sale come Black Friday and Cyber Monday-don't let your identity be one
of them! The No. 1 crime in America, identity theft runs rampant
during the holiday season.
An identity is stolen every three to four seconds. Yours will not be
one of them if you follow these tips, courtesy of Scott Stevenson,
Founder and CEO of Eliminate ID Theft, an identity theft protection
and credit-monitoring agency.
Beware of Skimming - During the holidays, stores use temporary workers
to accommodate the shoppers who crowd the malls. These workers often
go through a much-less thorough screening process than full-time,
salaried workers. Often paid hourly at a minimum wage, these workers
can be lured by the promise of quick money that skimming credit card
numbers offers.
- Know what a skimmer looks like. Google Images has plenty of
pictures. Skimmers are small machines that look similar to other
credit card technology, and thus can easily be overlooked even when
used out in the open.
- When possible, use cash. That way, you won't be a target of
identity fraud.
Be on the Lookout - From an experienced thief to a proprietary
teenager, anyone can steal a credit card number and use it to ruin
your finances and credit.
- Watch to make sure no one copies down your card numbers. Shred
all receipts, as many of these contain credit card expiration dates,
as well as the last four digits of the card numbers.
Protect Your Information - The National Retail Federation estimated
that nearly half of consumers would shop online in 2007; more than 61
million people would do so from work, potentially spreading their
financial information on more than one computer.
- Erase all cookies. Make sure no one can sit down at your
computer and access your information.
- Use a shredder. Destroy old credit card bills and opt out of
unsolicited credit card offers (www.optoutprescreen.com <http://www.optoutprescreen.com/
>). This reduces the chance of someone sifting through trash and
discovering your personal financial numbers.
Think Before You Click! E-mails containing links to online stores
often contain phishing software that records your personal information
as you type. Find reputable online stores using a search engine, such
as Google, and add these stores to your favorites so you don't have to
trust e-mail advertisements.
Look for the Lock, the padlock that is. This icon at the bottom of an
Internet window, along with the "http" or "https" at the beginning of
a Web site, denotes security. Other indications that a site is
trustworthy include notations from TRUSTe, Verisign, The Better
Business Bureau and McAffee Secure. Additionally, when a site has
Extended Validation SSL (a higher level of security) the address bar
turns green and the organization's name is displayed to show that it's
been certified. You can also check to see if the company is Visa CISP
(Cardholder Information Security Program) compliant.
Use Temporary Credit Card Numbers, provided upon customer request by
many credit card companies, for online shopping. Even legitimate Web
sites sometimes get hacked into; by using a temporary credit card
number, you can avoid thieves racking up additional charges on your
regular card.
Avoid Fakes. Some shopping sites that offer deep discounts really are
too good to be true. These sites allow you to add items to your
virtual shopping cart and enter your payment information upon check
out, just like any reputable site, except the products never arrive-
they never existed in the first place, and now the criminals have your
money and your personal information! When possible, order through well-
known sites like Amazon.com, eBay.com and Yahoo. Check to see if
smaller sites have contact information that connects you to a live
person, rather than just an online form. If a company skimps on
contact information, it might be a sign to steer clear.
Shop in Private from your personal computer rather than one at work, a
friend's house, a hotel or the airport. You never know what cookies or
hacking tools may accidentally be on public computers, and you don't
want your information stored where others can see it.
