When Cmdr. Gloria Christensen retired from the Navy at full disability due to a service-related head injury a decade ago, she thought the worst was over as she began to return to some normalcy of life. Without family members nearby, she asked for – and was granted – a custodian certified by the VA, to help her manage her financial affairs as she recovered.
Now, ten years later, she’s learned a bitter lesson that she wants other veterans to know: Someone can perform tremendous – sometimes irreparable – damage to you, just by having access to your social security number.
You see, while Christensen continued her recuperation, sustained financially by allotments from her tax-free disability payments administered by her custodian, she never dreamed that same custodian was using Christensen’s Social Security number to get and sell stocks online — racking up enough profits that the IRS came after Christensen for over $200,000 in back taxes.
Now, after nine months of wrangling with lawyers, federal tax specialists and her custodian who denied everything, Christensen is $7000 poorer, sadder and wiser.
A UNIVERSAL NUMBER?
“Your Social Security number was never meant to be a universal number for several purposes,” says New Mexico State Representative Danice Picraux, who has introduced legislation in Christensen’s home state to try to staunch the bleeding-out of her constituents’ resources through identity theft. Her NM House Bill 905 – “Privacy Protection Act” — will make it illegal in her state for a small business to need a customer to give his / her Social Security number as a condition of lease, purchase or provision of service.
“There is a provision in this law that when a preexisting state or federal law requires that a number be provided, then the person can require it and also have it,” says Picraux, “however in the future, when you attend your doctor’s office, and they ask for your Social Security number, you don’t need to give it plus they still have to last.”
A second provision in Picraux’s proposal would forbid the printing greater than the last five amounts of your charge card number on any receipt. “And no expiration dates on the receipts,” says Picraux. “Your charge card information is meant to be yours and yours alone.”
NATIONAL CONCERN
Such legislation reflects a concern that borders on urgency. The Federal Trade Commission’s annual report about consumer complaint categories in 2002 says that identity theft topped the set of top fraud issues, with 43 percent of the complaints. The Department of Justice says that identity theft affects between 500,000 and 700,000 Americans-up 40 percent from just last year-hundreds of a large number of people with an average loss of $18,000 each.
And cleanup – if it could be achieved – is expensive and time consuming. According to Frank Abagnale – the clever crook-turned-crime-consultant whose life was recently chronicled in the movie, Catch Me WHEN YOU CAN — getting just your credit report scrubbed of identity theft may take typically $1,173 and 175 man-hours. And since ssndob market -hours will most likely not be consecutive, Abagnale notes that “it really is months and even years to regain financial health,” during which time obtaining a job, obtaining loans and housing, even writing checks for utility bills and groceries, can literally become a federal case.
If you suspect or know you’ve been a victim of identity fraud, you can find steps to take no time and energy to waste. But prevention is cheaper, easier, and much more satisfying than cleanup.
Don’t minimize your personal risk. People you do not know and can probably never meet are actively looking for credit card receipts in public trash cans; and “dumpster divers” focus on going right through household and business trash. They are able to fill out a change of address form with the postoffice to divert your mail to another location while they devote to your bank cards. They look for your business or personnel records at work. They can rob your home or use special software on your present – and discarded – computers. They can get your credit report by pretending to be a landlord or employer. They can get your birth certificate by posing as a lawyer, and develop a new identity with your name. They are able to buy private information from dishonest employees of companies that have a right to your information; or buy your private information from any number of online sites that sell detailed facts about you. They can counterfeit your checks or debit cards and drain your bank accounts. They can setup new bank accounts and cell phones in your name.
And then they are able to even file for bankruptcy under your name to avoid the debts they’ve racked up using your name!
PROTECT YOURSELF!
Abagnale, Picraux, and government agencies involve some suggestions in order to assist you to keep your good name good as well as your private information private. One thing they all emphasize: Be proactive, and assume that somebody wants your personal information. The best, cheapest way to protect yourself is to use a shredder (Abagnale advises a crosscut shredder) on every single piece of mail you do not plan to keep. Tear covers off catalogs and shred the covers, along with any other little bit of mail that contains your name, address, account numbers or any other information. Specifically, shred every charge card application you receive and don’t apply for; and when you break up expired credit cards, usually do not throw all of the pieces away simultaneously or in exactly the same place.
An easy way to remember the basics of protecting yourself is with the acronym, SCARS: Sharing, Credit, Access, Recognition and SS#.
S is for Sharing: that is what happens when you’re on any type of email list. The fewer you’re on, the more secure your personal information is. How to stay off them:
Contact every financial institution where you do business and tell them that you do not want them to talk about any information about you without your written permission.
Check the boxes on any application form you complete, specifying your information isn’t to be disseminated.
Get your name off e-mail lists by writing the Mail Preference Service, PO Box 643, Carmel NY, 10512. Cost is $5 for online registration; expect to see results in about 3 months.
Get your phone number off call lists by writing calling Preference Service, PO Box 1559, Carmel NY 10512.
Be aware that grocery store and other “frequent buyer” cards reveal your buying habits along with other information you may not want disseminated. Count the cost: is that discount worth it?
Think before entering any contests. The info -your name, address, contact number – is almost certain to be sold to marketers. Don’t think it? Enter a contest with a misspelling of one’s first name or put in a non-existent apartment number, and wait and see the amount of junk mail you obtain addressed that way.
C is for Credit. Here are some tips for protecting your credit rating:
Check your credit file at least once a year. Here are the names and phone numbers of the three major credit reporting agencies: Equifax (1-800-685-1111); Experian (1-888-397-3742), and TransUnion (1-800-916-8800.) Be prepared to pay about $10 for each report – cheap insurance.
If a credit card bill you’re expecting doesn’t arrive promptly, call the company to determine why – and have them check your mailing address to see if someone has done a change of address form without your permission.
Place passwords on your own credit card, bank and phone accounts. Choose a combination of letters and numbers that can’t be guessed, and store any records of the passwords securely.
Subscribe to something, such as Privacy Guard, that delivers you with the contact information of each company that accesses your credit report. Abagnale uses this type of service, saying, “I consider their annual fee money well spent.”
Cancel all unsolicited “pre-approved” bank cards.
When renewing credit cards, bank cards, and telephone cards, always request the security code immediately.
“Don’t be surprised in the event that you receive an unexpected call from a charge card company asking about an unusual purchase or series of purchases, even when you haven’t lost your card,” advises Picraux. “The business is just doing its job of protecting its customers. But don’t hand out any information should they don’t curently have your account number – a legitimate caller will already have that information.”
Never pay “up-front” for a loan or credit. The FTC warns, “Remember that legitimate lenders never ‘guarantee’ a loan or credit card before you apply, particularly if you have bad credit, no credit, or a bankruptcy.”
Carefully look over credit card bills before paying them, and personally reconcile your own bank statements promptly upon receiving them.
A is for Access: and anyone-friend, foe, family, or stranger – who has usage of all of your personal documents has you at their mercy.
Take every charge card and almost every other ID card in your wallet and create a photocopy of front and back (spread several from the machine and do them simultaneously.) Keep in a locked, secure invest your home or safe deposit box. In addition, usually do not carry any credit cards or ID cards with you you do not absolutely need – rather than take your Social Security card with you -keep it locked up too.
Report stolen or lost checks, credit cards, medical cards, military ID cards, drivers’ licenses, even library cards immediately.
Make absolutely sure at home that blank checks, bank statements, username and passwords and other data aren’t accessible to guests, domestic help, tradesmen and repair persons, and others. Consider buying a lockbox with a tamper-proof lock for such documents.
Scrutinize your personal and business check forms. Abagnale says that annual check fraud losses exceed 20 billion dollars. On his site, www.abagnale.com), you will find a set of services and check security features that are “must see.”
Never mail your bill payments or checks from your home. “They may be stolen from your mailbox and washed clean in chemicals,” says Abagnale. “Take them to the postoffice.”
R is for Recognize: Be cautious about anyone unknown for you who approaches you to sell (or “give”!) you something, or who wants your private information.
Don’t give your Social Security number out on the phone, nor any other private information to retailers or other strangers.
Don’t transact any business on the phone you do not initiate, and then only to companies you understand and trust. Say, “Take me off your call list” to any telemarketer you don’t want to hear from again..
Know who you’re dealing with. “Walk away from any company that doesn’t clearly state its name, physical address, and telephone number,” advises the FTC. “An internet site alone or perhaps a mail drop box should raise suspicions.”
In the event that you buy online, be sure the site is secure by reading its privacy statements before purchasing or giving private information. Use firewall software, particularly if you use high-speed Internet services. Update virus protection software religiously.
To complete the word SCARS, here are specific tips to keep your Social Security number (S) out of the wrong hands:
When asked for the Social Security number, ask questions. Say, “Why do you need that number? What goes on if I don’t give it to you? Can you accept any substitute?” And if it’s mandatory that you supply your number, Abagnale advises one to request that your number be either truncated or obliterated on loan and credit applications, and that “your original credit report be shredded before your eyes or returned for you once a choice has been made.” Abagnale says a lender or retail manager needs to retain only your name and credit score to justify a decision to grant or deny your credit request.
Never put your Social Security number on checks, and only put your first initial in it. “Thieves will not learn how to sign your checks and could not know should you be female or male,” advises Picraux.
Order your Social Security Earnings and Benefits Statement one per year to check on for fraud. The Social Security fraud hotline is (800) 269-0271.
And finally, the X-Files warning is suitable: trust no one. Although most identity theft occurs whenever a stranger steals your personal information, it is possible to lose as much or even more just from friends or family who have usage of your records and accounts. Even the bookkeeper or other entrusted person you’ve treated like family for decades-as Cmdr. Christensen ruefully discovered — shouldn’t be given carte blanche with your own personal information, bank statements and bills.
“I’ve been doing this for 25 years,” says Abagnale, “and it’s never the person who’s worked for you personally for six months that rips you off for $25,000. It’s always the long-trusted employee.”