Post-April 15 Tips to Prevent Identity Theft
Posted on 15 April 2008, at 12:02 pm, by Judie Lipsett
This list was sent in by Identity Finder, along with the information following. I don’t normally post articles written by PR agencies (unless they are noted on Gear Diary as press releases), but this one really does have a lot of relevant information in this time of rampant identity theft and online shenanigans. Anyone that uses their computer for online monetary transactions would do well to pay attention to these tips…
1. When storing a copy of your tax return on your computer, make sure you secure it with a password so that your SSN cannot be read if the file is lost.
2. Securely delete all electronic, financial documents used to prepare your tax returns so any personal information is safe.
3. Ignore all refund/rebate/warning emails claiming to come from the IRS and never click on links within those emails because it is most likely a phishing attack.
4. Do not provide personal information to anyone calling you claiming to be from the IRS; the IRS already has your information and it’s likely to be an identity thief calling you.
5. Check your credit report with one of the three credit bureaus for free every four months at www.annualcreditreport.com to make sure your identity hasn’t already been stolen.
6. Install the latest updates to your operating system so known Windows or Mac vulnerabilities can’t be exploited by hackers.
7. Don’t save your password in your web browser when accessing banks and other institutions that
keep your personal information because it could be leaked if you ever get a virus, Trojan, or are hacked.
8. If you provided your bank account and routing information to the IRS for payment or refunds,
check your bank accounts to ensure the proper transfer occurred.
9. Visit your bank account online and set up alerts on your accounts to monitor when high amounts of cash are withdrawn.
10. Make sure you do not receive incorrect payment liability or refund information; a thief could have filed a tax return on your behalf fraudulently. If you suspect tax preparation fraud, call the State Tax Department toll-free at 1-888-675-9437.
Tens of millions of tax returns have just been filed electronically for the tax year 2007. Anyone who has filed their taxes this way and has their personally identifiable information stored unprotected in their computer is vulnerable to the ever-growing threat of electronic identity theft.
According to the IRS, a record 77 million tax returns were filed electronically for the tax year 2006 and these figures are sure to have increased. Stored tax documents are a gold mine for hackers and thieves as every single tax return contains at least one person’s social security number, name, and address. Here are a few facts about identity theft:
–Over 8 million Americans have their identities stolen each year.
–The FTC reported that in 2007, the #1 category of complaint—32% of total complaints received—was identity theft.
–Consumers reported (to the FTC) 2007 fraud losses totaling more than $1.2 billion, which was almost double that of 2005.
–The Associated Press recently reported that “Fraudulent tax returns filed as a result of identity theft jumped more than sixfold over the past five years.”
–According to the IDC (Interactive Data Corp.), it’s projected that black market trafficking of stolen electronic identities alone will increase to $1.6 billion by the year 2010.
Since they provided us all with helpful information, I’ll include this bit…
About Identity Finder:
The Identity Finder software searches through electronic data such as documents, spreadsheets, e-mails, instant messenger logs, web browsers, and the most hidden system areas of computers for personal details – such as social security numbers, passwords, credit card details and bank account numbers. Most importantly, Identity Finder helps users securely shred or encrypt the data. It is available in Home, Professional and Enterprise editions.
Founded in 2001 and headquartered in New York City, Identity Finder, LLC specializes in developing software solutions that meet business and consumer needs. The company’s technologies have been used by thousands of organizations in more than 40 countries. The management team is a thought leader in the industry. They are well-published and have consulted with hundreds of businesses to help manage information technology risks. www.identityfinder.com
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April 15th, 2008 at 12:46 pm
Here’s another tip – my day job is accounting software and a LOT of smaller companies still print payroll check stubs with your social security number displayed…
..many of these stubs land in the trash bin at the bank…where they could easily be harvested for your name and social security number.
We aren’t seeing this as much anymore – some states have passed laws to disallow the number from being printed.
Definitely something to watch for.
April 15th, 2008 at 1:19 pm
I know it’s not digital necessarily, but you should always remember to shred anything that has sensitive personal information or numbers on it. Putting something in the trash is an open invitation for identity theft.
You should also store your checks, any credit cards you aren’t carrying, birth certificates, social security cards, and passports in a locked home safe.
April 15th, 2008 at 3:50 pm
Thanks for the tip about the free credit report. I’ve been curious before, but since I haven’t had any problems I didn’t feel like paying for a report. It was really easy to do too.
April 16th, 2008 at 2:39 pm
Here’s my biggest tip: Paranoia is your strongest weapon.
Remember, no operating system is 100% secure, be it Windows, Mac, or even Linux. The only way you can keep your electronics truly secure is to encrypt them.
Make sure anything and everything on your computer is as up to date as possible.
When handling money and personal information on the internet, NEVER use an insecure browser. Internet explorer 7.0 and up is somewhat acceptable, but do not use 6.0 or older. If you use Mozilla Firefox, make sure you have the latest version (2.0.0.13 or 3.0 beta 5).
You can never be too safe. Also, if you are using Windows Vista, unless you absolutely know what you are doing, NEVER disable User Account Control. UAC is designed to annoy you and thereby keep you from doing anything which might endanger your computer or your personal data (yes, it IS designed to annoy you).
If you use Mac, make sure you are as up to date as possible, if you are, you should be fine… but as the market share goes up, so will your security risk. Never consider yourself safe because you don’t use windows. Not even Linux or Unix users are 100% safe and don’t forget, Mac OS is based on Unix.
If you want tos tay secure, learn safe browsing habits. The general rule of thumb is: “if it sounds too good to be true, it usually is”
Also, no administrator of any company will ever ask you for your password, credit card number, or social security number via email. If you get one like this, contact the company and ask if it’s real. 99 times out of 100 it won’t be.
Indeed, paranoia is your friend.