Rare Bird, Inc. | Articles : Identity Theft Update

	Web Reviews From 1997 to the present, President/Creative Director, Jim Cota has been writing informative reviews of Web sites and other internet related issues for the Indianapolis Business Journal. If you've missed the articles in print you can catch up on past stories here. Articles are reprinted with permission of the Indianapolis Business Journal, copyright 1997 - 2005, IBJ Corp.

Identity Theft Update

It should be common knowledge at this point that identity theft is a large and growing problem. The Federal Trade Commission estimates that in 2003, the incidence of identity theft grew by more than 40% over the previous year. In all, about 10 million people fell victim last year, with losses totaling $53 billion. (Yes, that's "billion" with a "b".) Consumers were responsible for about $5 billion, the rest of the cost was shouldered by businesses.

I've told you before that you really need to take steps to protect yourself. The best first step is to buy a small cross-cut shredder and use it to shred all documents that include personal information like account numbers or your SSN. But aside from shedding everything in sight, what else can you do? Turns out, there are a few steps that are becoming increasing important.

First, you need to check your credit report. The early signs of fraud often show themselves in your credit report and are readily recognizable. Thanks to the internet, this is easier than ever. Congress recently passed a law requiring all three credit reporting agencies to provide a free credit report to you once a year, but you need to take the initiative to get it. (Indiana residents will be coming online with the new requirement in March, 2005.) You can contact the credit reporting agencies online for more information. Their addresses are Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. Until the free reports are available, you can order a copy of your report for a small fee. Equifax has a unique and easy-to-use system called ScorePower that I recommend.

Once you have your report, be sure to scan it carefully for any signs of fraud. These would include accounts you didn't open, balances that don't appear correct, inaccurate or incomplete addresses, etc. By the way, it's been estimated that 80% of credit reports contain at least some minor errors. The other reason to check your report is to ensure that yours is correct down to the letter. If you see errors, contact the credit bureau in question immediately. If you see signs of fraud, you need to contact both the bureaus and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). The FTC web site has a great section covering all the specifics of identity theft, including how to protect yourself and what to do if you discover that you're a victim. Your best protection against identity theft is to be cautious, use common sense, and be informed, and the best place to become more informed is the FTC site.

The next thing you need to do is use some common sense. In the last year, 'phishing' schemes have increased dramatically. These generally take the form of email messages that look like they've come from your bank, Paypal, eBay, etc. These messages purport to be warning you of missing information on your account or some other anomaly that needs your attention. Some &150; unbelievably – even arrive to "warn" you about suspicious activity on your account! These emails generally request that you follow a link to a website to login and provide some missing piece of information; that one piece that the scammer needs to steal your identity. There's one simple rule to protect yourself here: don't ever provide personal information, either via the internet or the phone, without initiating that contact yourself.