.FLYINGHEAD THE COMPUTING UNPLUGGED INTERVIEW
.TITLE How to protect yourself from identity theft
.AUTHOR David Gewirtz
.SUMMARY This month, Editor-in-Chief David Gewirtz had the opportunity to conduct a follow-up interview with Wade Callison, discussing many of the more scary aspects of identity theft — and what you can do to protect yourself. This is a must read interview.
.OTHER
Last month, we brought you an interview with Wade Callison, an entrepreneur who’s started a new networking company that claims to compete with the big brands. It was an interesting interview, but what got Wade in the door originally was his understanding of the issues of identity theft, an issue of great concern to everyone.
.CALLOUT Over 10 million Americans were victimized by identity theft last year.
This month, I had the opportunity to conduct a follow-up interview with Wade, discussing many of the more scary aspects of identity theft — and what you can do to protect yourself. Even though Wade did his best to milk the interview for all the PR value he could (he managed to work in 12 mentions of his company during the Q&A session), this is still a must read interview.
.TEASER Tap here to read this essential article. This one’s important, folks!
We recommend you print out a copy of this interview and carry it with you at all times. There’s an EasyPrint button on the upper-right side of this page. If a store, agency, or office gives you a hard time about protecting your identity, give this to him or her to read. Denise and I are keeping a copy in each of our cars’ glove compartments.
.Q David
You’ve done a lot of work with identity theft. Can you give us some background?
.A Wade
Let me tell you a little about Sereniti so you understand why we care so much about identity theft and protecting consumers. Sereniti provides consumers and SOHO [Small Office, Home Office] customers with the same level of PC and networking support and security that the business world has enjoyed for decades. An area of particular concern for consumers is protecting their PCs and personal information.
As part of delivering a complete, secure and easy home networking solution, we examined the biggest threats to consumers, their personal information and their time. One of the things that came out of this analysis is that while providing multiple layers of defense to protect consumer home networks and digital assets was crucial, consumers still face a growing threat to their personal information and identities.
Identity theft is recognized as the fastest growing crime in the United States. The FTC [Federal Trade Commission] estimates that over 10 million Americans were victimized by identity theft last year.
To protect our customers from this threat, we partnered with AIG (American International Group, Inc.) to provide a $25,000 Identity Theft policy that will help our customers recover from this potentially devastating crime.
.Q David
It seems like we’re covering this topic more and more, and yet people still don’t get the problem. Can you explain the scope of the problem?
.A Wade
First, let me describe the crime of identity theft so that it is clear what we are talking about. Identity theft occurs when someone steals your personal information to apply for credit cards, take out a home or real estate loan, rent an apartment, access bank accounts or commit many other crimes using your identity.
The effects of this crime can be devastating. It can take years and hundreds of hours of effort to repair your credit and close all of the fraudulent accounts and loans. The scary part is that some of your readers could be victims of this crime right now and not be aware of it.
Identity theft happens in many ways. In the physical world, it commonly results from someone stealing mail, copying credit cards in a retail establishment, or looking for discarded credit card statements in the trash.
Online threats that lead to ID theft are increasing in scope and frequency. Hackers may break into unprotected home PCs to steal sensitive personal information such as social security numbers, tax returns, and passwords.
Viruses and spyware in particular can sometimes log keystrokes on the computer. In addition, spam email or seemingly legitimate websites can trick people into revealing personal information. These techniques are called "phishing" and "farming" respectively.
.Q David
Let’s get personal. At least once a week, when my wife and I are out shopping, some store, doctor, or office insists on making a copy of a driver’s license. I went into La-Z-Boy last month to buy a chair and they didn’t want to sell me one unless I let them keep a copy of my driver’s license in their file cabinet. Needless to say, I refused (and still got the chair — which is comfy as heck, by the way). What are some ways we can protect ourselves from identity theft when we’re out in the real world?
.A Wade
Whether they’re in the physical world or online, consumers should exercise diligence when providing personal information to others. The most important step is to ensure that they are dealing with a legitimate organization.
Take care with any documentation that references personal information. Examples are credit statements, bills, various forms of identification, ATM receipts, credit card receipts, etc.
Only provide a social security number when absolutely necessary. Employers and financial institutions need a Social Security number for wage and tax reporting purposes. Other businesses may ask for a Social Security number to do a credit check when you are applying for a loan, renting an apartment, or signing up for utilities.
Sometimes, however, they simply want a Social Security number for general record keeping. If someone asks for your Social Security number, ask:
.BEGIN_LIST
.BULLET Why do you need my Social Security number?
.BULLET How will my Social Security number be used?
.BULLET How do you protect my Social Security number from being stolen?
.BULLET What will happen if I don’t give you my Social Security number?
.END_LIST
.Q David
I almost hate to ask this, because it’s terrifying. But here goes. Can you give us some examples of identity thefts that have occurred?
.A Wade
The occurrences of identity theft are indeed broad and scary. Let me give you a personal example.
A friend of mine found a job posting for a well-known, reputable company in the classified ads of the local newspaper and went to the Web site listed. The site looked legitimate so he filled in a job application with all of his personal information.
It turns out that the site, while looking real, was a scam to steal personal information and divert funds through his bank accounts. Thankfully he was only out a couple hundred dollars, but the disruption to his life was huge.
He cancelled his credit cards, notified his bank and he and his wife spent countless sleepless nights worrying about what else was going to happen to them.
Thankfully for them it ended there. Or so we think.
This is not just an "online" problem; there are plenty of ways that thieves obtain personal information through physical and online means. Here are some examples:
.BEGIN_LIST
.BULLET Stealing your wallet or purse: A thief steals your wallet or purse containing your driver’s license, credit cards and debit cards.
.END_LIST
.BEGIN_LIST
.BULLET Stealing your mail: Thieves steal bank and credit card statements, pre-approved credit offers, telephone calling cards and tax information from your mailbox. One way they do this is to divert your mail to another location using a change of address form.
.END_LIST
.BEGIN_LIST
.BULLET Dumpster diving: Thieves rummage through residential or business trash looking for personal information from bills or bank, credit card, and insurance statements.
.END_LIST
.BEGIN_LIST
.BULLET Stealing work and business records: Thieves get your business or personnel records at work or from a place of business that you have provided your information. They then either use the information themselves or provide it to another person who then uses your personal information.
.END_LIST
.BEGIN_LIST
.BULLET Social Engineering: Thieves fraudulently pose as your employer, landlord or someone else with a legitimate need for your personal information. A variation of this is that a thief pretends to be you or a legitimate requestor and persuades business employees to provide them with your personal information.
.END_LIST
.BEGIN_LIST
.BULLET Internet theft: Thieves may obtain personal information from unsecured Web sites that you may have visited, from fake sites that they set up to collect information from unsuspecting people, or from guessing passwords that are easily determined.
.END_LIST
.Q David
That’s just terrifying. You don’t normally suspect ads in your local newspaper. What victims do to recover?
.A Wade
If you believe that are the victim of identity theft, you should immediately contact the fraud departments of any one of the three credit reporting agencies (Experian, Equifax and TransUnion) to initiate a fraud report.
Then you should close any accounts they feel may be compromised, and challenge any new accounts that may have been opened under your identity. As part of Sereniti’s policy, victims are issued an ID Theft Recovery Kit from AIG that includes form letters to facilitate these steps.
In addition, victims should file a police report in their locale. You should also notify the FTC, which maintains a database of ID theft incidents.
Regrettably, these steps typically take about six months to complete and involve, on average, almost 200 hours of effort as well as expenses that can amount to thousands of dollars. This unfortunate predicament is what Sereniti’s indentity theft policy endeavors to remedy.
[Wade provided contact information for the various credit agencies. We’ve included them at the end of this article. — Ed.]
.Q David
Let’s look at this in a step-by-step way. What are some critical steps we can take to protect ourselves?
.A Wade
Following are some tips consumers should bear in mind to protect their identities. Review your credit reports regularly (at least once a year) to look for credit activity that may not be your own doing.
Secure personal information in your home, especially if you have roommates, employ outside help, or are having work done in your home. Treat mail and trash with care. It’s a good idea to buy a shredder to destroy bills and credit or bank statements.
Don’t give out personal information on the phone, through the mail, or on the Internet unless you’ve initiated the contact or are sure you know who you’re dealing with. Identity thieves are clever, and have posed as representatives of banks, ISPs, and even government agencies to get people to reveal their Social Security number, mother’s maiden name, account numbers, and other identifying information.
Before you share any personal information, confirm that you are dealing with a legitimate organization. Check an organization’s Web site by typing its URL in the address line, rather than cutting and pasting it. Many companies post scam alerts when their name is used improperly. Or call customer service using the number listed on your account statement or in the telephone book.
Give your Social Security number only when absolutely necessary, and ask to use alternate types of identifiers.
Be cautious when responding to promotions. Identity thieves may create phony promotional offers to get you to give them your personal information.
Look for Web site privacy policies. They should answer questions about maintaining accuracy, access, security, and control of personal information collected by the site, how the information will be used, and whether it will be provided to third parties. If you don’t see a privacy policy, or if you can’t understand it, consider doing business elsewhere.
.Q David
Technology seems to be making identity theft worse. Can we also use technology to protect ourselves?
.A Wade
Consumers must absolutely confront this threat with technology. In this day and age, having antivirus and anti-spyware programs installed on all computers in the household is not enough. You must ensure that the protections are always up-to-date and running.
In addition, you should have a software firewall installed on their computers, and ideally have a hardware firewall in addition to protect your network from hackers. Parental control software is also a good idea, to help restrict children from sites that might manipulate them into installing spyware on a computer. Finally, keeping computers up to date with the latest OS patches is also necessary to ward off the latest hacker exploits.
Sereniti offers all of these essential lines of defense in a single and easy to use solution that also keeps everything up to date for protection against the latest online threats.
.Q David
Is identity theft primarily an American problem? Elaborate.
.A Wade
Identity theft has reached epidemic proportions in the US, but in Europe and elsewhere it’s a lesser problem. Social Security numbers are typically used there only for retirement benefits, not for other purposes. Credit agencies typically provide information only to banks, not to other third parties. Personal data is kept much more private and institutions are more strict about sharing information among themselves. Companies aren’t allowed to create or sell databases of people’s former addresses and phone numbers.
Notably, credit cards are used much less in Europe where the majority of the populace relies on debit cards. Cards are typically issued by a consumer’s bank that is more familiar with that individual and their activity. Finally, cards in Europe typically have integrated computer chips that make them much more difficult to counterfeit.
.Q David
I understand Sereniti is offering identity theft insurance. How does it work and how can it help.
.A Wade
Sereniti offers a zero deductible insurance policy for victims of identity theft that covers up to $25,000 in expenses for repairing credit records as well as lost wages. On average, identity theft victims suffer as many as 175 hours lost from work in their efforts to repair credit records.
In addition, Sereniti offers a zero deductible $1,000 policy that covers damage to computers and software as the result of viruses. Both policies are underwritten by AIG, the world’s leading international insurance and financial services organization.
.BEGIN_KEEP
The policies are included at no additional cost with a subscription to Sereniti service, and provide coverage to all customers who install Sereniti’s Security Software Suite (antivirus, antispyware, personal firewall and pop-up blocker).
.Q David
Is there anything else you’d like to add?
.A Wade
The causes of ID theft are numerous and varied, which requires individuals to be vigilant and alert to protect their identities. It’s essential to cover as many bases as possible to reduce the possibility that they will be victim. Sereniti endeavors to maintain a multi-layered defense to assure consumers are protected to the greatest degree possible across all online fronts.
.BEGIN_SIDEBAR
.H1 Product availability and resources
To read "The inside story of Sereniti, a new wireless router company", visit http://www.computingunplugged.com/issues/issue200512/00001691001.html
For more information on Sereniti, visit http://www.sereniti.com.
To contact Experian’s fraud center, call 1-888-397-3742 or visit http://www.experian.com/customer_service/fraud_center_redir.html.
To contact Equifax’s fraud center, call 1-888-766-0008 or visit https://www.econsumer.equifax.com/consumer/sitepage.ehtml?forward=elearning_idtheft1.
To contact TransUnion’s fraud center, call 1-800-916-8800 or visit http://www.transunion.com/content/page.jsp?id=/personalsolutions/general/data/FraudInformation.xml.
.END_SIDEBAR
.BIO
.END_KEEP
