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Here is an article I found on the Internet some years ago but find it still holds true today. Identity Theft
One
crime flourishing in the Internet age is identity theft. Unscrupulous
information vendors are willing to sell whatever info about you that they can
get. Since obtaining credit cards and purchasing goods online is getting easier
and easier, there is greater potential for abuse, and a higher incentive for the
bad guys. Identity
theft is when a criminal takes your personal information—like your name,
address, social security number, mother's maiden name—and uses it to establish
credit and charge items to you. Identification cards and credit cards are
applied for using your personal information, and once the credit cards are
issued, the bills start rolling in.
With
sites like
AT&T's
AnyWho,
PeopleFind,
and
US
Search, finding
anyone's published, and sometimes unpublished, address and telephone number is
now quick and easy. Are
you setting yourself up for problems by divulging too much of yourself online?
We'll take a look at the ways you provide information about yourself online, and
look at what you can do to protect yourself in this brave new world. We'll also
show you what to do if you suspect you've been a victim of identity theft, and
provide plenty of online resources. If you've ever wondered what you can do to minimize your risks of identity theft online, read on.
You
may be exposing more about yourself than you realize in your online activities.
For instance, did you realize that if you have your browser configured in the
most common way, your name and e-mail address are available to any Web site you
visit? This
may seem like a paranoid suggestion, but many people keep the name and e-mail
fields in their browser's options or preferences blank or filled out with bogus
information. Of course, you are sacrificing the convenience of letting the
browser provide that information for you in some situations. But if you do this,
and monitor your cookies, you'll always know when, and to whom, you are
providing personal information. Then
there are the myriad accounts that most of us maintain to access a variety of
sites and services. Surely you've been asked to fill out long forms of personal
information to register for Web sites. Most of these include a question near the
end asking if it's OK if they share this information; if they're polite it's
defaulted to No. We're
not saying that reputable sites will pass on your personal information to
criminals, but clearly the more places you put this information the more chances
exist of it being appropriated for misuse. You
should think seriously about allowing an unknown company or person to collect
personal information about you. If you give them permission to "share this
with a few of our select advertisers," it will most certainly be sold to
other companies who trade in identities and demographic information. This is one
of the possible ways that your personal information gets spread around. Even
if you don't give them permission, do you really know if you can trust the
people behind the Web page to respect that? Those names and addresses are
valuable, especially if they can be tied to shopping or surfing habits. Before
giving personal information, it may be good to check out the site's privacy
policy. Keep in mind, though, it's still really the honor system. Let's
not forget about "cookies" while we're on the subject of divulging
information. Cookies, in this context, are the files that Web sites can store
and access on your hard drive, to keep track of what you've done there before.
This can be handy, and in most cases cookies are useful and desirable, but room
for abuse exists. You
can tell your browser not to accept any cookies, but it probably isn't practical
for most of us to surf that way. Instead we recommend setting the security
preferences on your browser to prompt you before accepting any cookies. That way
you can decide if it is a site that you want keeping track of your info. Typically,
you'll want to accept cookies from sites where you have set up customized or
personalized views or that require logins. Trusted commerce sites that you have
done business with in the past are worth saying yes to also, as it will save you
time if the site can remember and reuse your billing data. To access your browser's security settings in Navigator, select Preferences from the Edit pull-down menu and click on the Advanced tab. You'll see choices to disable all cookies, accept all cookies, accept only cookies that go directly back to the requesting server, and prompt before accepting cookies. In Internet Explorer, choose Internet Options from the Tools pull-down menu and then select the Security tab. Of
course what you really want to know is what you can do to prevent, or at least
reduce, the odds of becoming a victim of identity theft. There are several
things you can do, most of which are just part of a common sense approach to
controlling your online identity. Obviously,
precautions should be taken not to reveal your personal details to strangers who
have no business with them. Be very wary of new online acquaintances who press
you for personal info. Never reply to spam e-mails. Other
common sense tactics are to steer clear of contests, sweepstakes and
something-for-nothing offers. Inevitably what really is happening is that your
personal details are being collected and sold—that is the real currency of
these deals. As
mentioned earlier, you can increase the level of privacy of your surfing by
anonymizing name and e-mail settings in your browser. Follow
these instructions to access the personal information settings of your browser:
In Netscape 4.0 and higher, select Preferences from the Edit pull-down menu, and
go to the Identity screen under the Mail and Groups tab. For Internet Explorer
4.0 and higher, select Internet Options from the Tools pull-down menu and go to
the Personal Information section of the Content tab. Then select My Profile to
access and edit your personal info.
Another
common tool is to use disposable e-mail accounts for non-private communication.
A good strategy is to use your permanent, ISP-related e-mail address for only
personal communications with friends and family, and to obtain some secondary
e-mail accounts for other purposes. There are many free e-mail services like
Hotmail
and
Yahoo!
Mail, so having
a few extra accounts around won't cost you a dime. You
can even go as far as configuring several e-mail accounts for different
purposes. For example, one with your correct details for making online
purchases, and another with bogus details for more risky uses like newsgroup
postings and non-commerce site registrations. An
important aspect of protecting your identity online involves being aware of
where you are and what you're doing online. It sounds silly, but it can be easy
to follow a few links, and then find yourself with a form to fill out and not
even know what it's for. Especially
pay attention to where you are if you're deciding to make a purchase online.
Most importantly, before you send your credit card number anywhere, make sure
the site is using a secure server to encrypt the transaction, and that you are
using a secure browser. On a Windows PC, a secure server will be shown by a
small lock icon in the bottom of your browser window. The URL of a secure page
should begin with "https" instead of "http." If a site
doesn't support secure transactions, they're not ready for your online business.
Another
thing you can do to help assess a Web site's credibility is to examine their
privacy policies. There has been a real push recently to incorporate privacy
policies into most sites that collect information or transact business, and it's
worth looking for one if you're considering giving up some personal information.
Also
examine the site for a
TRUSTe
or
BBBOnLine
seal. These organizations certify sites that maintain certain minimum privacy
and honesty standards. Check if a site is truthfully displaying a seal by
visiting the certification organizations directly.
For
the most extreme levels of privacy you're going to have to work a bit. If you
want to be absolutely sure your mouse-clicks aren't being monitored, you can
surf cloaked by an anonymizer service. Check out sites like
Anonymizer.com
and
IDzap
for more details.
To
keep your e-mail and files as secure as they can be, encryption is the way to
go. Not quite user-friendly enough to be seamless yet, but worth the effort if
you need the highest level of security. Programs like
Pretty
Good Privacy (PGP)
and
Invincible
Mail are
leading the way. Encrypting
your files will render them meaningless to most observers by applying a specific
algorithm to your data. To decode the encrypted files the correct decryption key
is required. The key is an algorithm that "undoes" the work of the
encryption algorithm, making the files readable again. If
you get suspicious bills or phone calls from creditors about unknown debts, you
may have been the victim of identity theft. By all counts it is a terrible
experience, and many victims have described the profound sense of violation that
often accompanies identity theft. The
good news, if you can call it that, is that you almost certainly won't be held
responsible for any of the debt incurred as a result of identity theft. This is
fraud, and our laws put that burden squarely on the creditors' shoulders. But,
you can also expect a long and painful experience getting it all straightened
out. Once
you know that you're a victim of identity theft, the first thing to do is call
the police and file a report. Make sure to ask for a copy of the police report,
as you'll need this in your dealings with banks, credit card companies and
credit bureaus. Next
on the list should be to call all your credit card companies and explain the
situation, and close your existing accounts and open new ones. The same should
be done with your bank accounts.
Now
call the fraud departments of the three main credit bureaus in this country,
Equifax
(800-525-6285),
Experian
(888-397-3742), and
Trans
Union
(800-680-7289). Explain the situation to them, and ask for your account to be
flagged with a fraud or security alert. Ask for them to call you explicitly to
verify any future credit requests; they will be glad to help with this. The
FTC recommends that you check your credit report annually with all of these
companies, which can be done online for around $8 each. If
someone has been using your driver's license number you should request a new
number and license from your DMV. They'll need to see the police report as well.
If your social security number has been fraudulently used you can also request a
new number from your local office of the Social Security Administration. A
couple of other numbers that you may want to call are the Social Security
Administration's Fraud Hotline (1-800-269-0271) and the Federal Trade
Commission's ID Theft Hotline (1-877-IDTHEFT).
There
are several good Web sites with lots of help for privacy and identity theft
issues. The
Online
Privacy Alliance
has an extensive site with privacy-related news and resources. Their suggestions
for protecting your personal privacy online include looking for a privacy policy
and seal, never give your password to anyone, always use a secure browser, and
print copies of all transactions.
The
Electronic
Frontier Foundation
has long been at the forefront of privacy issues online. Take special note of
their
Defining
Digital Identity section,
which focuses on maintaining your privacy and controlling your digital identity.
The
Privacy
Rights Clearinghouse
offers an extensive section of Identity Theft resources. They also sponsor
VOICES
(Victims of Identity Crimes Extended Services), a support group for identity
theft victims.
CalPIRG
has produced
a
factsheet on preventing identity theft.
Also the previously mentioned certification sites,
TRUSTe
and
BBBOnLine
both provide a wealth of additional resources.
Identity Theft
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