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Graduates beware of Identity Theft

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Worried about finding a job after you graduate from college? Worried about paying off your debts? It gets uglier: New college grads need to think about their identities being stolen. One-third of identity theft complaints come from young adults.

http://www.dreamstime.com/stock-photos-identity-theft-red-words-binary-code-computer-monitor-image39907813A new college graduate will often have a clean credit history. If the new college graduate discovers, however, that their credit score is inexplicably low, it’s probably because their identity has been stolen. This can be a nightmare.

Compounding the issue is that some businesses will check the job applicant’s credit report and use this information against them by not hiring.

Prior to graduation, the college student should do a credit check; it can be done annually online free of charge. Young adults should never have an “It can’t happen to ME” approach to one of life’s raw realities: the proliferation of identity theft.

College students should always shred all of their bank related statements, credit card statements and all other documents that contain very personal information.

College students should avoid posting their birthdates, phone numbers and addresses on social media.

Additional Tips

  • Ask your parents to explain whatever they know to you about online scams like malicious e-mails (phishing), suspicious pop-up ads, buying apps from third party sellers, etc.
  • Avoid debit cards; use only a credit card because thieves prefer to steal identities through debit cards.
  • Memorize your SSN so you can keep your SSN card in a safe place at all times.
  • Check your credit card statements every month for suspicious charges.
  • Never give out your SSN, even if the clerk at the retail store insists they need it so that they can give you an intro 15 percent off with the store’s credit card.
  • Go to www.annualcreditreport.com to check your credit report every year.
  • Get identity theft protection and a credit freeze.

Robert Siciliano is an identity theft expert to BestIDTheftCompanys.com discussing  identity theft prevention. For Roberts FREE ebook text- SECURE Your@emailaddress -to 411247. Disclosures.

The Future of Identity Theft

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Identity theft evolves as technology progresses. The Identity Theft Resource Center explains the future of this crime.

11DDefinition of Identity

The definition will swell up to include biometrics and behavior, not just driver’s license number and SSN. So your identity can be defined by how you move a mouse and your keystroke patterns.

Medical Identity

There’s no focal mechanism for the mitigation of medical identity theft, making it easy for thieves to keep getting medical treatment. Many people get their medical identity stolen without knowing it.

Statistics

Crime rate statistics are not telling the whole story. The illusion is that crime rates are on the decline; this is because statistics do not include all fraud activity. The primary indicator in crime statistics reports doesn’t even include identity theft.

Mobile wallets will not take over the world—at least not soon, anyways.

Though mobile wallets seem to be the next big wave in purchase technology, it’s not going to be easy convincing the masses to store every bit of their financial data in their smartphone. In fact, 64 percent of survey participants said they would not convert to a mobile wallet system (Consult Hyperion).

Affordability

All of these cool developments in the world of cyber communication will not necessarily apply to every single person; products cost money. So no matter how much it seems that times are changing or that people are “switching over” to some new technology, there will still be that demographic that’s seemingly left in the dust.

Finally…

It looks as though federal data breach notification laws will at last become a reality. Or so it seems.

Extra Layers

The dual and even multi-step authentication system will become more common, as more industries pick this up, to verify a user’s identity. And even consumers seem to be warming up to this.

Can’t have it both ways:

That is, security and convenience. With all the big data breaches lately, looks like privacy and security will win over convenience for the consumer.

Robert Siciliano is an identity theft expert to BestIDTheftCompanys.com discussing  identity theft prevention. For Roberts FREE ebook text- SECURE Your@emailaddress -to 411247. Disclosures.

Healthcare Workers Indicted for Identity Theft

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A wise man once said, “Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.” The wolf in sheep’s clothing refers to someone in a role contrary to his or her character and with whom contact is dangerous. In other words, sometimes it’s the people we trust the most that commit the worst crimes. And it’s often the people who are the most vulnerable that are victimized.

In Virginia, HamptonRoads.com reports, “Two former health care nurse’s aides were indicted on charges of stealing the identities of at least a dozen patients as part of an elaborate scheme that netted more than $116,000 in fraudulent tax refunds. The men would take names, birth dates and Social Security numbers and give them to other people. Those accomplices, not identified in the indictment, would file false income tax returns collect refunds. Those refunds ranged from about $999 to $7,300, the indictment said.”

The boss of the alleged thieves stated, “We take the protection of patient information entrusted to us very seriously and have safeguards in place.” He added that “every employee is required to sign a pledge each year promising to protect patient information.”

This is hardly a new phenomenon. When I was in my early 20s, I knew a guy who worked as a home healthcare clinician and did this to his elderly patients. He had a cocaine problem and was just a nasty human being to begin with.

If you or anyone in your family is under the care of “professionals” who are put in a position of trust, know that trust is no more than a signed pledge away from being broken.

The best protection against identity theft is a combination of credit freezing and identity theft protection. Tax-related identity theft can’t be protected by either; however, the restorative component of an identity theft protection service may assist you in cleaning up the mess. Before making an investment, ask what is offered and if the service will do anything to prevent or fix tax-related identity theft.

Robert Siciliano is an identity theft expert to BestIDTheftCompanys.com discussing identity theft prevention. For Robert’s FREE ebook, text SECURE Your@emailaddress to 411247.