#6: Learn to recognise phishing scams
Phishing e-mails are a particularly insidious form of spam.
It's annoying enough to have your mailbox fill up with junk mail from
legitimate companies, but phishers aren't really selling
anything; they're just "phishing" for your credit or debit card information or
bank account numbers, or other personal information they can use.
A good example is the ever-popular "You qualify for low rates on home refinancing." The scam site isn't a mortgage company, but its Web site is set up to make you think it is. When you fill out the detailed loan application, you give the phisher a wealth of information that includes your social security number, banking information, income, employers, present and former addresses, relatives and friends' names and addresses, and much more that can be used to impersonate you successfully.
Other examples of phishing messages include those purporting to be from your bank or credit card company or a legitimate site with which you do business, such as eBay, notifying you that you must click a link to update your account information. Many even claim they're asking you to do this to prevent your account from being closed or used fraudulently.
Phishing messages can often be detected by the fact that links go to a different URL from the one that appears in the message. For example, if you hover over "www.ebay.com" in the message, you might see that the hyperlink actually takes you to www.scammersite.com/ebay. A good rule of thumb is to never respond to any e-mail message asking you to return personal information. Instead, call or write directly to the company that the message purports to be from.
#7: Use cash or credit
There are lots of ways to pay for your purchases these days,
but some are safer than others. When it comes to protecting your identity, good
old-fashioned cash is still king. Unfortunately, there's no way yet to insert a
twenty dollar bill into a slot in your computer to make a purchase.
Often, you have the choice to pay for online purchases by credit card, debit card, electronic check, or direct bank account withdrawal. All of these require you to submit precious information that an ID thief would love to get hold of.
None of these types of information is more or less likely to be stolen, but there are a couple of advantages to paying by credit card. First, many sites require that when you pay by credit card, you enter the security code (the three-digit number on the back of your card). This adds a layer of protection, since a fraudster who obtained your credit card number from a receipt or other source would not know this number.
Cheques also contain a huge amount of information for scammers: your name, address, and phone number, and many people have their driver's licence number printed on the check. And of course your bank account number, the bank's routing numbers, etc., are also printed on the cheque. A clever scammer can create new cheques on your account and forge your signature or use direct withdrawal to take money from your account.
#8: Get off the lists
Keeping "preapproved" credit
offers out of the hands of identity thieves by using safe mail management
practices is good; stopping them from being sent to you altogether is even
better. (After all, even if you use a PO box or locked mailbox, it's possible
for a dishonest postal employee to intercept them.) The Australian Direct Marketing Association (ADMA) maintains Do Not Call and Do Not Mail lists that allow consumers to block their residential addresses and telephone numbers, preventing unsolicited contact from member companies. Registering with the service
won't stop all the offers, but it will reduce the number.
#9: Check your credit report
Identity theft can go undetected for a long time. Someone's
out there, using your name and social security number to open credit accounts
or apply for loans, but because he or she is diverting correspondence to a
different address, you may not know until the collection agencies start hunting
you down. By that time, thousands of dollars of charges may have accumulated.
One way to keep an eye on what's going on with your account is to check your
credit report regularly. Information on obtaining a credit report in Australia can be found here.
#10: Report identity theft attempts
If you're a victim of identity theft, report it to your
local police department. You may need a copy of the police report to submit to
creditors as proof that you were a crime victim. Close the accounts that have been compromised.
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