
• They steal your wallet or purse.
• They steal personal information they find in your home.
• They steal personal information from you through email or phone by posing as legitimate companies and claiming that you have a problem with your account. This practice is known as "phishing" online, or "pretexting" by phone.

It is extremely important to be careful with your personal information. Monitor your credit report annually by going to www.freecreditreport.com. Do not give out personal information by mail, the internet or telephone unless you are very sure you are dealing with a legitimate organization. Shred important mail rather than throwing it in the trash. If you're going away for a few days place a mail hold so no one can access your mail. Ask why your social security number is needed before giving it out. I find many situations where it's listed as a blank on a form and is not really necessary, but you must ask the question.

Credit collection agencies also are very aggressive in collecting debts – even if they seem to be yours but are not. If your name is similar to an individual they are researching you may experience a case of mistaken identity. In early December I received an urgent call from an attorney firm in Phoenix because I owed "thousands of dollars" to credit card and various other companies. The individual on the phone was rude and very adamant that I lived in Baltimore, attended a particular school and worked in a particular medical clinic. The only proof she had was that my name, Pamela Wilson, was on the account. Fortunately I subscribe to an identity theft program that allowed me to contact an attorney and have them write a letter to the law firm stating that unless they could prove I was the same individual they could no longer call or harass me. I have not heard from them since.

The reality is that in today's world our identities are everywhere and accessible. It's important to protect your private information because after an identity theft issue occurs, the expense to reclaim your identity can run into the tens of thousands of dollars. In this case a little prevention goes a long way.

Copyright 2011 Pamela D. Wilson, All Rights Reserved.

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