Sunday, February 1, 2009
The financial meltdown has forced many to tighten the purse strings, and experts say it’s vital to keep a tighter grip on personal information. Identity thieves are lurking everywhere, and the tally of such thefts has jumped in recent years.
“With the downturn in the economy, along with hackers getting that much more sophisticated, you’re seeing a lot more desperate people, and hackers are taking advantage of that,” said Robert Siciliano, CEO of IDtheftsecurity.com.
Recovering from ID theft is time consuming and costly - from $1,000 to $20,000, plus 600 hours to restore your good name, he said.
The Identity Theft Resource Center said ID breaches surged by 47 percent between 2007 and 2008. The center’s 2006 survey found an identity was stolen every two seconds.
“The first thing everybody needs to do is go out today and check their credit report,” Siciliano said.
Scrutinize every creditor on the report to make sure the account is yours. Eyeball your monthly statements to make sure no one is accessing them. If you see charges that aren’t yours, call the company immediately. Don’t waste time: You only have two billing cycles, or 60 days, to contest charges.
“The way the system is set up, anyone can set up an application with your information. Depending on how your numbers look, they will open that line of credit,” Siciliano said. “Credit is wide open. There’s no lock on the door.”
There is a way to secure your identity. If you are not planning to apply for any new lines of credit, freeze your credit. This bars any creditor from accessing your financial data, and no line of credit can be extended in your name.
Each of the three credit-reporting agencies may charge up to $5 to do this, according to Attorney General Martha Coakley’s office. The fee will be waived if you are the victim of identity theft and provide a police report. You will have to reopen your credit, if you want to open a new account.
For those whose finances aren’t set in stone, the best option is a fraud alert. This flags your credit report and prompts creditors to contact you directly if anyone tries to open an account in your name. The alert is free but expires after 90 days.
A 2007 state law added an extra layer of protection for Bay Staters. Any business or person who stores personal information - including hospitals, stores and banks - must report data breaches to the attorney general and Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation. Rules on how the data must be stored go into effect in May.
“Protecting your personal information starts with a certain amount of self-awareness and self-protection, and then moving on to limiting disclosure of that information only to parties that you really trust to protect it,” said Dan Crane, undersecretary of the OCABR.
If an imposter gets hold of your financial identity, there is still hope. In most cases, you will not be held responsible for their fraud.
“Let them know you consider yourself a victim of fraud, then go through whatever process it is to refute that account,” he said, noting that each company’s process differs. “You’re pretty much at their mercy and have to do what they say to shut down that credit.”
The sour economy may be driving desperate people to illicit schemes, but you can’t afford to fall victim.Source : http://news.bostonherald.com/
