 | Mark Kolarik is the President of the Kansas Teachers Community Credit Union, located in Pittsburg, KS, since 10-2002 and is a board member of the Kansas Corporate Credit Union located in Wichita, KS . He has been employed in the financial service industry for the last 31 years, having worked in several credit unions for 21years and 10 years in the banking industry. He holds a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from the University of Wisconsin-LaCrosse and is a Certificated Credit Union Executive. |
Banking & Finance
2012-08-30 08:15:00
How to protect yourself from crafty identity theives
Q- I have heard about Identity theft, can you tell me how I can protect my identity?
A- Cyber criminals are getting craftier. Dependent as we are on our computers and mobile devices, it’s no surprise that more fraudsters are out there, developing scams, aimed at getting more people to give them more of their money. Here are some of the most important trends you should be aware of to keep fraudsters from separating you from your money.
? ID theft has doubled in the past year for children. Children are being targeted as much as 35 times more frequently than adults, and the younger the child the more vulnerable. That’s because this gives the fraudsters more time to go undetected while they use the child’s identity. Treat your child’s personal information as carefully as your own-educate them early to do likewise. Order a free credit report for your child once a year.
? A weak PIN increases your risk of ID theft. Debit card fraud, where Personal Identification Numbers (PIN) are often required, accounts for 35% of payment card fraud. A surprising number of these PINs are easily discovered, such as in wallets. Easily guessed PINs are also prime targets. The biggest offenders? Birthdays and repeating or sequential numbers. Difficult PINs are harder to guess, making your identity that much safer; use a combination of letters and numbers.
? Mobil phones and social media are the new identity theft frontiers. Fraudsters are expected to introduce as many as 1,000 different phone/social media scams this year. In fact, your social media identity may be more valuable to cyber criminals than your credit cards, because it offers them the opportunity to manipulate your friends. Keep smart phone operating systems up-to-date; use passwords to gain access to your phone; install apps that will enable remote deletion of phone data if it is stolen or lost.
? Tax return fraud using stolen identities is costing $24 billion. Identity thieves are filing fake tax returns using stolen social security numbers and claiming refunds worth billions. Tax payers-victims only learn of the fraud when their return is rejected by the IRS because someone already received the money using their identity. File your return early. Don’t answer any emails allegedly fro the IRS – they will never contact you via email.
? Where you can go for help and information.
? Internet Crime Complaint Center: www.ic3gov
? Consumer Fraud (Department of Justice Homepage): www.usdoj.gov
? Federal Trade Commission Consumer Response Center: www.ftc.gov
? Consumer Guides and Protection: www.usa.gov
? Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force: www.stopfraud.gov
? On Guard Online: www.onguardonline.gov
You are the most important link in ID theft prevention. Upgrade your electronic security; make sure computers and phones are locked and password protected when not in use; do not share personal information unless you know the other party; monitor your accounts regularly.
