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The Federal Trade Commission reports identity fraud occurs once every two seconds.
At this point one is losing or compromising one’s identity. Unfortunately many of those victims are located in my hometown, St. Louis, Mo.
A good example of this growing problem, St. Louis ranks third among all metro areas nationwide in identity theft. Missouri ranks first behind Connecticut and Florida in identity theft complaints, according to a 2015 survey by the Consumer Sentinel Network, an online database of consumer complaints available only to law enforcement.
A 2016 identity fraud study released by Javelin Strategy & Research found that $15 billion was stolen from 13.1 million US consumers in 2015. Identity thieves have stolen $112 billion in the past six years.
Identity theft can run the gamut from credit card fraud to loans and new accounts opened in your name. In many cases the victim has to struggle to get his name back in good standing. This process can take months or even years to heal.
Both businesses and individuals can be vulnerable. Despite the high likelihood that your identity will be hacked, stolen, and misused, there are steps you can take to prevent ID theft.
These include protecting your information online. With the increase in online shopping and banking, your passwords and logins should be cleaned regularly, especially if you work on public computers. These should be changed on a monthly basis.
Credit cards must be used for online purchases. Federal law provides better guarantees for credit card security than other options. Use these instead of online payment services or debit cards.
Avoid sites that may look like a bank but are actually known phishing scams. They will attempt to get you to enter your personal information. Make sure you are on a website that is familiar and secure before handing over detailed background data.
Bank and credit card statements should be monitored. Check for weird purchases you’re certain you didn’t make. Businesses may have dozens of pages to filter through each month. There are not many people. Even though these reports should be checked regularly.
Credit reports should be viewed several times per year. Individuals are entitled by law to a free annual credit report. These three bureaus are available from Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. Businesses can check with Dun & Bradstreet. Beware of knock-off sites that will try to charge you for similar reports and other unnecessary services.
Your kids’ activities can also inadvertently open the door to your family’s data. Forms from school and social organizations should be checked especially when Social Security numbers and credit cards are required for participation. Parents should ask how the information will be used and how it will be stored to eliminate potential breaches.
Finally contracting with an identity theft prevention firm can provide a mix of preventive and reactive tools to help preserve your identity and credit. These can include fraud alerts and credit freezes. Some services offer unlimited protection without limits if your assets are compromised. Programs are available for the entire workforce as well as for individuals.
As the old saying goes, “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” A proverb has never been more apt when your identity is at risk.
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