By Sandra Guile
Better Business Bureau
Today’s thieves are ruthless when it comes to acquiring personal information such as a name, an address, or a phone number. They’ll go to great lengths such as diving through dumpsters to find personal information on junk mail.
If that doesn’t work, thieves will turn to sending out phishing email to get social security information. The frequency of losing compromised personal data is becoming so commonplace, warnings from industry experts are going unheard.
Thieves rely on people’s failure to listen to preventative techniques so that they can continue to use any means necessary to steal important information.
According to a 2016 Identity Fraud Study released by Javelin Strategy & Research, researchers discovered $15 billion was stolen from 13.1 million U.S. consumers in 2015, compared to $16 billion and 12.7 million victims a year earlier. Although the numbers decreased from 2015 to 2016, people should still be protective of their information when they use the Internet to shop online, when they swipe a credit/debit card to pay for goods or services, or when they throw away a document with their personal information rather than shredding it.
The slow transition in the United States to the chip-reading EMV credit/debit card system has led to an abundance of identity theft through the use of skimmers. Skimmers are designed to pull the data from the magnetic strip on the card in order to replicate it. Unfortunately, experts say it will be a few years before the transition is complete and even then, there is no guarantee the data will be completely secure.
Be aware of your trash
Another reason for the various cases of identity theft is the continued need to inform consumers about what should and shouldn’t be thrown in the trash. For example, a thief can lift a name and address off of an envelope or mailing label to start an account. Or, if you throw away a statement with an account number it, thieves can use it to go a step further to set up a completely new phone or utility account.
Additionally, discarded credit card applications sent via mail are a common way to set up a credit account in another’s name. The victims of this kind of scam don’t realize that their identity has been stolen until they start receiving calls for unpaid statements.
To protect against having your identity stolen, it is ideal to have a cross-cut shredder in the house to destroy any documents with your name and address on them – even junk mail. Unless you’re looking to apply for a new credit card, blank credit card applications or balance transfer checks should be shredded promptly.
Paper bank statements should only be kept until you’ve confirmed all of the transactions match up with your accounts. If possible, see if you can receive your statement digitally and eliminate the paper statement altogether. Take action and protect your personal information before thieves have a chance to steal it.
If you don’t have a shredder in your home, there are places you can go to have documents securely shredded for free. Several organizations throughout the year host an event at different locations where you can bring paper products to shred – including your BBB.
BBB|Cincinnati hosts a free Secure Your ID event each spring and fall that’s open to everyone, regardless of county residence. Participants are invited to bring up to five boxes or bags of paper to shred. Learn more about the Secure Your ID event by visiting the News section of bbb.org.
Sandra Guile is the Community Outreach Specialist for BBB. She promotes BBB’s message of marketplace ethics through public speaking engagements, presentations, media relations, press releases, web content, and other written materials. Contact Sandra at (513) 639-9126 or sguile@cincinnati.bbb.org. Your BBB is located at 1 East 4th Street Suite 600 Cincinnati, Ohio 45202 – to reach the office, call (513) 421-3015.