The 12 Ways Your Identity could be Stolen this Holiday Season
Of all the things you might want for Christmas this year, a clone of yourself is probably not one of them. But if statistics hold true, in the 12 days leading up to Christmas more than a quarter of a million Americans will lose something that Santa won't be able to replace - their identity.
So to help you keep your good cheer and your identity this holiday, we've taken a look at a dozen ways your identity could disappear this season and what you can do to prevent it:
1) Phishing - Using bogus emails and Web sites to trick you into revealing confidential financial information has become one of the costliest and most lucrative forms of identity theft.
How Can You Grinch This? Make it a rule to never, ever give any personal, financial, or security (like a password) information to any email request.
2) Bogus Emails - A new variation of an old scam involves the use of email notifications for goods you never ordered. How does it work? A virus is installed on your computer when an attachment is opened, which will then steal passwords and other information and give them to an identity thief.
How Can You Grinch This? Don't open email attachments unless you are expecting them, even if you recognize the sender. Instead check with the sender or vendor first to make sure that the email is legitimate and not a scam. And of course make sure you always have an up-to-date virus protection program on every computer.
3) Skimmers - Small credit and debit card readers are used to steal a copy of your card when you make a payment or use an ATM. In one scam, a group of waiters netted more than $3 million using skimmers to make copies of customer credit cards.
How Can You Grinch This? Be vigilant and pay with cash or use a credit card (debit or ATM cards typically don't offer the same protection as credit cards).
4) Bots - Small applications like a computer virus can hijack infected computers and use them to attack other computers, distribute pornography, and steal passwords and identities.
How Can You Grinch This? Be careful about the sites you visit, the things you download and make sure your computer is up-to-date with virus, spyware, and firewall protection.
5) Snail Mail - This year you can expect your mail to get plenty of attention from petty thieves, opportunists, and organized crimes gangs looking for "gifts" like checks and financial statements.
How Can You Grinch This? Have mail delivered to your door and not to a mailbox at the end of your driveway, pay bills online and consider electronic statements.
6) Nearest And Dearest - One of the saddest facts about identity theft is that most thefts are committed by people known to the victim, including friends, neighbors, co-workers, and even family.
How Can You Grinch This? Don't leave financial information like statements, credit cards, check books, and pre-approved offers lying around your home or workplace where they can tempt someone you trust.
7) Electronic Greetings Cards- Never send or open electronic greeting cards because they can very easily be used to hide things such as computer viruses and worms that can target your identity.
How Can You Grinch This? Send a real card instead by mail or in person. If you have to send a last minute electronic greeting, a personal email without attachments is just as good and perhaps even more welcome. If you receive an electronic greeting, check with the sender before you open it. If they don't know what you're talking about, you know you're being scammed by someone else.
8) Pickpockets - Holidays are an excellent time for pickpockets due to big crowds, big spending, and hassled shoppers too busy to notice that they're being, well, noticed.
How Can You Grinch This? Think about shopping as a covert mission. The most you're likely to need to go shopping this year is a credit card (yes, just one) and a driver's license. So slip them into an inside pocket and leave bulky big targets at home.
9) Burglary - Identity theft may be the burglary of the future. Not only is burglary being fueled by drug users looking to fund their next fix, traditional burglars realize that identity theft is much more of a lucrative crime than fencing stolen old TVs.
How Can You Grinch This? When you're going shopping this holiday, go in shifts so you never leave your home empty. Hide financial records or place them in safe or locked filing cabinet. Password-protect your computer and encrypt any sensitive financial data on it and hide your laptop.
10) Going, Going, Gone - Auction fraud - This year billions of dollars of holiday gifts will be purchased through online auctions like eBay. Unfortunately for some, according to the Internet Fraud Complaint Center nearly 43% of all reported Internet fraud comes from online auctions.
How Can You Grinch This? Stick with reputable sellers, check their feedback history and use eBay's auction guides to learn how to spot and avoid a scam.
11) Bogus Charities - ‘Tis the season you can expect to see an increase in the number of bogus charities asking for credit card donations. This could be by phone, mail, and increasingly by email. Many of these scams will either spoof well-known charity organizations, or use similar-sounding names, to trick consumers into giving.
How Can You Grinch This? Give to charities you know and trust, and preferably through their Web site rather than in response to a phone call or mail solicitation.
12) Hard drive rebuilding - Before you retire your old computer to the scrap heap or the auction block this year, make sure that you do a complete wipe of the hard drive so that you don't leave any extra gifts for the new owner.
How Can You Grinch This? Deleting files from a computer does not erase them. Consider using one of the many professional data erasing programs, like Data Cleaner (www.blancco.com) or Cyberscrub (www.cyberscrub.com). Data Cleaner costs around $30 and Cyberscrub costs around $50.
About the Author
Neal O'Farrell is a nationally recognized expert on cybercrime and identity theft as well as an advocate for better user education and awareness. As the identity theft expert for Privacy Matters Identity, a membership program that helps members assess, monitor and safeguard their personal information included in their Privacy Matters Identity Theft Report, Neal is the voice behind MyIdentityTheftExpert.com. MyIdentityTheftExpert.com is an authoritative, informative and open forum for those looking for frank, straightforward answers on the risks of and ways to prevent identity theft. Neal is also the founder of My Security Plan.
