IDENTITY THEFT
How to reduce your risk of
becoming a victim
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IDENTITY THEFT
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What is Identity Theft?
When someone uses your personal
identifying information or financial
information-including your name, social
security number, date of birth, bank
account number, credit card or debit card
number to purchase items, obtain credit
or commit fraud in your name.
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What the bad guys/girls do
with your information
Go on spending sprees, make cash withdrawals, transfer
funds, purchase cars or homes.
Open new credit cards or lines of credit in your name.
Get cell phone service, utilities.
Get arrested and use your name.
Get a job using your social security number.
Obtain medical treatment using your identifying
information.
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IMPACT ON THE VICTIM
A victim will spend an average of 330 hours of their own time and
approximately $1200 repairing the damage.
They may have difficulty getting a new job, obtaining loans,
credit or credit cards, social security benefits, unemployment
benefits or housing.
Will have to close existing financial accounts and open new
ones. (Direct deposit and bill pay issues).
Victims constantly hounded by debt collectors and merchants.
Victim feels helpless and frustrated.
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ID THEFT IQ
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Do you shred, destroy or keep in a secure place
every bill , credit card statement, credit card offer
and bank statement?
Have you ever seen a copy of your credit report?
Do you know what a “fraud alert” is?
Do you review your financial accounts frequently?
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IQ Scoring
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Yes to all four-You know the important steps to
protect your identity and reduce your risk of
becoming a victim.
Two to three of all four-Your cramping the style of
identity thieves, but you can do more.
One or none of the four-You have company
because many people don’t know what steps to
take to reduce their risk. ID thieves are targeting
you.
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COMMON SCAMS
Telemarketing scams (Granny Scam): cost the
elderly community approximately $41 Billion a
year.
Lottery scams: Canadian lottery, online lottery.
Nigerian scams :419, online relationships, hit man
extortion.
Craigslist scams: Overpayment with counterfeit
check, payment through Western Union or
MoneyGram, employment opportunities (billing
agent, reshipping agent).
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VICTIM REPORTING TO L.E.
According to FTC approximately 25% of victims reported
their ID Theft
So the other 75% or so…
Reasons:
Embarrassment.
Not worth it, takes too much time.
Unfamiliar what steps they need to take.
Reported to local law enforcement but no report
taken.
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These aren't the tools of the trade
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These are the new tools
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The Deadly Combination
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How are they getting
your information?
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Dumpster diving.
Mailboxing/Diverting you mail.
Skimming.
Stealing your wallet or purse
(grocery store, gym, home
burglarized).
Email Phishing.
Information sold by employees.
“Pretext Calls”
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Identity Theft
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Credit Card/Account Takeover:
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Credit card numbers or credit reports are
taken out of the trash (dumpster divers)
or sold by employees out “the back door.”
Credit card numbers are obtained over
the Internet or phone and phone orders
are used to ship merchandise around the
country or over seas.
Large purchases are made in a short
period of time, before the card holder
realizes their card has been used.
Jurisdiction can be either where the
victim lives or where the card was used.
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Identity Theft
Account takeover continued.
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The victim’s issuing bank is then
contacted with a change of address
request and an additional card in a
second name.
A PIN number is usually also requested.
Cash advances are taken out, purchases
made online and phone orders. Items
sent to mail drop or overseas (Mail Boxes
Etc.)
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Identity Theft
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Credit card fraud sometimes a
professional, international business.
Run by resourceful syndicates with
industry insiders on their payrolls.
Could be local, domestic or international.
In 2009 cost was $3.8 billion globally for
credit cards alone.
Banks, credit card companies NEVER
email or text or call you to ask for
updated personal and account
information. (Phishing)
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Identity Theft
Skimming-Is an illegal act that enables
criminals obtain credit card/debit card
account information to produce
counterfeit cards.
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Method- A suspect in a workplace uses a
small device to steal information from a
credit card’s magnetic stripe. That
information is encoded onto a counterfeit
card and used to make fraudulent
purchases.
The Device- Skimming devices record
and store credit account information.
Most skimming devices are small and
portable-not much bigger than a pager.
AKA portable data capture device.
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Identity Theft
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Skimming continued
 The encoded information is then transferred
to a counterfeit card.
 The encoded information includes the
account number, expiration date, account
holders name and 3 digit security number on
back.
 The majority of the counterfeit cards are
being manufactured offshore. Mainly in Asia
and Mexico.
 Recent skimming activity in the metro area.
Cards skimmed at gas pumps and ATM’s.
Information sent to California and counterfeit
cards are being used within a few hours.
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Identity Theft and
Credit Card “Chipping”
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Card readers need to be serviced.
A bogus “engineer” services the card
reader.
Inserts a chip that records card
transactions.
A month later the “engineer” comes back
and downloads or removes the chip.
Has all card info & CVV number for a
months worth of transactions.
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Identity Theft
Counterfeiting personal and business
checks:
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Personal checks are stolen from home
mail boxes (incoming or outgoing mail).
Business checks purchased from
employees, check cashing stores or
simply given to forgers for drugs.
Either chemically washed and forged or
counterfeited using computers,
Versacheck and check stock obtained at
any office supply store.
Fake I.D.’s in the name of the account
holder are made to cash checks.
Usually cashed at area grocery store or
issuing bank.
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Check Washing
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Identity Theft
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Electronic funds transfer fraud:
Employees with access to ZON
machine (credit card swipe
machines) simply swipe their
personal credit cards or debit cards
and transfer money to their
accounts.
 Any retail company, bank or any
other businesses that use these
machines are vulnerable.
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Minimizing chances of
becoming a victim
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Shred all old financial documents (cross
shredder), credit card offers, anything with
account numbers or personal information.
Never put mail in outgoing mailbox at home or in
the blue Post Office Boxes.
Deposit outgoing mail at the Post Office or at
work.
Keep track of all financial accounts and review
them frequently.
Have new checks delivered to your bank, not
your home.
Don’t carry your Social Security Card.
Get a free copy of your credit report at
annualcreditreport.com and review it.
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Minimize chances of
becoming a victim
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Periodically run your credit history and
be sure it is accurate.
If credit cards are lost or stolen, cancel
them immediately. Keeps a copy of
them with the 800 number.
Never give out credit card, personal
or financial information on the phone
or email unless you initiated the
activity.
Opt out program through FTC
(optoutprescreen.com)
Lotto scams. Never “pay a fee” if you
are the “winner” of a lotto. (Canadian
Lotto scam).
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Minimize chances cont.
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Pay attention to billing cycles on
accounts. Follow up with creditors if bills
don’t arrive on time.
Keep financial documents in a safe,
locked place.
Don’t keep credit cards or statements in
your car. In a report from Visa of 12,000
fraud cases, 18% were from cards stolen
out of a vehicle.
Use felt tip or gel pens on checks, not
ball point. Ball point ink “rides on top “ of
the paper and can be easily washed.
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Travel Safety
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Be sure passport is secure at all times.
Make a copy of passport and keep in
your money belt so that if you lose yours
you can get a replacement at the nearest
consulate. Also leave a copy with
trusted person at home.
Make a copy of front and back of credit
cards and leave with a trusted person at
home.
Be aware of “shoulder surfers” when
using debit card at ATM’s.
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ID Theft Services
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ID Theft Monitoring.
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ID Theft Reimbursement.
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Some bad credit does not appear on your
credit report until it is too late.
You do the work, you pay the expenses,
you (might) get reimbursed (some up to
$1,000,000!)
ID Theft Restoration.
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They do the work, they pay the
expenses.
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IF YOU BECOME A VICTIM
Immediately file a police report with your
local jurisdiction, CRS 16-5-103.
 Contact one the following credit reporting
agencies and advise them of the
fraudulent activity:
1). Equifax: 1-800-525-6285
2). Experian: 1-888-397-3742
3). TransUnion: 1-800-680-7289
-Contact the individual creditors or banks
and advise them of the fraudulent
activity.
Contact the FTC at 1-877-IDTHEFT.
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IDENTITY THEFT
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