Identity theft: A real-life example
Last week I got a call from a young lady, "Sally" (not her real name), who was worried that she had downloaded some bad stuff (malware) onto her father's computer. I discovered that Sally is in her late twenties, so she isn't a kid.
She told me that she had gotten a pop up on the screen indicating that the computer was infected with something and strongly recommended that she "click here" to download software to remove the threat. Many of you already know the upshot of all this, or at least think you do.
She "clicked here" and was taken to a page where she paid to have her computer infected with a nasty piece of spyware. Cleaning her computer would not be fun, nor would it be inexpensive. However, this is not the worst of it.
I told her that she needed to contact the credit card company NOW to shut down her card, and referred her to another consultant I know that lives much closer to her than I do. I called that consultant and informed her of the issues I was aware of.
The consultant called me several hours later, after talking to Sally. It was much worse than I knew. It seems that the site where Sally entered her credit card information asked for, and got, much more information from Sally than it needed just to make the purchase. Among other things, Sally gave out her father's birthdate and social security number. She wondered why she needed to do that, but did so anyway. The consultant also told me that Sally still hadn't called the credit card company, hours after I told her it was the first step to take!
Most of us, but not all of us, are aware that identity theft is a nasty thing to deal with. Those of us not aware need to be told in capital letters:
- NEVER FOLLOW A POP UP LINK TO BUY ANYTHING
- NEVER GIVE OUT YOUR SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER JUST BECAUSE SOMEONE SAYS THEY WANT IT - ALWAYS ASK FOR AN ALTERNATIVE WAY FOR THEM TO VERIFY YOUR IDENTITY
- NEVER RESPOND BY CLICKING A LINK IN AN EMAIL YOU GET, EVEN FROM FRIENDS. LINKS CAN BE FAKED, AND THE EMAIL MAY NOT HAVE COME FROM YOUR FRIEND (see my earlier post about Email Etiquette to see how that email might not have come from the person it says it came from.)
- ALWAYS BE SUSPICIOUS. If the pop up doesn't say it came from your protection software, it is likely a fake.
- PROTECT YOUR PERSONAL INFORMATION JEALOUSLY!
For more information on how to protect yourself, go to the Social Security Administration , the FTC, and the Better Business Bureau websites.
You can ignore these warnings all you want, but you will pay for it, as will the credit card companies and maybe others.
Don't be lazy with your life information. Don't let the bad guys win. This is something you have control over. Exert it!
How naive. So what happened to her?
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I just got an update from Stephanie, the other consultant. "Sally" did get the credit card cancelled. As far as her father's credit issues, he has been given advice on what to do. The rest is up to him.
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Other helpful resources related to protecting your privacy:
Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3):
http://www.ic3.gov/
Others:
http://www.consumer.gov/yourmoney.htm#Financial%20Education
www.privacyrights.org
www.idtheftcenter.org
All 3 major credit bureaus now have educational materials about identity theft:
www.equifax.com
www.experian.com
www.transunion.com
Be safe!
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Everyone -
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Thanks for this information - It's invaluable. By the way, in the bulleted list, do you mean that we should protect our personal information jealously or zealously? Interesting connotative differences.
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"I meant what I said and I said what I meant. I'm Popeye, the Sailor Man! (toot! toot!)"
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