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Auto accident Scam VISA & Master Card Telephone Credit Card Scam The person calling says, “This is name and I am calling from the Security and Fraud Department at Visa. My badge number is xxxxx. We are calling because your card has been flagged for an unusual purchase pattern and I am calling to verify. Did you purchase an Anti-Telemarketing Device for $497.99 recently?” After you answer yes, he will say something like he will be starting a fraud investigation. If you have any questions just call the number on the back of your credit card. By this time you are thinking you are glad this nice man or lady called, but watch out!
Read this and make a copy for your files in case you need to refer to it someday. Maybe we should all take some of his advice! A corporate attorney sent the following out to the employees in his company: 1. 2. Do not sign the back of your credit cards. Instead, put “Photo ID required.” 3. When you are writing checks to pay on your credit card accounts, DO NOT put the complete account number on the “For” line. Instead just put the last four numbers. The credit card company knows the rest of the number, and anyone who might be handling your check as it passes through all the check processing channels won’t have access to it. 4. Put your work phone # on your checks instead of your home phone. If you have a PO Box, use that instead of your home address. If you do not have PO Box, use your work address. Never have your SS# printed on your checks (DUH!). You can add it if it is necessary. But if you have it printed, anyone can get it. 5.. Place the contents of your wallet on a photocopy machine. Do both sides of each license, credit card, etc. You will know what you had in your wallet and all the account numbers and phone numbers to call and cancel. Keep the photocopy in a safe place. I also carry a photocopy of my passport when traveling either here or abroad. We’ve all heard horror stories about fraud that’s committed on us in stealing a name, address, Social Security number, or credit cards. A) We have been told we should cancel our credit cards immediately. But the key is having the toll free numbers and your card numbers handy so you know whom to call. Keep those where you can find them. B) File a police report immediately in the jurisdiction where your credit cards, etc.. were stolen. This proves to credit providers you were diligent, and this is a first step toward an investigation (if there ever is one).
C) Call the 3 national credit reporting organizations immediately to place a fraud alert on your name and Social Security number. I had never heard of doing that until advised by my bank that called to tell me an application for credit was made over the Internet in my name. The alert means any company that checks your credit knows your information was stolen, and they have to contact you by phone to authorize new credit. By the time I was advise to do this, almost two weeks after the theft, all the damage had been done. There were records of all the credit checks initiated by the thieves’ purchases, none of which I knew about before placing the alert. Since then, no additional damage has been done, and the thieves threw my wallet away. (This weekend someone turned it in.) It seems to have stopped them dead in their tracks. Here are the numbers you need to place a fraud alert Trans Union: 1-800-680-7289 Identity Theft and Your Personal Security Financial ID Theft – Financial identity theft occurs when a third party illegally and without consent retrieves another person’s personal and financial details for the sole purpose of using it to their gain. It involves theft of the person’s money, as well as damage to their credit rating and financial reputations. Criminal ID Theft – In cases of criminal identity theft, a third party uses the stolen details of another person and presents them to legal or law enforcement authorities if questioned during an arrest or possible investigation. Identity Cloning – Identity cloning takes identity theft one step further; perpetrators take on the entire identity of another person, going as far as to pose as them at work and in their personal lives. Business or Commercial Identity Theft – Business identity theft occurs when a business’s identity and financial details are used for fraudulent purposes and transactions. It can greatly impact the reputation of the business as well as that of the business owners. Laws Concerning Identity Theft and Credit Card Fraud
Support Groups and Organizations for Identity Theft Victims
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Consumer Safety
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The Federal Trade Commission estimates that as many as nine million Americans have their identities stolen each year. Identity theft or identity fraud are terms used to refer to all types of crime in which someone wrongfully obtains and uses another person’s personal data (such as a person’s name, Social Security number, or credit card number) in some way that involves fraud or deception committed typically for economic gain. Criminals can easily obtain personal data without having to actually break into a home. For example, in public places, criminals may engage in “shoulder surfing,” in which they watch as an individual punches in a telephone calling card number, credit card number, or pin number for a bank account. They may also listen in on conversations and write down personal information that an individual gives over the telephone (such as a credit number to a hotel or rental car company. Some criminals engage in “dumpster diving,” Âand rummage through garbage cans or communal dumpsters or trash bins in order to obtain copies of checks, credit card or bank statements, or other records that typically bear your name, address, and even your telephone number. These types of records make it easier for criminals to gain control over accounts and assume another’s identity. The Internet has become perhaps the most common (and best) place for criminals to obtain identifying information. Criminals often use “phishing,” in which they try to lure victims into giving personal information in response to an unsolicited email. Pharming is another cyber swindle in which criminals or “pharmers” redirect Internet users from legitimate commercial websites to counterfeit web pages to trick them to disclose their financial and personal information. In addition, according to the Center for Disease Control, 57 percent of office-based physicians now use electronic health records, a 12 percent jump from last year. Many of these digitized records have fallen into criminal hands. By stealing simply one laptop containing thousands of patient records with identifying information, a thief is able to commit identity fraud, costing victims not only out-of-pocket financial losses, but substantial additional costs associated with restoring their reputation and correcting erroneous information for which the criminal is responsible. Some victims of identity theft may lose out on job opportunities, or be denied loans for education, housing or cars because of negative information appearing on their credit reports. In rare cases, they may even be arrested for crimes they did not commit.
How to Avoid Becoming a Victim of Identity TheftTo reduce or minimize the risk of becoming a victim of identity theft or fraud, follow these basic steps and tips. 1. Adapt a “need to know basis” when it comes to giving out personal data. For example, a credit card company may need to specific details (such as a mother’s maiden name) in order to verity identity when answering account inquiries, but your bank does not need that kind of information, especially if it is already on file. In addition, the less personal information you have printed on your checks, the better. Limit the amount of personal data given out on a daily basis. 2. While traveling, have the post office hold your mail until you return or ask a trusted neighbor, friend, or family member to retrieve your mail. If you have to give out personal information over the telephone, be extremely cautious and move to a less public location if you cannot wait to return home, to your hotel room, etc. 3. Check your financial information regularly and look for what should be there and what should not. For example, if you have bank or credit card accounts, make sure that you continue to receive the monthly statements (either online or through the postal service). Call your financial institution or Credit Card Company if you stop receiving these statements. Carefully check these monthly statements to make sure there are no unauthorized charges or withdrawals. Immediately report any unauthorized withdrawals or charges. 4. Ask for a copy of your credit report periodically. Credit reports list all bank and financial accounts under your name, and will provide indications of whether someone has wrongfully opened or used any accounts in your name. 5. Maintain careful records of your banking and financial accounts. Though financial institutions are required to maintain copies of checks, debit transactions, and similar transactions for five years, you should keep your monthly statements and checks for at least one year. These records will aid you if you ever have to dispute a particular check or transaction. 6. Remove your name from the marketing lists of the three credit reporting bureaus—Equifax Information Services, LLC, Experian (TRW), and TransUnion. This will limit the number of pre-approved offers of credit you receive in the mail. (If you toss these into the garbage, such solicitations are a potential target of identity thieves who can use them to order credit cards in your name.) 7. Register your telephone number with the National Do-Not-Call Registry. This registry prevents telemarketing calls to the registered number with the exception of calls from political organizations, charities, telephone surveyors and companies with which you have an existing relationship. In addition, you can remove your name, home address, and home telephone number from many mailing and telephone lists through the Direct Marketing Association’s Mail Preference Service and Telephone Preference Service. 8. When you pay bills, do not leave the envelopes containing your checks at your home mailbox for the postal carrier to deliver. If your checks are stolen, they can be altered and then cashed. If stolen, credit card payments contain all the necessary information that an identity thief needs. Do not write your credit card account number or Social Security number on your checks when making a payment. It is best to mail bills, tax payments, and other sensitive items at the post office rather than from your residence or neighborhood drop boxes. 9. To avoid becoming a victim of phishing, never disclose your personal information in response to an unsolicited e-mail. Never click on a link embedded in an unsolicited e-mail, regardless of who sent it. Before entering important personal or financial information on a webpage, verify the site’s authenticity. Verify the authenticity of a website before entering financial or personal information via that website by using the site’s certificate of authority, such as VeriSign. 10. Keep separate passwords for each account you have online and update anti-virus software weekly.   What to do if You Think You are a Victim of Identity Theft1. Contact the Federal Trade Commission to report the situation. Under the Identity Theft and Assumption Deterrence Act, the FTC is responsible for processing complaints from people who believe they may be victims of identity theft, providing informational materials to those people, and referring those complaints to appropriate institutions, including the major credit reporting agencies and law enforcement agencies. You can also call your local office of the Federal of Investigation or the U.S. Secret Service to report crimes relating to identity theft and fraud. 2. Contact creditors with whom your name or identifying data have been fraudulently used. 3. Contact financial institutions where you have accounts that an identity thief has taken over or that have been created in your name but without your knowledge or permission. 4. Contact the major check verification companies (listed in the CalPIRG-Privacy Rights Clearinghouse checklist) if you have had checks stolen or bank accounts set up by an identity thief.
Common Fraud Schemes and Tips for Avoiding Them- This resource provides information on the most common scams that the FBI investigates and offers tips on how to avoid becoming a victim. Tips Every Tax Payer Should Know About Identity Theft – This resource offers tips from the IRS help you avoid becoming the victim of an identity theft. Taxpayer Guide to Identity Theft – This website provides information on tax fraud and offers advice on to avoid becoming a victim. Internet Fraud Tips – This resource offers a variety of tips on how to protect yourself online. Avoiding Internet Investment Fraud- From the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, this website offers information on how to invest wisely and avoid fraud on the Internet. Protecting Your Identity Online- A comprehensive guide to protecting your identity online. Simple Secure Passwords – This resource offers specific information on how to create simple and secure passwords. |
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