Protect Yourself From Identity Theft

What is Identify Theft?

Identity theft is a widespread and growing problem impacting millions of people every year. Basically, identity theft takes place when critical pieces of your private information is acquired by a criminal.

With your social security, home address, and/or access to your banking and credit accounts, a thief can initiate loans and other financial transactions in your name pretending to be you. Some examples of identity theft instances include opening up credit cards in your name and then amassing tens of thousands of dollars in debt, acquiring car loans and even buying property with a mortgage in your name.

New Jersey is one of forty-three states with formal laws on the books making identity theft a crime. It's statute 2C:21-17 and is formally called Wrongful Impersonation.

How Does Identity Theft Happen?

Sometimes the offender knows the victim but most times does not. There are several ways in which an offender can obtain your personal information. They can simply sort through your own trash cans, they may work at a bank, mortgage firm or credit card company or any office or organization where your personal information (name, address, social security number, account numbers, etc. is kept)

Alternatively, an identity thief may engage in an online scam called phishing which tricks you into disclosing personal information under the false premise you are doing so legitamtely.

EXAMPLE -- You get an email from CitiBank credit cards, Ford Motor Credit, PayPal or eBay alerting you to an account issue that needs your immediate attention. If you hold a Citibank card, a Ford car loan, a PayPal account, etc. you can be tricked into "logging on" to a completely bogus website where you have just entered your own critical information. The phisher then has all your information and they can use to wreck your life.

How? This criminal BECOMES YOU. They open up bank accounts in your name and start bouncing checks. They open up credit card accounts with the highest credit limit they can obtain and then rack up all the debt they can on purchases of every kind.

Once that happens it can take you YEARS to clean up the mess because YOU are responsible for most if not all of the transactions and you need to clear your name.

Preventing Identity Theft

DO:

Order your credit report every year and review it. Look for any transactions you don't recognize and make inquiries

Prevent your postal mail from eing intercepted by an identity thief. Take your mail in as soon as you can.

Buy a shredder and use it. Shred all personal paperwork that deals with financial information. You can buy a basic shredder for just about $59 these days.

When using your ATM Debit Card, either at a bank or in a store, make sure no one can see you punch in your ATM code. Better bet: Process Debit Card transactions as a credit card charge so your code CANNOT be learned.

Carefully review each and every monthly statement you receive and look for charges you can't identity. Every transaction lists a phone number to call. Make that phone call and verify the validity of the transaction.

Let us destroy any computer records for you. DO NOT EVER simply dispose of a hard drive. LET US SECURELY ERASE THAT HARD DRIVE. Your entire life can be obtained from a hard drive.

DON'T:

Do not respond to unsolicited junk mail either in your mailbox or your computer's in box. That could be phishing, remember?

Do not put personal information on warranty cards. Those lists end up being sold to anyone and everyone.

Do not provide your social security number to ANY company as a means of identification. Simply refuse. All legitimate companies will have an alternate method.

In general -- use common sense and vigilance with all of your information and all of your dealings.

If you suspect you are a victim of Identity Theft CONTACT THE ROYAL GEEKS immediately for assistance.


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