Identity Theft

CBD College Financial Literacy

Questions we will answer:

• What is identity theft?
• How does identity theft occur?
• How do thieves use your information?
• How do you protect yourself?
• What if you're a victim?

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What is identity theft?

• The crime of using another person’s personal information, credit history or other identifying characteristics in order to make purchases or borrow money without that person’s permission.

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Types of Identity Theft

• Computer Crime: Data is stolen during online activities.
• Personal Betrayal: Friend, employee, or relative steals data.
• Document Loss: You lose your wallet, checkbook or credit cards or your mail/trash is stolen.
• Business Leaks: Personal files are stolen and exploited from a place where you have conducted business.

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How does identity theft occur?

• Stolen wallet, mail, purse or backpack.
• Dumpster diving for thrown away documents that contain personal data.
• Rob house or business
• Email scams
• ATM, credit card skimming
• Corporate data breaches
• Pharming
• Phishing

What is Pharming?

• Pharming is a process that steals information from unsuspecting internet users. It’s a cyber attack intended to redirect a website's traffic to a different, fake site.

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What is Phishing?

• Phishing is a practice that online fraudsters use to ‘fish’ for confidential passwords and financial data from the ‘sea’ of internet users using email.

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Phishing Continued

Example Phishing Email

How might thieves use your information?

• Apply for credit cards or loans in your name.
• Withdraw funds from your accounts.
• Use your health insurance to obtain medical care.
• Use your social security number to steal your tax refund.
• Sell your information on the dark web to other criminals.

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How do you protect yourself?

• Monitor your credit report!
• The best place to get your credit report is annualcreditreport.com. It is the website that was set up as a result of the Fair Credit Reporting Act that states that you are entitled to receive a free copy of your credit report. That act also says that you have a right to see a copy of each of your three credit reports every 12 months.

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Credit Reports

• You have the option to request all three credit reports for free once per year.
• Experian
• Equifax
• Transunion

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• It is a smart idea to request one credit report every 4 months in order to discover any fraud or identity theft faster.

Use STRONG PASSWORDS

• Another big way to protect yourself is to use strong passwords. Here are some good rules of thumb.
• Use different passwords for each account (try using a password manager so you don’t have to remember them all).
• Don’t just protect your accounts – protect your devices too. Use passwords on your phone and computer.
• Try using longer passphrases instead of passwords. They are easier to remember and more difficult to hack.

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Be Vigilant

• Steer clear of suspicious websites and links.
• Don’t give out your personal info to a caller or through email.
• Delete unknown emails and don’t download attachments.
• Protect your personal documents – Shred!
• Limit your exposure online.

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What if you're a victim?

• Signs to look out for:
• You no longer get your bills in the mail. An identity thief could have changed your billing address.
• You are turned down for a loan or credit, but you know you have a history of good credit. Being approved at a high interest rate is also a sign.
• You are billed for purchases you didn’t make.
• Your financial accounts have transactions that appear fraudulent.
• Your tax return is rejected.
• Identity thieves often make “test” purchases of $5 or under to see if a card is still active. Watch for these!

Take Action:�Contact Government Authorities�

• You have the right to create an FTC Identity Theft Report. Your FTC Identity Theft Report helps prove to businesses that someone stole your identity, and makes it easier to correct problems caused by identity theft.
• How does this help?
• Acts as a declaration of your innocence.
• Helps start the investigation.

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Take Action:�Contact Creditors and Financial Institutions

You have the right to:

• Stop creditors and debt collectors from reporting fraudulent accounts. After you give them a copy of a valid FTC Identity Theft Report, they may not report fraudulent accounts to the credit reporting companies.
• Get copies of documents related to the theft of your identity, like transaction records or applications for new accounts. Write to the company that has the documents, and include a copy of your FTC Identity Theft Report. You also can tell the company to give the documents to a specific law enforcement agency.
• Stop a debt collector from contacting you. In most cases, debt collectors must stop contacting you after you send them a letter telling them to stop.
• Get written information from a debt collector about a debt, including the name of the creditor and the amount you supposedly owe. If a debt collector contacts you about a debt, request this information in writing.

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Take Action:�Contact the Credit Bureaus

You have the right to:

• Place a one-year fraud alert on your credit report. The fraud alert tells creditors that they must take reasonable steps to verify who is applying for credit in your name. To place this alert, contact one of the three national credit bureaus. The one you contact must notify the others.
• When you place a one-year fraud alert, you’re also entitled to a free copy of your credit reports. You’ll get a confirmation letter from each credit bureau with instructions for how to get your free reports.
• Place a seven-year extended fraud alert on your credit report. To do this, send a copy of your FTC Identity Theft Report to each credit bureau. The extended fraud alert means potential creditors must contact you before they issue credit in your name. In your letter, be sure to give the best way for a creditor to reach you.
• Get credit bureaus to remove fraudulent information from your credit report. This is called blocking. You must send them a copy of your FTC Identity Theft Report, proof of your identity, and a letter stating which information is fraudulent. Then the credit bureau must tell the relevant creditor that someone stole your identity. Creditors cannot turn fraudulent debts over to debt collectors.
• Dispute fraudulent or inaccurate information on your credit report. Do this by writing to the credit bureau. They must investigate your dispute and amend your report if you are right.
• You have the right to place a free credit freeze on your credit report. A credit freeze, also called a security freeze, makes it less likely that an identity thief could open a new account in your name.

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Take Action:�Contact Local Authorities

It’s important to report identity theft to the police in these three cases:

• You know the identity thief or you have other information that could aid a police investigation.
• An identity thief used your name in an encounter with the police. For instance, this might involve a traffic stop.
• A creditor, debt collector, or other affected party insists you produce a police report.
• In most other cases, you can report identity theft to IdentityTheft.gov. The FTC set up the website as a one-stop shop for reporting many types of identity theft. It also helps you to set up a recovery plan.

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Take Action:�Maintain Good Records and Follow-up

• Make copies of your identity theft police report and your FTC complaint. You’ll need these to resolve any disputes with companies where the identity thief used your name.

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Questions? Contact us!

CBD College Financial Aid Office

Email: fa@cbd.edu

Phone:213-427-2200

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