Last
Digest we talked about why we all need to be
wary of identity theft, and our first tip had to do with ATM’s. In our continuing attempt to alert you to identity scams
we offer the following tips:
1. Most identity
theft experts encourage you to eliminate as much paper from your financial life as possible. On-line banking is highly encouraged.
It’s easy, and sort of fun. They also recommend that you guard your mail. The fewer bills and other identifying materials
that could be stolen from your mail box the better.
2. If
you don’t already have a paper shredder, get one. We operate our business as though our most predatory competitor is
standing next to our dumpster at all times. We shred everything. It helps to guard against identity theft, and it generates
good packing material.
3. Stay
away from social networks on your computer, like Facebook. They are incredibly porous from a security standpoint. They are
loaded with viruses. And unless you use them to enhance your business, they are a huge waste of time. Stay away, says our
computer guru.
4. Speak to your computer consultant about ways to protect your computer security.
There are many ways to guard against people hacking into your computer and stealing your info. We don’t understand this
part of ID theft that well. That’s why we recommend talking to the person you use for such technical matters. Some have
to do with modem encryption, whatever that is. Others have to do with devices you can buy for this purpose (ID Vault, available
at Best Buy is one such device). There are also web sites dedicated to this issue, such as www.privacyrights.org and www.consumercompare.org
.
5.
Watch out for computer “Phishing”. These are the scams where you get an email from some foreigner looking
to launder money into the US via your bank account. I have a file full of these things, from such places as Benin, Africa
($1.5 million), Bangkok, Thailand ($1.5 mill), Togo, West Africa ($5.5 million!), Benin again ($1.7 mill this time). I even
got one from a guy claiming to be the personal account manager of a Dr. Edward William Howe, who allegedly died a few years
ago leaving a huge amount of money, now located in the Bank of Seychelles, off the coast of Africa. This was especially tantalizing
because it used a name of a “long lost” (non-existent) relative. Stated rewards are astounding…like millions
of dollars promised. All you have to do is provide your full personal identifying info, including bank account numbers. HELLO???!!!
6
. Be careful about credit cards. Lenders are much too loose with credit cards. Not only do they approve anyone, they send
them out in the mail, which can easily be stolen. One of my first jobs after college was running the then MasterCharge program
for a Boston bank. We took applications for cards. We investigated jobs, credit history, etc. And we made decisions based
on the information we got from that investigation. Once a month two plain-clothes policemen would drive me to Cambridge, Mass.,
to New England Bankcard Association, where we would go through several security doors, and eventually be given our cards to
distribute. The two cops would then escort me back to the bank, where we would distribute the cards only after seeing the
customer’s ID. Imagine how much better off the US economy would be if we still did credit cards that way. Credit card
debt, which is killing the economy, would be at a minimum.
These are important tips. We highly recommend that you take this seriously
before you’re subjected to the horror that I was in 1985!
Our final installment on identity theft will cover the most important
means for monitoring any changes to your financial situation: credit reports. You’ve all probably seen all those “FreeCreditReport.com”
commercials on TV. You’ll be surprised to find out how they are trying to scam you through something that is legally
available to you for free.