MAG was quite surprised to find a shiny, freshly pressed credit card with his name on it waiting in the mailbox last week. He was doubly surprise considering the much-hyped credit turmoil and general financial disaster currently grabbing headlines worldwide. In addition, MAG hadn’t requested this cash replacement card, but fantasized that perhaps this new credit line was backed by the U.S Government as my part of the $700 billion bailout package. Of course, no such luck.
A quick call to Bank of America confirmed that MAG was indeed the victim of identity theft. MAG's all for people imitating him, but spoofing his I.D. and attempting to take a $23,000 cash advance crosses the (credit) line. Due to questionable security measures at Equifax, the perp was able to pull my credit report probably during Mauri’s commercial break. MAG has worked in identity management and also for one of the Big Three credit bureaus (not Equifax), but never gave much thought to securing my own identity, until now.
In an effort to save the precious time we MAG’s have left in the land of credit, MAG has compiled this list of FREE actions you can take. In about 10 minutes you'll help reduce the chances of being on the phone for a whole day repeating your SSN to people you don't know:
1. You hear this often but not for the reason MAG's going to tell you: Get a free credit report from all three credit bureaus every year. The only free site working with the FTC which provides data links to the Big Three is AnnualCreditReport.com. If you just clicked on that hyperlink, you should be ashamed of yourself - see #3 below. The site allows you to fill out your information just once and visit the Big Three without having to enter it again. While the reports are nice and allow you to review your (jeepers!) credit lines, MAG is suggesting you pull your credit to prevent someone else from pulling it for you. MAG was rejected when he tried to pull his Equifax report because the fake MAG had pulled it a week earlier. A perp could still get a report by paying, however that would leave a nasty money trail. If the credit bureau offers a free online account (like Trans Union), sign up for it. By signing up for a free account, you will effectively lock your report from being pulled by a perp because you will have secured it behind a User Id and Password that only you know (see below for User ID and Password hints). This is because access is limited to one account per social security number.
2. Go to optoutprescreen.com and opt out of credit offers. In about one minute’s time, you can prevent five year's worth of credit card offers being delivered to your mailbox. Dumpster divers love credit card offers and most of them come with a blank check built right in at the bottom. How very convenient.
3. Don't be stupid when using a computer. Computer Geeks and thieves are very cleaver and can do things like present a link (like this one -> www.whitehouse.gov) that will take you to a completely different site without you noticing. That took about 5 seconds to do. Now, just imaging if someone had a bunch of time on their hands and created a site that was an exact copy of eBay. Would you login to the screen below?
Bottom line, don't trust links on sites that take you to pages where you login. Trust MAG on this - an entire Yahoo home page with login wouldn't take but a day to create an exact copy. As soon as you try and login, your e-mail address is stolen and you will be redirected to the real Yahoo site. You wouldn't suspect a thing. Bookmark the sites you visit frequently or use Live Search to search for a site and click on the link.
4. Change the User ID on your online financial accounts to something you can't remember. Write the new User ID and Password on a sticky note and place it next to your home computer. Aging Reader: "That's crazy MAG!" MAG is feeling a little pithy right now but doing this will force you to only access your financial accounts from your home computer. Away from home, your User ID and Password can be grabbed out of the air from a Wi-Fi Hotspot, stolen using a keyboard logger (recorder) from a public or work computer, or snagged by someone looking over your shoulder. Identity thieves don't break into homes to steal data, they don't need to because too many people don't read HalfDeadGuy blog. Not to sound like your mom but, unlike your underwear, you should change your password every three months.
5. Never give out your SSN or Birthday. No matter how tempting it is to get "Happy Birthday" notices on your FaceBook page, don't use your real birthday and for heaven's sake never give a site your SSN.
Identity is an odd thing that is proven over the phone by shards of information that separate us from one another. Does my address make me MAG, or my SSN, or my Birth Date, all three of these combined? While talking to the Victims Assistance Unit at Bank of America, MAG thought maybe this credit card scheme was just an elaborate ruse to get him to call an off-shore toll-free number and give the perp more information. MAG asked for proof that the operator named Mary worked for Bank of America then considered maybe it would be easier just to believe her. In the end, isn't that what companies do?
6. Set a verbal password for all financial accounts. Call any bank, credit card, and loan companies you do business with. Ask them to place a verbal password on your account. You will be required to give this password as a final identification step when transacting over the phone.
0 Comments from MAG Readers:
Post a Comment