Two separate incidents of identity theft have been reported during the past two weeks in Danville, and police are warning residents to take appropriate precautions against making their personal information available to criminals.
Police Sgt. Ron Bradley said the first occurred over the past few months. A resident ordered a credit report and when it arrived learned that more than $10,000 had been charged to accounts set up in their name through Chase Bank and Bank of America. Bradley said the thieves were able to set up the accounts by getting hold of the victim’s personal information. Bradley did not specify what information was utilized or how the thieves came to possess it.
The second incident was similar, although no dollar loss was reported. The victim’s personal information was stolen and used to open a $7,000 credit account with Dell Computers. Bradley said the only reason the scheme did not work was that the victim already possessed a similar account. When the thieves attempted to open the second account, company security was notified, which led to a notification of the victim.
Bradley said there are several things a person can do to protect their information from identity thieves. First, purchase and use a paper shredder.
“Credit card applications, mailers, fliers, anything that has your name, address, Social Security number, should be run through the shredder prior to going in the recycle bin,” Bradley said.
Similarly, safeguarding your mail will also help to keep that information secure.
“If you have the curbside mailboxes, make sure you empty them in a timely fashion,” he said. “There are people who will cruise around stealing mail from mailboxes, then going through it for information that can be used to establish credit.”
Bradley said one piece of information you should always try to keep private is your Social Security number. “Don’t give it out unless you know who you are dealing with,” he said.
This advice also applies to Internet transactions. Many scam artists have taken to utilizing so-called “Phishing” scams to hack into people’s bank accounts. In such a scam, the victim will receive an e-mail purportedly from their bank or a company like eBay, claiming they need to “verify” information on the account. Usually they will use a scare tactic, such as, “Someone has recently tried to access your account.”
“This legitimizes the phisher and scares the victim into cooperating,” Bradley said.
Another danger is from spyware. “Keep your anti-spyware software up to date on your computer,” Bradley cautioned. “If someone is able to get access to your computer, they can see where you’ve gone, what you’ve typed. They can get access to a whole lot of information about you that way.”
If you receive an e-mail asking for personal information, Bradley suggested sending it on to the bank or company that supposedly sent it to see if it is legitimate.
–Geoff Gillette
