Identity Theft

Identity Theft is the fastest growing white-collar crime in America, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigations (F.B.I.).  In the past year alone consumers have lost $5 billion in out-of-pocket individual expenses trying to recover from ID Theft.  Businesses have lost an alarming $48 billion.  It can take months or even years to repair the damage done, including monetary damage, damage to your good name and even arrests for crimes you did not commit.  Combined with the vast array of tactics thieves use to access and abuse your information, it may seem impossible to protect yourself or your business when so many people are falling victim.  However, protection is possible, which is why The Better Business Bureau, Inc. Serving Eastern Massachusetts, Maine and Vermont has created this website information as part the campaign “Identity Theft: Don't Let Bad Things Happen To Your Good Name”.  The campaign is intended to give consumers and businesses the tools they need to outsmart ID thieves, prevent ID theft, and act properly and timely in the event that ID theft occurs.  Use the information from this site to guard yourself, and avoid becoming an ID Theft statistic.

Identity theft is a crime in which your name, Social Security number, credit card information, driver's license, or other piece of valuable personal information is obtained in order to steal directly from you, acquire a loan in your name, or use your name and information to steal from other sources.  Personal information includes your name, gender, address, income, assets, account and identification numbers, financial records, health records, and any other information that identifies something specific about you.  For businesses, ID theft also refers to fabricated identities created in order to steal from the business.

For Consumers For Business
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  Privacy & American Business-Id Theft Report
BBB Press Conference BBB Press Conference
How are Consumers Affected?
Social Security
Social Security theft causes some of the biggest problems.  As the main source for your employment, tax, and credit history, access to your Social Security Number (SSN) gives thieves the key to all of your vital personal information. Even a new SSN cannot guarantee a free and clear credit history after your information has been stolen.

Protect yourself.  If your SSN is requested for general record keeping, ask how the number will be used.  Supply alternative forms of information when possible.
Keep your Social Security card in a safe place. Keeping it in your wallet makes you vulnerable.  Make sure your drivers license does not have your social security number on it, if it does get it changed immediately.

Credit Card
Your credit card isn’t the only way someone can get a hold of your credit information.  Besides simply stealing the card from you, a thief can access your information through the telephone, in person during a purchase, from receipts, paperwork and from scamming you as a consumer.

Pre-approved credit applications that arrive in your mailbox can be stolen and activated by ID thieves.  Credit card companies are aware of this and some have made it more difficult to activate cards, such as only allowing the card to be activated from your home phone.

Your credit card information can be used to make purchases, acquire loans, redirect bills to an address other than your own, etc.

Shred documents you intend to throw away or recycle if they have your credit card information on them, including mail solicitations.

Send your information online over secured servers.

A secure site will use either Secure Electronic Transaction (SET) or Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) technology. The website address will likely say https instead of http. There will also be a small icon in the lower corner of your browser that looks like a lock or padlock. These signs all indicate that your transaction is secure. Your information is encoded so that it is disguised while it is being transmitted. Otherwise the information can be obtained by someone through the net.

Check Fraud
Checks, cancelled checks, and checking account information are all ways that ID thieves commit check fraud.  If you suspect that your checks have been stolen or counterfeited, notify your bank as soon as possible and stop payment on the check. It may even be necessary to close the account.

Other Types of Fraud
These are the main ways that identities can be stolen, but thieves are creative.  There are other ways of obtaining and exploiting information.  These include online auctions, cellular phone service, phone books, observing your PIN number and other passwords, etc.

The best prevention is general secure behavior.  Carefully track information for all accounts you hold, physically lock up important information, remove your name from the phone book, practice safety with online auctions and other websites, and cover your hand when entering your ATM PIN number.
 		 How are Businesses Affected?
While identity theft is a non-violent crime, it is not a victimless one. The BBB emphasizes that businesses, as well as consumers, are hard-hit by the impact of this fast-growing crime.

There are two forms of ID Theft that affect businesses.  The first form is the same as the kind that affects consumers. This occurs when a thief poses as a particular person with personal information they have obtained. Businesses are impacted each time an identity thief misuses an existing account or opens a new account in the names of their victims to purchase products or services, rent apartments and homes, obtain medical care, seek employment, obtain fake government documents or commit other frauds.

The second form of ID Theft affects businesses directly. This type occurs when a thief poses as a fictional person, either compositing information from many individuals or creating a whole new identity. Businesses are typically the only victims of this kind of ID Theft, and the loss is most often monetary.

Businesses must protect themselves from theft, but they have a second responsibility: to protect their customers and employees. Unsecured information can be stolen by an identity thief.  Use our guide below to see exactly how ID theft impacts business, along with how to protect customers and employees from ID thieves.
 

ID Thieves Impact Business

  • Business may unwittingly hire criminals who apply for jobs, using the names, credit and work histories of reputable workers.

  • Long-standing customers may end up resenting businesses that hound them for overdue payments for products or services made by others in their name. And, resentment results if a customer determines a particular businesses to be at fault for providing ready access for thieves to steal their personal financial information.
  • Employee productivity can be affected when identity theft strikes.  Victims on average spend up to 600 hours trying to resolve identity crime, which can impact on their productivity and morale at the workplace.
  • Businesses handle a large amount of customer and client information, much of it is personal.

Protect Customer and Employee Information

  • Collect only the specific information you will need from customers, clients and employees. For instance, if a zip code is the only information you need, do not document their home phone number. Or if you require their email address, do not ask for their full name.

  • Once you have used the information, dispose of it if you do not need it again.

  • Shred all documents you intend to throw away if they contain a piece of personal information.

  • For the information you must keep, lock it up. Password protect all computers, provide information on a need-to-know basis, and place hard copies under lock and key, literally.

  • Avoid recording customer and client Social Security Numbers. If you must keep them, lock them up.

  • Verify the identity of all people who interact with your business. Thieves can pose as credible individuals to consumers and to you.

  • If you do not already have one in place, consider an alarm system.

  • Secure exterior doors, the doors to offices, files, computers, windows, and, for that matter, the entire property. Well lit points of entrance can deter thieves day and night.

  • The longer it may take a thief to break in, the less likely they are to succeed, or perhaps even attempt.


Distribute Educational Material to Consumers and Employees

  • Make sure your employees keep their personal information ,and the personal information of customers and clients, protected in the ways above. A staff meeting regarding Identity Theft and ID Theft literature may help your employees with this task.

  • Your business probably has strict guidelines for handling customer and client information. Make sure these guidelines are being followed.

  • Provide pamphlets about ID Theft to your customers. Refer them to our comprehensive ID Theft website. The best way to help your customers and clients avoid ID Theft is to give them the tools to protect themselves.
How is Identity Theft Prevented?

Making your identity difficult to steal is the best way to protect yourself. The following tips will help you secure your personal information. Thieves can not steal what they can not find.

  • Carry only the cards you intend on using, and leave your Social Security card in a safe place. Write “check photo ID” on the back of cards instead of your signature.
     
  • Your license may pass through many hands during an average day. You may use it to write or cash checks, to verify your credit card, to verify your age, or fly on an airplane. A thief can use the information on the card or even change the picture and use the card themselves. Keep it safe.
     
  • Memorize account numbers, PIN numbers, and passwords. Writing them down leaves them exposed to thieves.  
     
  • When typing in a PIN number at an ATM, at checkout lines, or over the phone, cover your typing hand with your other hand or an object. Someone who steals your PIN number by looking over your shoulder is said to be “shouldering” or “shoulder surfing”.
     
  • Password protect your computer.
     
  • Clean your car out of all personal information.  For instance, your glove box may be a treasure chest of information.
     
  • A thief can steal your information right from your mail box. Your mail contains all sorts of information about you, as well as credit card solicitations and billing information. Collect your mail as soon as you can. Avoid leaving it in the box overnight or for several days.   When depositing mail, take it directly to the post office. It is more time consuming to clean up after an ID theft than it is to stop by your local post office.
     
  • Only give personal information when you have solicited the transaction or can verify the identity of the person and/or business who you are giving it to.
     
  • Read and understand all privacy policies for bank and other accounts. If you feel uncomfortable with the way your information may be used, you have the right to turn down or close an account.
     
  • Order your credit report from one of the three credit reporting agencies often. Check it for possible fraud.
     
  • Close any account you don’t use. Cut up old cards and dispose of them carefully. You may want to throw away the pieces in separate places.
     
  • Substitute another piece of information for your Social Security Number when possible. Places such as your employer, school, and bank may require this number and may not allow substitutes. Ask how this number will be used.
     
  • Know your billing cycle. If you’re familiar with it, you will realize quickly when a bill does not arrive. Contact your creditors immediately.
     
  • Shred all documents you throw away that contain personal information. Before you discard the shredded pieces, mix them up. Shredding is important, but shredded pieces of paper lined up in a row won’t help protect you very well.