Transcript Slide 1

Copyright, 2007, BankingQuestions.com
What’s the common thread?
What do the following individuals all have
in common?
Tiger Woods
Oprah Winfrey
Ted Danson
Steven Spielberg
Martha Stewart
Ross Perot
Michael Bloomberg
Warren Buffet
Copyright, 2007, BankingQuestions.com
Surprised?
They have all been victims of
identity theft.
It’s the “crime of the century”.
Victims come from all walks of life, all
ages, races, genders, educational levels,
financial backgrounds, locations.
It could happen to you or someone you
love
Copyright, 2007, BankingQuestions.com
How this program will help
Today, you will learn about:
What Identity Theft is
How widespread ID theft is
How ID fraud is committed and what its
consequences are
Steps you can take to protect yourself
What to do if it happens to you
New protections under Federal Law
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Understanding the crime
ID theft is a crime in which a person’s
personal data is wrongfully used in a
manner that involves fraud or deception.
Can also entail the wrongful use of an
entity’s identity, such as a business.
It is usually, but not always, for financial
gain.
No one is immune.
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ID Theft is rampant.
Tens of millions of Americans have
become victims within the last five years
400,000 accounts were opened last year
in the names of dead people
Gartner Group estimates than one in every
50 consumers has been a victim of identity
theft -- and it’s getting worse.
Has it happened to you or a loved
one...yet?
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ID Theft is rampant.
Every 60 seconds, at least another 18 or
19 individuals become ID fraud victims in
the United States.
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Even in your own house . . .
Within your own house or business your
personal information may be stolen by:
felonious family members
sticky-fingered housekeepers
crooked bookkeepers
unsupervised repair workers
party guests
visiting “friends”
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Other ID Theft Avenues
Theft of mail
Misuse of information by an employee of a
business who has your personal data or
someone who cons or bribes them into
releasing it
Dumpster diving
Snooping on cordless
conversations
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More ID Theft Avenues
Hacking
Stealing a purse or wallet
Hijacking your mail by submitting a change
of address form
Conning you into releasing information
based upon lies about who or what they
are and the real purpose of their call
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Recent ID Theft cases
Stealing identities of kids
One individual stole identities of
schoolchildren and provided it to an income
tax preparer who then “sold” it to clients who
wanted to claim dependents. Another stole
information on kids who were patients in the
children’s hospital where he worked and used
it for a similar scheme.
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Recent ID Theft cases
Housekeeper “cleans up”
A Louisiana housekeeper was sentenced last
year for illegally obtaining her employers’
personal information, then opening charge
accounts with that information.
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Recent ID Theft cases
Information stolen from insurance
companies
Gang of individuals stole identity information
from an insurance company’s records and
obtained credit cards in those identities.
A temporary insurance company employee
stole bank account information of customers
who paid through auto-debits, then initiated
charges to those customers’ bank accounts.
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Recent ID Theft cases
Hacker steals info from Kinko’s customers
Juju Jiang installed special keylogging software
on computer terminals located at Kinko's stores
throughout Manhattan to surreptitiously record
keystroking activity on those computers, and
collect usernames and passwords of Kinko's
customers. He then used the information to
access bank accounts belonging to those
persons, and fraudulently open on-line bank
accounts.
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Recent ID Theft cases
False identity used for over 20 years
After stealing identity documents, the thief
assumed the victim’s identity. She got a
driver’s license, filed for bankruptcy, and was
arrested using the stolen identity.
Necrolarceny
A husband and wife team stole identities of
many individuals who were deceased, then
opened bank accounts and obtained credit
cards.
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Recent ID Theft cases
Stealing mail
Mail was stolen in North Carolina by a person
who used personal information from the mail
to produce fake IDs and counterfeit checks in
order to clean out the victims’ accounts.
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Recent ID Theft cases
The latest scam -- “Phishing”
Con artists send out emails that appear to be
from a legitimate business or financial
institution, citing some pretext to get the
recipient to click a link to a phony customer
service Web site and enter confidential
information.
In some instances, the individual
only has to click the link and a keystroke
logging program is installed!
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Bogus IDs
Fake IDs are easily obtained via mail order
or the Internet
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Altered IDs
Some states do not have strong security
features on their IDs, making them easy to
counterfeit or alter.
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Consequences of ID Theft
Can affect victim’s reputation, credit rating,
ability to qualify for credit or employment
Thief may clean out bank accounts with
counterfeit checks, obtain credit, or use
existing credit in the victim’s name
The ID thief may rent a dwelling, establish
phone service or utilities in the victim’s
name.
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More Consequences of ID Theft
ID thieves have committed virtually every
crime -- from speeding to murder
Victim’s time is needed to straighten out
the mess -- sometimes as much as 500
hours!
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Consequences of ID Theft
Emotional fall-out. Anger and depression are
common among ID theft victims.
Some insurance companies are using credit
scores to determine insurance premiums -- if
there is ID fraud in your credit report, you
could pay more
Terrorists and other criminals could go
undetected -- Remember John List (nabbed
via America’s Most Wanted after more than 20
years on the run with a fake identity after
murdering his wife, kids, mother)?
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To protect yourself …
Be careful about the information you give
out over the phone or on the Internet
unless you are sure you know who you’re
dealing with
Take a good hard look at what you’re
carrying around in your wallet or purse.
Leave your Social Security card – and
anything that bears that number – in a
secure place
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To protect yourself
Make sure checks
(used and unused),
credit cards, bank
records, and other
personal information
is carefully secured in
your home or office,
particularly if other
people, whether
workers or
roommates, will be
around.
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To protect yourself
Guard your mail,
your purse, your
wallet
Secure your trash
Shred
If you don’t use
pre-screened offers
for credit, opt out of
receiving them.
Call 1-888-5OPTOUT
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To protect yourself
Be careful what you throw away.
Statements from your doctor, checks on
closed accounts, expired charge cards or
IDs are treasures to thieves.
Carry only the identification information
and the number of credit and debit cards
that you'll actually need.
Talk to the financial institutions and
brokerage firms where you have accounts
about placing passwords on them.
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To protect yourself
Choose passwords for online financial
services wisely. Avoid anything easily
guessed or learned via research.
Ask about information security and data
storage procedures of the companies you
do business with.
Give your SSN only when absolutely
necessary.
Keep up with your accounts. Check your
banking, brokerage, and credit card
statements immediately after receipt.
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To protect yourself
Know your billing and statement cycles. If
something is late, find out why.
Cancel all unused credit accounts.
Be wary of promotional scams.
Don’t have your SSN or DL# printed on
your checks.
Make a photocopy of everything in your
wallet or purse before you take out those
things you don’t need to carry with you.
Put the copy in a safe place.
Pick up new check orders at the bank.
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To protect yourself
Obtain a copy of your credit report once a
year and take action if there is information
about transactions or accounts you did not
initiate.
Consider signing up for a service that will
monitor your credit report and any new
credit accounts/inquiries for you and will
notify you of changes.
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Despite your best efforts …
You may still become a victim, because
there are some risk factors outside your
control.
If you do become a victim, you will want to
take immediate and appropriate corrective
action to:
close fraudulent accounts;
clear yourself of responsibility for any debts or other
criminal activities perpetrated in your name;
Get your credit report corrected, and;
Work with authorities to identify and prosecute the
perpetrator.
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Steps to take
Place fraud alerts on your credit reports with
the three credit reporting agencies
Make a police report and complete an Identity
Theft Affidavit
File an identity theft report with the Federal
Trade Commission or appropriate state,
federal, or local law enforcement agency
Directly contact entities who opened
accounts in your name at the thief’s behest
Keep records of actions you take, including
the time you devote.
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Steps to take - 2
Create a contact list of those you speak to.
Continue to monitor your credit report on a
frequent basis.
If an account (deposit or credit) has been
tampered with, close it and open a new
one.
Sample dispute letters, forms, and a Chart
of action can all be found on the FTC’s
Web site at www.ftc.gov/idtheft
Follow up.
Keep monitoring your credit report and accounts.
Copyright, 2007, BankingQuestions.com
Steps to take
Create a contact list of those you speak to.
Continue to monitor your credit report on a
frequent basis.
If an account (deposit or credit) has been
tampered with, close it and open a new
one.
Sample dispute letters, forms, and a Chart
of action can all be found on the FTC’s
Web site at www.ftc.gov/idtheft
Follow up.
Keep monitoring your credit report and accounts.
Copyright, 2007, BankingQuestions.com
New protections enacted!
The FACT Act (Fair and Accurate Credit
Transactions Act) was signed into law
by President Bush in late 2003
It increases the protections for
consumers with respect to identity theft
Some of its provisions were phased in
and some are still not in effect yet
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Under the FACT Act
A victim of identity theft now has a right to
request copies of any application and/or
transaction record relating to an account
opened with their identifying information
Customers will have a right to a free copy of
their credit report once every twelve months,
upon request
Central source for making request
Go to www.annualcreditreport.com to order your
free copies
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Under the FACT Act
Those who place an initial fraud alert are
entitled to an additional free credit report
Persons who place an extended fraud alert in
their file can obtain two free credit reports
within a twelve month period after the fraud
alert has been placed
When a fraud alert is placed, you will get an
explanation of your rights relating to free
reports
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Under the FACT Act
There is a new document explaining a
consumer’s rights called “Summary of
Rights of ID Theft Victims” that must be
given in certain circumstances and may be
obtained upon request from the FTC,
There is a new “one call” system – notify one
national credit reporting agency of actual or
possible ID theft and they have to notify the
others
There are 3 types of possible fraud alerts:
Initial (suspicion of fraud)
Extended (actual ID theft has been reported)
Active Duty Military Alert
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Under the FACT Act
If an initial fraud alert is placed, it must
be furnished to users of credit reports
and an individual has a right to a free
copy of their credit report
The alert remains in the file (and must
be provided with credit score) for no
less than 90 days
If the person requests the free copy of
their report, they are also to be given a
Summary of Rights of ID Theft Victims
within 3 business days
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Under the FACT Act - 3
If the individual is actually a victim of ID
theft, has filed a report, and requests an
extended fraud alert, they are entitled to TWO
free copies of their credit report within the 12
month period after the alert request is made
Active duty military and individuals who have
requested an extended fraud alert are also
removed from “prescreened lists” for a
period of time
Extended fraud alerts remain in the file for a
7 year period
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Under the FACT Act - 4
If there is a fraud or active duty military alert in the
file, creditors cannot make new loans or open many
kinds of new credit accounts for the individual
unless they take reasonable steps to ensure the
person requesting the credit or account is who they
say they are.
On an extended fraud alert, the individual can
specify a particular phone number or other means of
contact and that number or method must be used
before a creditor can act on an application for credit
that is supposedly from that individual
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Under the FACT Act
The new law helps ID theft victims deal with
the aftermath by:
providing solid procedures and timelines for
disputing inaccurate information reported to a
credit reporting agency;
Requiring credit reporting agencies to block
information about accounts or transactions that
are a result of identity theft
Making it easier (and cheaper) for an individual to
monitor his own credit history
The Summary of Rights will explain how to use
these rights.
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You’re ready to fight!
You’re now armed with information
about how to protect yourself against
identity theft.
It’s time to take action. Follow the
steps outlined today.
Educate your family members, coworkers, friends about Identity Theft
and what they can do about it.
Learn more about ID theft in articles,
Q&As and resources on
BankingQuestions.com
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Questions?
I’ve prepared a short list of resources
to provide contact names and numbers,
Web sites, sample forms, letters and
more!
More questions? You’ll find plenty of
articles and resources on
bankersonline.com
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