It’s the beginning of the holiday season and you have your list and are ready to shop. As you come down near the home stretch, you are at the store checkout and hear….”I’m sorry, this card has been declined”. You say “What? Ok, I’m sorry, try this one”. With a friendly smile the cashier says “I’m sorry, this card has been declined as well”. Although you have never been late on any of your payments and you know you have enough funds, you walk away with anger, frustration and embarrassment. You start to think that you may have left your checkbook somewhere or that your account may have been “hacked”. The first call you make is to your bank where you speak with a customer service representative. You proceed to tell the representative what happened and they inform you that this looks like a case of stolen identity. Wow! You ask yourself how this could have happened.
Despite our best efforts to protect our children, homes and anything we value, we often overlook the protection of our identity. We used to see regular service announcements informing us to not throw away our bills and other personal information because thieves would physically go through our trash and use the information to obtain lines of credit in our name. However, in today’s high-tech communication systems, we are finding that a high number of people are not protecting their accounts while accessing on-line bills and personal information. Data-breaches have become a wide spread problem among several stores and others institutions. A recent report of companies falling victim to data-breaches include JP Morgan Chase, EBay, Target and Home Depot affecting millions. These companies are diligent about keeping your data safe with several safeguards and some have dedicated security teams working around the clock.
How to reduce my risk? The first thing you can do is keep your private information “private”. That means when you sign on for that new account online, don’t use information that directly connects to you. A good example of this is when you are asked security questions like “mother’s maiden name or name of first pet” for your new and existing accounts. Keep in mind that every time you answer these questions either a profile is being created or you are adding to your existing profile. Another way to prevent identity theft is to make sure to put all personal information, including bills and medical information in your home is in a secure place like a locked file cabinet or safe. I would also recommend that you shred all of you unwanted documents in a “cross-cut or micro-cut shredder”. In addition to securing your information on-line and in your home, remember to never give out personal information over the phone to someone you don’t know or fully trust. If you receive a call for “your bank” asking you to verify your social security number, it’s not your bank and you should not tell them anything. These calls are meant to prey on your fear that someone has ‘hacked” your account. The caller will inform you that they need you to confirm your personal information but think about it….If this call was from “your bank”, they already have your social security number, your PIN (Personal Identification Number), answers to your security questions and your “private” information. You should also think about the fact that you didn’t call them, they called you. I suggest when you are on-line that you do not allow anyone to access your computer from remote unless you know and trust them. If you get a call from Microsoft requesting your email password, just say no and hang up and remember, Microsoft never calls or emails people asking them for their email passwords.
For more information on identity theft protection and support visit the Federal Trade Commission at http://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0272-how-keep-your-personal-information-secure.
TechTip: What should I do with that old Windows XP computer that has all of my photos and “old school” music on it but will not turn on? Depending on the condition of the hard drive, most computer repair shops offer a “data transfer or data recovery” service. Taking it to your local friendly tech may save many precious memories and bring back that “old school” sound.
Until we tech again………..
TechTime4Me offers the community helpful hints, tips and trends in today’s ever-changing technological world.
